Boarding Gate 101

In August 2010 I  went back to Shanghai, China for the second time for the sole purpose of attending the 2010 World Expo. World expositions, which started in 1851 in London, were meant to showcase the host country's technological and industrial prowess. Paris did one in 1861, Chicago in 1893, and St. Louis in 1904 . My earliest memory of world expos is the one in Tsukuba, because of the maglev train, the giant Sony Jumbotron and the piano-playing robots that were featured on the news, and that of Seville in 1992. The Shanghai World Expo, was the first one I've been to though. Germany pavilion The Shanghai Expo is one of the largest so far, and is meant to showcase China's ascendance to the world stage (that and the Beijing Olympics). Located in both banks of the Huangpo River, in Pudong and Puxi districts, the expo covered an area of almost 30 square kilometers. It ran from May 1 to November 1, 2010. Spain pavilion The theme of the expo is Better Cit...

As the University of the Philippines Astronomical Society's solar eclipse expedition to Jinshanwei was a scientific endeavor, we upped the Sheldon Cooper factor by a notch by visiting the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum in Pudong during the trip. It is one of the most visited museums in Shanghai. It opened in 2001. The glass facade of the museum The Shanghai Science & Technology Museum is huge - with an exhibition area of about 65,000 square meters. I actually liked the architecture of the building, mostly steel and glass with a glass geodesic dome dominating the facade. A hippopotamus at the Spectrum of Life exhibit There were three floors of exhibits. The first floor covers The Spectrum of Life, which features the flora and fauna of the Hunan province;  Earth Exploration, which covers geology and physical geography of the earth; the Light of Wisdom, which covers physics; and the Cradle of Design, where computer-aided design and manufacturing tak...

For this week's In Pictures we go to a country that I might not visit again, due to geopolitical  reasons, China. Specifically, I will feature Shanghai. I visited the city twice, once during the 2009 total solar eclipse, and again in 2010, for the World Expo. Jin Mao Tower and the 492-meter Shanghai World Financial Center Shanghai is a very cosmopolitan city. It is huge and populous, with the number of skyscrapers rivaling that of New York and Hong Kong. It is also a city of contrasts - behind the veneer of modernity lies the Old China, and you can see it in the old architecture of the city, and in the small streets between the high rises.  Motorists in the Xujiahui district It would seem that Shanghai is in a middle of a huge construction site. Construction projects - new skyscrapers, road, bridges - are being done in almost every corner, underlying the strength of China's economy. Many old buildings are torn down to give way to the new.  ...

On our  trip to Shanghai to see the 2010 Expo, we chose to stay in the Blue Mountain Youth Hostel as our temporary residence in China. It was in fact my second time to stay in Blue Mountain, the first was last year during the solar eclipse expedition. The hostel is located in Qu Xi road, which intersects Lu Ban road. Conveniently enough, the Lu Ban subway station (Line 4) is just across the road from the hostel. It also turned out that the site of the Expo is just about 10 minutes away. The free shuttle bus stops at the corner of Qu Xi and Lu Ban, which ferries tourists to Gate 1 of the Puxi site (Puxi is where the corporate pavilions are, the country pavilions are across the river, at the Pudong site). Service and Facilities I actually like the vibe of the hostel. The concierge desk is very welcoming, with helpful staff who can give you directions to the sites and what-not. The common room is right next to the concierge, where the guests can hang out and trade st...

I climbed up the observation deck of the Shanghai World Financial Center during my first visit to Shanghai. The supertall, shaped like a bottle opener with a trapezoid aperture at the peak, used to be the tallest structure in China (and the second in the world) when it topped out in 2007.  Before the construction of Burj Khalifa, the 492-meter SWFC also has the highest observation deck, at 474 meters and 100 floors above ground. The observation deck has a glass floor, which offers a view to another observation deck below. The sight from the highest observation deck is simply breathtaking. From there I can see the Pudong district below, and beyond it, Huangpo River and the Bund.  Close to the building are other notable skyscrapers that you can admire, the 421-meter Jin Mao Tower, and the  468-meter Oriental Pearl Tower . That building on the right on the picture above is where Tom Cruise jumped in Mission Impossible III.  We came in the building in lat...

Going up Shanghai's iconic Oriental Pearl Tower - the tallest structure in the country from 2004 to 2007 - was on my list when I was in Shanghai for the second time, in k eeping with my tradition of visiting notable skyscrapers and towers of cities that I visited. The tower is often seen in movies that were set in Shanghai, most recently in the Bond movie Skyfall . The Bund and Huangpo River, as seen from the observation deck The 468-meter tower is located at the Pudong district, near the banks of Huangpo River. One side of the tower faces the Bund, which is part of a treaty port established at the end of the Opium War in 1842.  Oriental Pearl Tower, from the pedestrian bridge below The tower has two observation decks, one at 263 meters above and the other at a height of 267 meters. Since we only paid the 100 RMB entrance we were only able to climb up to the 263m level. The observation deck, located in one of the spheres, affords a 360-degree view of Shangh...

One exciting thing to experience when going to Shanghai is the chance to ride the Shanghai Transrapid - the first commercial high speed, magnetic levitation rail line in the world.   The train up close The line connects Pudong International Airport to downtown Shanghai (at Longyang Station, Line 2). With a top speed of 431 kph, it can whisk passengers the 31km distance to and from the airport in 7 minutes, although I only noticed that it only topped at 301 kph, accelerating in the first 3 minutes, and decelerating after that before reaching the station on the other end.  Inside the cabin Another shot of the exterior. This one's during the first time I rode it. Useful Info Fare is 50 RMB for the economy class, 40RMB if the passenger has an airline ticket; VIP passes would cost 100RMB, but these are not needed, as the coaches are not usually full.  The service is open only until 9:40 pm, and trains leave every 15 minutes (20 minutes after 7pm...