I came to china day before yesterday by Cathay Pacific airways . The service was very good and they served Indian food in the flight upto hongkong . I was worried that I would be lost in the big airport and with the transit time of just one hour I was really worried . But immediately on deplaning I saw a nice Chinese flight attendant holding a board showing that the next gate for shanghai passengers is gate number 50 . My point is inspite of having the most advanced technologies the human touch could be seen typical of an asian country . I like it . Was it all human only .. No way . This was china where there was a unique blend of humanity and technology . I was walking for 10 minutes and suddenly I reached a subway . Felt like science fiction . Subway in an airport for transferring from one gate to another . Hi-tech . Total time after I came out from the plane to hongkong and reached boarding gate of flight to shanghai only 20 minutes . This is in sharp contrast to airport at Amsterdam where I had to virtually run to avoid missing the connecting flight . The connecting flight was also good and I had the first taste of proper Chinese food – thick flat noodles with seafood . Much blander compared to the Chinese food available in india . I reached shanghai by noon .
The shanghai airport is in pudong district of shanghai and the immigration process was very smooth . The immigration officer with police badge on the shoulder smiled . I have passed through immigration of india , srilanka ,Kuwait and germany but a smile was first from immigration .
Money changing at airport to Chinese RMB or Yuan was done and got a local SIM for cheaper calling . Those who on their international roaming my only advice is try to avoid for it costs too much the money which can be better spent on shopping or eating . I saw the arrow pointing to the Maglev train which is faster than the bullet train and the French TGV train and much cheaper . I will use it later as it doesn’t go to my hotel area . Got a taxi from the taxi queue below. (Never take taxi from solicitors like any big city ) . One girl was calling to me but as mamma told never go after a girl who calls you J
Always I repeat always take the address of your hotel printed in Chinese and the hotel number as most drivers don’t talk a word of English. And learning Chinese is not easy . The cityscape is great with 8 lane roads with separate cycle tracks . The buildings are beautiful as shanghai has a cultural history with interspersing of architecture of many cultures . Even the modern buildings are stylish . Many buildings are 25 floors + in downtown shanghai . Vehicles are ninety percent sedan type Volkswagen and a Chinese company predominates . Don’t ask me the name of the Chinese car company I cant read Chinese . But leave your notion of “Chinese “ make . The car is very stylish with great build quality . Its finish is better than Volkswagen passat . Another thing is so far I haven’t seen a single beggar here . The people are all fashionably dressed ,being winter , with all the stylish overcaoats and puss in boots shoes . I reached my hotel Citadines which is a chain of hotels worldwide . After checking in the hotel I strolled through the roads of shanghai . Everywhere I look I see the look of a developed country . You never feel that you are in a country with most population in the world . And yes , there was not even a single political flag anywhere . No hartals , bandhs or dirtying or roads ---and remember this is a communist country . My state kerala should follow the Chinese example which being the seat of communism doesn’t have any of it affecting the day to day life of common man . Just before the day of my coming here there was a bandh or strike against walmart in india . And I saw a walmart in china and the Chinese supermarkets are equally flourishing there no problem . My point is though india is shining and I am proud to be an Indian we have to learn a lot from our asian neighbor .
Another thing I noticed here which can be copied is their culture of sports . There were numerous basketball courts and shuttle badminton courts on side of road and the public both children and adults were playing . In india sports are delegated to college age people . No wonder I hardly saw an obese Chinese . There were huge stores selling exclusively sports goods like Decathlon . Trekking outfits , fishing rods , archery equipment ---you name it its there . The store was 15 minutes walk from my hotel 
Wow haroon.. That was interesting. Write more about your experiences there.. Abusha mami
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