SHANGHAI SCENES

Boneman in a famous area of Shanghai known as The Bund. The area on the other side of the river is Pudong, and as recently as 14 years ago was totally undeveloped. I'm told it was a popular area for people to ride their bikes and picnic! Pudong underscores the rapid change happening both in Shanghai and in China. The Pearl Tower is to my right, and is meant to portray Shanghai as a city of the future.

Two girls watched me get my photo taken throwing solo shakas and came up to me. At first, I thought that they wanted me to take their picture. As it turned out, they were asking if she could take a picture of me with her friend. When I looked down, SHE was throwing a shaka! So I tossed my camera to her friend and asked her to take one for me, too.

Spreading international love, one Boneman shaka at a time... this gives me an idea to start a blog for Boneman Shakas Around The World!

People sell everything from shoes to DVD's from their bikes. This dude is selling watermelons on a very hot day.

A Chinese dude kicking back with his IPod and a big bag of KFC.

My Air China flight from Shanghai to Beijing. Air China seems to operate on the margins. They don't like to pay terminal fees, so you must take the bus to and from the aircraft. Traveling in country is always entertaining...

On approach to Los Angeles International Airport from Beijing, an 11 hour flight. Downtown LA and The Staples Center are visible.

I caught this shot at LAX walking outside from the international termainal to the domestic terminal. Taking the walk outside vice catching the bus was a good idea, as I was in the right place at the right time to catch this.

3 DAYS IN CHINA

Greetings from the other side of the clock! Thought I would show the travel to China on the blog today in a few pictures.

Incidentally, because of the restrictions the Chinese Government places on internet access, strangely enough I am able to edit my blog but I am not able to view it. I thought I may have some offensive material up here so I checked young Jack's blog and was not allowed access to that either.

I started my stopwatch when I closed my apartment door this morning, and stopped it when I arrived in my hotel room in Shanghai...22 hours and 17 minutes door to door. That's a long day! We are exactly 12 hours ahead at the moment, and my body is very confused. When you travel half way around the world, you lose a certain natural rhythm to time. The fact that most hotels here have great high speed internet that keep you connected to your time zone only confuses things more. I have to admit, however, that getting 14 hours to yourself on a plane, totally incommunicado with a good book and a few good movies is one of life's last true luxuries!

This first picture is of me and Frank at 7 a.m. July 19th. Frank is a retired school teacher who now drives a cab. I've been depending on him to get me to the airport on time for those early morning flights for a few years now, and he never lets me down. No matter what time I ask for my pick up, Frank always arrives with a cup of Starbucks, cream no sugar, which is just the way I like it. In addition to a nice conversation, Frank also always gives me granola bars, because he knows that the airlines have cut back on the food they provide, and wet naps that he gets from his frequent trips to the casinos in Atlantic City. Today, I received two wet naps from the Wild West Casino! Everyone needs a Frank in their life.

Today's itinerary had me traveling from Philly to Chicago to Shanghai. This is a shot of our approach to O'Hare with Lake Michigan in the foreground. The Sears and Hancock Towers, Soldier Field and Navy Pier are all clearly visible.

I took this image 13 hours and 17 minutes after I left my apartment, 39,500 feet above the Artic Ocean at the exact moment we were crossing the International Date Line. You gotta love the on-board information systems on the 777! I hope to add a shot of crossing the Equator this fall when I travel to Sydney.

This is the view from my hotel room on the 37th floor of the Ritz Carlton in Shanghai. The image was taken about 6 p.m., and the gray skies are due to Typhoon Haitang presently hitting mainland China. The typhoon is named after a Chinese flower.