We Were On Top of the World in China...

Oh, we felt like the cats meaw as we were bumped up to first class on the flight from Seoul to Shanghai... Massages, fresh rolls, 3 course meals, wine, and western beers... and this was only the start in what would be a trip characterized by both living lavishly and muddling with the poor of China. How fitting as this dichotomy is the reality in everyday China today. A mix of wealthy, new, luxurious, and technological with poor, dirty, old, and traditional.

On our first night in China, we were on top of the world- I mean literally- we were on top of the world. We sipped Tsing Tao beer out of champagne glasses at a bar called 'Cloud 9'. It's located on the top floor (floor 87) of the 3rd tallest building in the world!!! Oh what a wonderful place to contemplate life as we overlooked Shanghai's famous skyline- the spaceship-like buildings in the foreground all built within the last 15 years, the structures in the distance old, untouched European architecture from the 20s, 30s, and 40s.