Shang-Hiyo

As I said above, my name is John McCarthy.  Am I a food critic? I am not.  Am I a travel writer?  The short answer is no.  Am I a weather man?  You bet I am not.  But there are a couple of things I know.  The food in Shanghai is good, the city is amazing, and the weather is effing hot.  Shanghai is host to 20 million residents not counting tourists.  The state of California holds 35 million and the country of Croatia a mere 4.  There are more 40 story plus buildings in Shanghai then there are in all of Europe.  A simple google image search of Shanghai can illuminate these facts for you very quickly.  Upon first visit to the city, as car horns battle street vendors for noise supremacy and bugs swarm and annoy me almost as much as the homeless youth pulling on my t-shirt near the bund, I am taught some valuable lessons. The world is much larger than I am.  Life is funny, so laugh.  Don't wear a nice watch.  

As we drive out of the city I notice cable stay bridges, ferris wheels, brake lights, and extravagant architecture for the world expo highlighting the horizon while hotels, towers, offices, and apartment buildings don't need to strive too hard to be noticed.  The fluorescent lighting and moving advertisements, which take up entire sides of these buildings, make sure of that. A reading of it may make the city seem ostentatious but it is actually put together with great tact.  Oh yeah, lots of people.  People.  Everywhere.  We are currently in a small college town just outside of the city.  With the exterior look of an ancient palace and the interior feel of the Plaza, our current digs could not be much better.  Moving into downtown today which will be epic.  More to come!

Heres where I be later today  http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/SHAHITW-Hilton-Shanghai-hotel/index.do?WT.srch=1

And as I said, it is hot.  About 35 degrees celsius.  And being that I am with a rowdy band of world renowned engineering professors I was taught a simple calculation as to how to convert celsius to fahrenheit.   F=Cx9/5+32.  Figure it out.