A couple weeks in Shanghai

A few days ago Ryan and I arrived in Shanghai, which sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River and is the second largest city in China, at a staggering 25.6 million people. Shanghai was a major player in foreign trade in silk, tea, and opium until about 1949, when Mao Zedong took over, and in the last two decades it has quickly grown back into a major hub of world business. Apparently in the mid-1990's as the city was being revitalized, Shanghai had one quarter of the world's high-rise cranes! British and French influences are throughout the city and it has a more Western feel than Beijing, where we were a few days ago.

For two weeks Ryan and I are volunteering at an organization called the Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE), and it's a nice chance for us to get back into a non-travel routine and actually chill and cook for a change...and hopefully be a little productive. We're staying in their office apartment and there are sweeping views of the city all around us...not bad for 2 weeks!