We arrived in Shanghai 12 hours and 1463km after leaving Beijing. B and I had got lucky on train - the other two bunks of our soft sleeper were unbooked, so we got the compartment to ourselves. Leaving the station, the clock merrily declared the temperature to be 34 degrees, and it was only 7:30am. The two days we were in Shanghai were the first of a record run where it daily exceeded 38C (100F).

Our first stop after finding somewhere to stay was the Bund - the east bank of the Huangpu River where much of Shanghai’s wealth came from. Jardine Matheson & Co, the first company (Hong) to buy land here in 1848 are now reputed to own over half of Hong Kong Island. Many of the buildings along the 1-mile waterfront survived the events of 1949, and purportedly represent 17 architectural styles.

Across from the Bund, lies the Pudong area. Originally marshy farmland tasked with feeding the people of Shanghai, it is now home to major financial corporations, hotels and the curiously shaped Pearl Tower. We had planned to go up the tower for a view of the city, but on recommendation from the Lonely Planet guide, decided to visit the bar on the 87th floor of the Grand Hyatt instead. Unfortunately, there was a motor race being held round the area and by the time we had finally made it past all the diversions to the building, we had covered about 4 miles in the midday sun. There was something satisfying about being a sweaty, sun reddened, travel creased person, taking marble trimmed lifts to a bar in a hotel where one night would cost more than a weeks travelling budget. It may have been only a bar, but at 150m higher than the top of Canary Wharf, one to remember.

We also found time to explore the French concession area, where the streets are wide, lined with Plane trees, relatively quiet and flanked by a surprisingly large number of surviving original colonial buildings.

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