Saturday in Shanghai

October 27

Arrived in Shanghai safe and sound.  We intended to stay at the Swiss Hotel, plans changed, and we are staying with Gerald & Jyl's friends - Pete and Charlotte.  They live in a palatial apartment suite in the Shanghai Tower on the 23rd floor.  Their driver, Bruce Lee, met us at the airport and capably drove us to the home of our gracious hosts. The view of Shanghai from the 23rd floor

Shanghai is a city of 24 million people - I cannot begin to describe the labyrinth of the road infra structure!  Oh my.  One of the first things we noticed is that pedestrians NEVER have the right of way.  Ever.  Even if the crossing light is green and the vehicle beside you is making a right had turn - get out of the way.

Pete explains to us that the company he works for provides a driver for his family because of the  risk involved in driving in Shanghai.  Navigation would be monumental followed closely by the interpretation of the signage....

We spent the day at the BMW Shanghai Masters golf tourney

 and saw some of our  friends there. 

  At moment Peter  Hanson is leading the pack with Rory Mcilroy one stroke back.  Mcilory won the event last year in an extra hole play off and is definitely the crowd pleaser.

The weather is warm, 23 degrees, with a haze or smog or both.  Another interesting thing is that the whole country of China is on one time zone.  We are on the east coast and it is daylight around 6 am and dark at 5:30.  The country actually spans 4 time zones.

Thankfully Peter helped me with access to my blog site and facebook.  The Chinese powers that be have both sites blocked - but with the purchase of an application my harmlessness was restored!