Greetings from Shanghai !

I am in Shanghai for a couple of days and had the opportunity to tour around the city on Sunday. I decided to go for a sightseeing bus tour which allows you to see quite a bit of the city. I started in Pudong, located along the east side of the Huangpu river, across from the historic city center of Shanghai in Puxi. This district has developed rapidly since 1990 to become China’s main commercial and financial hub the new area and financial district of Shanghai. It is known for its famous skyscrapers such as the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Shanghai Tower which will be completed in 2014, it will become the tallest building in China with 632m and the second tallest in the world, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai !

Shanghai is the largest city in China with more than 23 million people. It is also one of the most populous city in the world. Today was the Chinese Lantern Festival which is celebrated on the 15^th day of the first month of the traditional Chinese calendar, it is also the second most popular festival after Chinese New Year. I learnt this while I was getting into the City God Temple and the Yu Yuan Garden, it was the most crowded place I have ever seen. I had the impression that the all Shanghai population was there. I enjoyed seeing all those lanterns and decorations throughout the temple and all these people celebrating.