Shanghai

Shanghai is such an incredible city - brimming with energy



The grandiose reminded me of Paris or New York



Nanjing Road is, quite frankly, off the hook



The lights, the energy, the movement - I found myself hanging out here a lot



I also found out that I'm a huge fan of Shanghainese food - delicious restaurants abound



Hanging out a favorite global joint of mine (I'm addicted to coffee)



Afternoon view of Pudong's phenomenal skyline



Despite all of the chaos going on along this river, it's a really peaceful to chill out



A place that's not peaceful - the fake Louis V shops. I almost got stampeded by a gang of old women scrambling for fake Berberi scarves.



Shanghai dumplings - talk about delicious. I ordered this whole pot.



I couldn't stop chuckling about this - I'm sure this is what Marx and company had in mind.



Loved the quaint little alleys and side streets; very European feel



Had to head back down to the Huangpu River when the sun came out



Interesting mix of brands scattered along the river - this section actually reminded me of Dubai



Yet another vantage point of the river



No matter where you go these days, just can't get away from advertising



Chillin out down by The Bund later in the evening



Jumped on a boat to catch the Pudong district lit up at night - what a sight



The Citi and Aurora buildings have massive displays built into the sides of the buildings



The infamous bottle opener building (Shanghai World Financial Center), designed by a Japanese architect



Panoramic view of The Bund at night; taken while cruising down the river in a boat



A second shot from the other end of The Bund



I'm not sure what the deal was with this building - but it sure looked cool



Lots of malls and shopping happening just off Nanjing Road



An older, but equally charming section of Shanghai - amazing architecture



Just down the street is the first McDonald's to hit China (~two decades ago)



More absolutely incredible architecture



Caught this cat drawing out some pretty cool characters with water and a brush



Another area of the city, with a little less traffic



True this - great city!

Eating silk worms in China

I've eaten some wild stuff in my day, including snake and shark and pig's feet, but eating a silk worm was something new. Did I have the stomach for it? Watch below. :)

Google DevFest kicks off in Shanghai!!

The next month is going to be pretty crazy:

http://code.google.com/events/apacdevfest/

Beijing, China

Beijing looked entirely different than I was expecting; then again, I'm not really sure what I was expecting.



Had an adventure by taking a public bus an hour outside of the city to the "Pheonix" mountains. Really cool hedge carving on the side of this mountain.



While hiking up this mountain, ran into a cool pagoda. These things were scattered across the mountain.



Very neat taoist temples nestled midway up the mountain.



Another pagoda further up the mountain. I really like the look and feel of these things.



Went to dinner at this amazing palace of royalty from the Ching Dynasty. It's now a restaurant.



More shots from inside of this incredible palace.



The entire staff of the restaurant dressed in the clothing of that particular period.



Headed out to the Ming Tombs, where I got to see these enormous structures.



There's something so unique and exotic about these buildings; very different than the west.



More shots from inside of the Ming tombs.



Took a bus out to the Great Wall, which really is great.



It was really foggy, so I didn't get the full effect of just how long this thing is. Gonna have to go back a few more times.



I was thinking about those "more bars in more places" mobile carrier commercials when I saw this.



The bird's nest coliseum - very impressive. Home of the '08 olympics.



Made it over to the forbidden city too. Equally impressive and a peaceful place to hang out despite all of the tourists.



As soon as I got into the forbidden city, I was totally in awe of how articulately designed all of these buildings were.



And just when you think that you're about to reach the perimeter of the forbidden city, you walk into yet another sprawl.



I want to get one of these for my front porch back home.



I haven't seen "the last emperor", but apparently this is where they filmed it.



Coming out from the southern gate of the complex.



The one and only.......



Walked across the street to Tiananmen Square.



The People's Republic government buildings just off in the distance.



Went exploring at the temple of heaven, which was a beautiful and peaceful little spot.



This thing is actually huge - notice the little specs for context in the lower left region.



Spent some time walking around the summer palace too. Really pretty place where the kings used to hang out back in the day.



The interior of this place is really calming, but I did miss the blue skies.



All and all, I'm definitely digging being here. Looking forward to some more travel soon.