We had to fly from Beijing to Shanghai. I was a little worried that since this would be a fairly short flight, we might have a small plane that would make carrying-on my guitar a bit more difficult. But once again, everything worked out just fine in that regard. None of the crew or airport personnel even mentioned it. However, I did get stuck with a middle seat for the second time...

The first thing I noticed about Shanghai was the many highway overpasses... and the fact that they had potted plants along the sides. There is a picture of this in the "Personal Tour" section. The second thing that became apparent was that Shanghai is much more westernized than Beijing or Hangzhou. There is still much interesting architecture to be found here, but it is to be found in the form of unique skyscrapers with flashing lights along the sides. You will find many American businesses and stores in Shanghai. To me, it was actually a little disappointing.

Before we reached the hotel (the Jin Sha Hotel... "Jin Sha" means "Golden Sand"), we stopped for lunch at a Mongolian barbecue restaurant. This was one of my favorite meals in China... and I am under the impression that such restaurants exist in the U.S. as well. I will have to look into that. Unfortunately, this was the one meal where we were rushed, and it is well-known that I am the world's slowest eater...

Since I had been assigned a roomate who snored very loudly, and I am a rather light sleeper, Mike Kenny and Jameson were kind enough to let me crash in their room that night (and a few other nights during the trip). However, I woke up the next day feeling a bit ill (probably a side-effect from the medication I was taking to prevent malaria).... which led to my "Personal Tour."

Luckily, I made it to our unusual performance that night. As well as to a quietish bar afterward with some of the band. Here, Paul bought a round of beers (which I think may have been a reward for something-or-other... I don't recall.. anyway, everybody was over 21, in case you were wondering). I tried the beer, but I really don't like beer, and this was no exception. So I ordered a blue drink, which Paul said seemed a bit unusual for a rock guitarist. It turned out to be little better than the beer. I don't remember the ingredients, except that it involved egg-whites. The waitress claimed it was their most popular mixed drink... so I dunno if the Chinese have unusual taste for mixed drinks, or just the patrons of that particular bar. Writing about this just reminded me... Ping was with us, and she wrote down everybody's names in Chinese... and gave the paper to somebody... with, I believe, the intention that this would be shared with the band. I wonder what happened with that....

We were originally scheduled to spend most of our time in Shanghai, but our last concert in Hangzhou was rescheduled, so we wound up spending the most time there and the least in Shanghai. We left on the third day, never to return (at least, during this particular trip).