travelling allrite

As we waited in an Expo queue ahead of us was a child perched on his father's shoulders. Nothing remarkable there, except for the big gap in his pants revealing an unclothed bum. Yesterday in a metro station we saw parents holding their child over a rubbish bin as urine streamed out of the gap in her pants. Both front and back are open. They don't seem to use nappies here. How they know when their child is about to void their bladder or bowels or get them somewhere suitable in time, I don't know. I've heard that toilet training is far easier though. Not for Alex, sorry.

The hotel's buffet breakfast had baked beans. And watermelon. Alex was so happy! My stomach has ceased to tell me if it's hungry or not. It doesn't know what time zone it is in. We are in this holiday state where the only times that matter are openings, closings and airport departures. Shanghai shophouses as seen from the hotel I love Chinese gardens and the best of them are supposed to be found in Suzhou, about an hour out of Shanghai. I really wanted to visit this garden and canal city back in 2007, but we ran out of time. So today we planned to catch a train there. The subway took us from East Nanjing Road station to Shanghai's main railway station via People's Square. The train was packed, the stations crowded. The Chinese passengers just push their way in and I have to be careful that Alex isn't squashed. Major Chinese railway stations can be scary places, with huge hordes of rough mannered rural migrants milling around. On this sunny day it ju...

If you want to see Shanghai quickly, just visit the Shanghai Planning Exhibition. They have a truly amazing recreation of urban Shanghai in miniature with thousands upon thousands of model buildings. Even the expo was rendered in tiny scale. Shanghai is a relatively young city for China. Much of the Shanghai we see today only dates from the 1830's onwards, when the city became a treaty port and there was an influx of Europeans. The next major architectural upheaval was, in a sense, when it returned to a treaty port, but on Chinese terms, the city becoming a free trade zone with the science fiction architecture of Pudong rising out of the paddy fields. The photos of old Shanghai at the exhibition make for fascinating viewing, but it's best to have read some of the city's history before visiting. Some of the other levels are less compulsive viewing, more advertisements than windows into the future for the city. Straight after leaving the exhibition we descended unde...

I could get used to business class. What a fantastic flight! Flying 10 hours with a toddler wasn't anywhere near as bad as expected. In fact, it was a wonderful experience. Now, this hotel is another matter. The room is so overdecorated that it's cheesy. Gold trimmings everywhere in our room. Gold leaves, gold fish (fish done up in gold, not gold fish), gold knobs on the cupboards, gold swirls on the wallpaper. The "traditional Spanish design" is a bit garish for my tastes, but the locals probably love it. We have river glimpses with good views towards the Bund and the science fiction skyline of Pudong. There is a computer in the room, the two televisions have external AV inputs so Alex can watch recordings of "In the Night Garden..." but my blog and photo sites are blocked. And the toilet stinks. The cot is a bit of a safety hazard. As we drove into Shanghai in the taxi from the airport we marveled at the amazing light show of buildings and other ...