Prost!!!...from China?

Ok...maybe the German restaurant was a little premature but we couldn't help it. Sorry for the horrendous picture but it was the only one that i had that illustrated the tremendous size of this beer. It was like the biggest beer i have ever had for breakfast (don't worry mom, we had breakfast at 2:00 because we were out till six the night before...sorry, that wasn't very comforting). Lets just say...Shanghai is nothing like Nanjing.

Our class was only supposed to go to Shanghai on Sunday but naturally a few of us opted to spend a little more time away from Nanjing. After our presentation in the afternoon, we hopped on a train in hopes of arriving in time to go out to some of the infamous clubs. Based on what i said earlier i am sure you have gathered that we had a good time out. the next day was a little rough but don't worry, we got plenty done. The afternoon started out with breakfast at a German restaurant which, might i add, was amazing. We then headed out to do some sight seeing. Unfortunately, we got sidetracked. 5 pairs of designer jeans, a jacket and a pair of shoes later the day was gone and it was time to go out again. Sorry to gloss over the shopping but theres too much to talk about. Just so you know, I only spent $90 dollars on everything i listed above...The shopping in this city is outrageous.

LN and I in a store at the copy mart

That night was somewhat uneventful but I would like to mention that i had the best Cheeseburger I've had in three weeks. Well, the only cheeseburger I've had in three weeks, but thats not the point. As i am sure you have gathered, we took every opportunity to eat anything but Chines food while we were in Shanghai...it was great. We went to bed somewhat early that night in anticipation for the next days site seeing.

Monday, we were supposed to be back in class but we hadn't had enough of Shanghai (sorry nick but we had to experience as much as possible). In the morning we went to the Jin Mao tower (the tallest tower in Shanghai) and went to the observation deck to view the entire city. The view was spectacular, but unfortunately it was an indoor observation area.

After the tower we made our way to the Yu Garden in the historical area of town. The garden was beautiful, but yet again the weather hindered my ability to take a decent picture. It was cloudy the entire day and rained a few times but the garden and the surrounding buildings where very enjoyable. I wish i had a scanner so that i could show some of my drawings of these places...they do a much better job of illustrating the atmosphere.


The final site for the day was probobly the most interesting place i have been on this entire trip. A select few of us were invited to visit s.p.a.m. which is Qingyun Ma's architectural office in Shanghai. In case you don't know who i am talking about, Ma is the new dean of the architecture program at USC and the project architect for Rem Koolhaas. While we were there we gathered with a group of students from University of Toronto, USC, and SCI-arc to watch a presentation of the offices most recent work. Lets just say, i would move to Shanghai in a second if i was offered an internship at this office. Enough said. We had to leave the presentation early to catch our train which was disappointing but i don't think it would have been good if we had missed another day of class.

Now that i am back in Nanjing all i want is to be in Shanghai. It was an amazing city full of history, culture, contemporary architecture, and yes, a great variety of food. Only another few days here and then we are off to Beijing. I cant wait. Heres a couple more pictures i took while exploring the city...