Landed in Shanghai, took a taxi from the airport to our hotel. IMPORTANT: Don't listen to touts who offer taxi service! Exit the airport door showing "taxis," get in line and wait your turn. It should run about $21 for a 45-minute trip. There are also buses that take you to downtown Shanghai for less and the wonderful Maglev train that only takes 8 minutes. Unfortunately, it didn't stop anywhere near our hotel. You'd have to take a taxi from the end point.

My idea of heaven is ending a semi-difficult trip (or not) in a deluxe 5***** hotel and you can't ask for a hotel more wonderful than Four Seasons...the ultimate in luxury and service. What a treat to be in a hotel with people waiting to welcome us in English, toilets that flush (goodbye squat and public toilets), steaming hot water, a cushy bed with fluffy pillows, fruit in the room, and body lotion. Yes...I'm shallow... Nirvana for me and ex-Marine's idea of heaven is CNN, ESPN (to see what the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox were doing) and newspapers in English.

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This return visit to Shanghai gave us a chance to explore some new areas and revisit favorites. There is always something new to see and do in this constantly upward-mobile and growing City. Our Shanghai guide, Billy was our best guide during the entire trip. Very savvy, great English and personable. First stop was the Shanghai Art Museum situated on the People's Square. We spent a few hours looking at the contemporary art being exhibited by famous Chinese painters and barely touched on the collection of 12,000 bronzes, ceramics, jade, furniture, minority art, etc. The Museum was definitely worth more time than we had to spend, but there was quite a bit on the touring agenda...

Lunch time and over to Dong Tai Lu and dumplings in the Yu Yuan Gardens. Billy got us a small table, ordered these little dumplings filled with meat and delicious juices, served with vinegar for dipping. Yummy...and even picky ex-Marine snarfed them down. You can watch the dumplings being made through a glass window. The cooks wrap ground pork and sort of gelatin-soup into a thin dough wrapper, resembling a ravoli. It is steamed and served to you, usually 10 at a time (very cheap), you dip the dumpling into some vinegar and bite, carefully into it. Try not to burn your mouth as it is extremely hot..not spicy...just hot

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Our first visit to Shanghai in 1989 was light-years removed from this visit. At that time, you were only allowed to tour with a State Guide shepherding you around. Shopping was reserved for the "Friendship Store," and it was strictly forbidden to wander off on your own.

Cosmopolitan Shanghai 2005 was a revelation. Magnificent skyscraper after skyscraper, each architecturally different, unique making a brilliant light show in the evening....expressways....wonderful hotels and delicious restaurants....shopping malls...homes that ranged upwards to millions of US$ that could have been found in America....a surreal experience. If you have been watching Discovery Atlas on cable television, you may have seen the recent two-hour segment on China which showcased Shanghai beautifully as well as Xintiandi, recommended below.

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