A half update, since I finally got Blogger to work and there are no pictures

If I had to guess, blogger.com has been entirely censored. It's really hard to get through via anonymouse.org but actually now that I've masterred the art of beating the Chinese censors I think I somehow got it to work.

Anyways we boarded a night train last night from Beijing after we visited the Forbidden City and we were quickly enroute to Shanghai. I miscalculated how quickly we would arrive at the train station due to the MASSIVE amount of traffic. The traffic lights sometimes take upwards of 5 minutes to change from red to green. And they only stay green for half a minute. We arrived at the station with about 45 minutes to spare but we still had to fight our way through a mob that makes Yawkey Way look empty during a Yankees Game. I wish I could upload some pictures but the internet cafe I'm sitting in at this moment has all its USB ports blocked off. There's only 1 computer at our hostel and there's been a Spanish lady there all day.

But besides that we boarded the train safely with 20 minutes to go after we miraculously made it through the crowd. The train was pretty cozy, if by chance the computer frees up tonight I'll add a couple photos to the blog. Some of us were baffled by the concept of taking a dump what appeared to be a metal pan in the bathroom of the moving train. The metal pan is actually a squat toilet that empties out of the bottom of the train. Its actually healthier for the GI tract since all the intestines and such are aligned. There was actually also a toilet.

Driving towards the Bund (riverfront) in Shanghai is quite an experience with all the tall buildings rising up in the fog while upscured by fog. When I'm finished writing this we'll head out to the Yuyuan bazaar and get some food. Later we'll head over to the Shanghai Pedestrian Tunnel which will look like something you would expect from an acid trip, without actually ingesting it of course. Shanghai is as modern as it gets in the mainland, there really are skyscrapers everywhere. The taxi drivers are considerably more friendly, but I can't say that for sure since I've only taken one taxi here so far.

I'll see if I can contact Alex Vai's mom tonight since she is in possession of our plane tickets. I'll also try to write another e-mail later tonight if I can make use of our computer, or at the very least update the blog. I'm looking forward to exploring the "Paris of the Orient" although it still has a dark hue to its reputation, which I may or may not discuss later on. I expect to pick up a lot of antiques here and perhaps even might buy a couple gifts.

My mastery of the Chinese language is improving every day.

I'll try to add pictures of the Summer Palace and Forbidden City later tonight, which will be your late morning or noon. But let me reiterate that that is not a promise. Also, this is a message to Nick Grasso (rocky): Go back to Italy

-Andy

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-Andy