Shanghai Day 1

Hey guys, Erica here. Shanghai is an huge place with over 21 MILLION residents. Right now there's a vast amount of construction to prepare for the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Most of the houses resemble European styles rather than the traditional Chinese. Traffic here is much better than Xi'an and Beijing where people don't follow any driving laws. When we get home, turn signals, and any person driving will be seen in a new and joyful light. Every few minutes a barrage of horns distract us. So far there have been fewer street vender and are less persistent. If they are you could be like Wes and only offer 1 yuan, it makes them laugh or just search for new prey. Our activity after the flight was to visit China's tallest building. Right now the name eludes me, sorry. Standing over 400 meters with 100 floors this building is incredible. Several of us got great angle pictures of it so you guys back home will be able to see it in all it's glory. The interior is just as amazing as the exterior. Imagine walking into a Star Trek ship. Sleek obsidian halls, small wall lights. The best part was the elevator ride. Traveling from floor 1 to floor 95 in approx. 56 seconds, this elevator is one of the fastest in the world. The ride was surprisingly smooth. It has several circular discs which would light up in a ring to show what floor we were on. Describing it is too difficult and I don't know if anyone got pictures. Afterward the groups went to dinner at a restaurant to celebrate Mr Chimento, Ande, and Amanda's birthdays. The food was excellent,(mom you need to cook rice with eggs in it please) and Helen brought in the cake which looked like plastic at first, but the icing was just shiny. The frosting was fruit flavors. The candle was the greatest part. Resembling a flower it was in the shape of a flower bud the size of a hand and you lite the candles. It slowly burns away at the wax then it pops open to reveal a center and begins playing happy birthday. The little thing didn't stop playing for hours. Well that's all for now and I hope you guys back home are doing ok and see you soon!