Friday, October 12, 2007

Shanghai Streets Again

We had a little time today to walk the streets of Shanghai before leaving for Jinan. All of the following pictures were taken within four blocks of our hotel. This is a high school across the street from the hotel.

Around the corner, across another street from the hotel, is a major construction site.

These first two pictures were taken from an elevator on the outside of the hotel. The next picture was taken underground, in a subway station. The 2007 Special Olympics were held in Shanghai. They concluded yesterday, Oct. 11. Posters were everywhere.

Leon Berthiaume in front of a small park.

Everyone hangs out laundry to dry. And most buildings--even many high rise apartment buildings--have individual, external air conditioning units.

There are lots of bicycles and scooters on the road. Some are just pedal bikes, some have small electric motors, and some have small gas engines. I saw a young woman in high heels on a pedal bike. It is not uncommon to see a parent carrying a child on a bike. Bikes can also transport quite large cargoes.

And there are a lot of cars on the road, too. Note the English on the traffic signs, the pedestrian walkway over the road, and the high rise apartment buildings.

There were many small shops selling food. Leon is in the blue shirt. A block away were upscale shops of clothing, jewelry, etc. like what you would find in any large modern city.

We found a pleasant park, where a number of people were doing exercises. These were slow, rhythmic exercises. One woman (not in the picture) was using a sword.

There were ads everywhere, often electronic. This one caught my eye, although I guess it's been out for over a year: the "human element" designated by Hn, with an "atomic weight" of 7E+09 (for the population of the world--7 billion, rounded up). I don't know why Dow chose an "atomic number" of 76.