There is a sense of promise here in Shanghai.

The city feels like a collection of villages; it’s distinct neighborhoods give it character and texture. Not sure I can really describe it. If I had to predict the next global epicenter then based on what I’ve seen so far, I would put money on Shanghai. Hong Kong is still the clearing house for financial transactions but it may well be Shanghai that comes out on top 10-15 years from now.

According to the Shanghai Daily paper, the old Shanghai area of Nanjing Street and Yuyen Gardens was visited by 5.8 million people during Golden Week; the Bund (the famous and historic walkway along the water) by 4.3 million. It’s impossible to capture the crowds in photos.

Our hotel was akin to having a small apartment (two bedrooms, two bath, sitting area, microwave, frig and tea pot) and we enjoyed being able to escape the crowds. The girls called their room “the cave” because they could close themselves off from us with heavy curtains and achieve utter darkness. They loved the cave and spent several hours being teenagers – staring at their computer screens, chatting with friends, and listening to music…

Music. So I’d like to say they learned a lot about Chinese instruments and the history of music in the Chinese courts but really the only music culture was provided by LED screens, blaring taxi radio, and Justin Bieber. Yep. Bieber. I’m not allowed to say “Biebs” – so uncool for me to do that. Anyway, Awesome Kids Club here in Shanghai was organizing an outing for 25 kids to the Bieber concert and we arranged for Lauren and Rose to join them. Lauren got some good shots from her new (Yodobashi, Kyoto) video camera and she reports that he is surprisingly talented – he sings, plays drums, piano and guitar.

Another feature of the hotel/apartment was the iSqueeze. We first encountered his little contraption at Yodobashi. The iSqueeze is a foot and calf massager and it was how the girls and I began and ended our day. Andy called it the foot crusher and couldn’t understand why anyone would submit willingly to this kind of torture. But for me, a cup of tea, Words With Friends, and a foot crushing was a perfect way to start and end the day! Once the weather turned rainy (two typhoons passing nearby) the girls spent all day trading places from bed to iSqueeze.

We didn’t hibernate the whole time – we saw Chinese Acrobats, Moganshan Art area, Tianzifang alleyways, east and western sections of the French Concession, walked the Bund, and spent an afternoon in Fuxing park. We had great food – both Chinese and Italian. Special mention would be Mr. and Mrs. Bund (contemporary French/Asian) and Mercato (Jean Georges Italian/Asian), Guyi for Chinese claypot and Din Tai Fung for dumplings.

Shanghai is a very livable city. Like Kyoto, I felt like I could have stayed longer but the world is calling and so we journey next to Hong Kong…