Three Thousand Images 
Shanghai is the largest city in China with a population of approximately 20 million people. It is located at the mouth of the Yangtze river, in the middle of China's east coat. It is vastly different in feel to other cities in China. Today, it is the major financial center for China. It is much more Western and cosmopolitan in comparison to Beijing. Its history is a blend of Chinese history, and western influence. This was due to its rise as a major port for trade with the West in the 19th century. Many of the sights in Shanghai reflect the mix of Western and more traditional Chinese influences.
From our perspective, Shanghai felt like most major cities. Looking out from our hotel window, was not terribly different than New York or other commercial centers in the West. We visited Yuyuan Garden, which is a carefully restored garden in the Chinese part of the city. Heavily oriented towards tourists, it even has a Starbucks.
"At 9AM it is already very hot and we walk along the elevated cement dock that winds around the Bund. We walked back under the trees and watched the school children walk in pairs with their teachers. There was a monument to the People’s Republic and a statue of the first mayor. Across the river at Pudong we could see the Pearl Tower and about 15 other skyscrapers over 88 floors high. We got in our van and rode to the Yu Garden in the old Chinese part of the city. It was immaculate with 3 Starbucks in the area. It was filled with tourists."
"In the afternoon we went to the Shanghai museum. This was a gorgeous affair with four floors in a new modern stone building from 1996. It was built on the same park where the English had a horse race track in the 1940s. We stayed a couple of hours with listening devices. We saw costumes, old money, jade, a traveling American exhibit, Ming furniture from Beijing. The museum was one of the best I've seen."
"Then we went on to the Peking Acrobat show at the Ritz Carlton pavilion on West Nanjing Road (our road). The theatre was packed and we had seats on the second row. The acrobats were by far the best we had seen on the trip. They were very clean, great costumes, sexy girls, handsome guys with awesome stunts, juggling, calling for the audience. It was all very beautiful."