Halloween travel day

What better way to spend Halloween than travelling? We got up somewhat early today and finished packing up before heading to the airport. We decided to take somewhat of a detour in order to experience what may be the fastest train in the world: Shanghai's MagLev!
The train levitates on the track, based on magnetic fields, cool!
It's actually pretty roomy too even if the journey is about 10 minutes
The only entertainment is watching the speed meter go up and up and up. The fastest I saw it go at is 301 km/h
When we got to the airport, my friend Haibao was waiting for me, all decked up in christmas gear. Even if we are 12 hours ahead, isn't it a bit early for christmas?
Flying on China Airlines was a really good experience. Check-in was a breeze and despite all our worries about overloaded luggage (we actually shipped one of the bag to our destination in Beijing to avoid surcharges) we came in under the maximum limit. Plus we got really good seat at the emergency exit. Check out all the leg room
The airport is a bit out of the way of the city but it's really well organised with a bus leaving every 15 minutes from the airport to the Bell Tower (~$5) which is in the centre of Xi'an's walled city.

The area around the airport is a mix of industrial and farms
And lots of construction. I'm starting to think the whole country is under construction!
Our hotel is right across the tower, check out the view from our room :)
This is the modest roomAnd the hotel from outside
We had a quiet dinner at a Hong Kong style restaurant where they were playing Mr Bean! Very delicious cream of corn
Followed by a duck bbq style
and a medley of seafood with tofu
And a coconut bubble milk
We walked around a bit outside and enjoyed the city a little bit. This city looks beautiful at night
And the Halloween spirit is in the air
Then, we turned in early for bed since we are going to Hua Shan tomorrow and have to get up early to catch the bus!

Expo 2010

Expo 2010 is a big thing for Shanghai. All construction projects are going full tilt to complete the work in time. Jackhammers and other construction equipment can be heard late into the night, even on weekends. It's no surprise the city is so focussed on meeting their deadline with Haibao (the official Expo mascot, pronounced High-Bow with the ow sounding like wow) everywhere to remind them of what is coming.

They even set up a bunch of timers to press the urgency of the coming expo
Haibao can be seen here in his traditional form:
There are hundreds of these types of sculptures around town at office buildings, malls, hotels and other attractions.
Haibao even grew out of these bushes here
And here he is inside the urban planning exhibition hall
He even takes precedence over some of the Buddha's in this temple
Needless to say the cute little Haibao is easy on the eye and I got attached to the blue creature enough to get my own souvenir keychain and one of the plush dolls.