Whoa - there were a lot of people. A real lot of people. In saying that, we both feel that the crowd was not intimidating at all. We felt almost 'at home', well, at least as at home as walking around your local supermarket in a chicken suit. We got a few looks, I reckon most of them went Lin's way, but hey, I'm not complaining. She's hot. However, we did both feel quite comfortable exploring the main CBD area of Shanghai and we're already planning a few more strolls in the next few days.
We left Pudong Airport customs at 7pm and after exploring the bus options, we chose to take a tout taxi to the centre of Shanghai. This involved our first taste of negotiations, to which we (believe) got a reasonable deal considering the trouble our drivers went through trying to find our hotel, the Pujiang Hotel. Several attempts at sign-language later, we managed to call the hotel and get specific directions. Being 50km away from our accommodation, we got to see a great deal of the Pudong area as we sped without seatbelts at 120km/h in and out of the traffic. I'm pleased to say I won't be driving here in Shanghai, and well, I don't think any driving in Australia could prepare you for the local way here in Shanghai. In saying that, I didn't feel any sense of danger even when we were encountered by cars reversing up off-ramps and trucks changing lanes at a whim.
After spending a lazy morning in our hotel getting things sorted (mainly an cable internet connection in the room - yeah!), we decided to hit the CBD and check out our surrounds. We ended up going for a decent half day's stroll which included a long and blustery walk along The Bund area, followed by a duck into the interesting and building-encroached 'laneway' Sichuan Nanlu from which we then joined up with the main street, Nanjing Donglu. Nanjing Donglu is described by the Lonely Planet Guide as Shanghai's (and perhaps China's) answer to London's Oxford Street or New York's 5th Avenue as a shopping venture. It was throbbing with retail and food stores. We spent a good part of the day wandering in and out of stores (skilfully avoiding the touts when possible), finding wonder in the smallest details, and never quite figuring out how to make a manageable path through the endless sea of people.
After picking up a SIM card for 
Lin's mobile phone, and assorted nibblies and drinks along the way, we eventually made our way down to Renmin (People's) Park. We thought the ¥2 entrance fee was a little steep particularly after we spent a good ¥20 each on a tiny glass of softdrink in Shanghai's No. 1 Department Store. This is in contrast to the 2 cans of cola and 4 large bottles of water bought in our hotel convenience shop for ¥18 total. So instead of taking in the surrounds of the potentially lovely park area, we found another suitable spot to sit down, eat, and to be approached by China's 1980's styled youth hairdressers (a sight to behold - they looked like a cross between The Cockroaches and an extra from E Street). From there we wandered back to our hotel through a little borough that appeared to contain any kind of electrical, electronic and scientific gadget (including microscopes!) on Earth. Electrical engineers & science nerds rejoice, a retail laneway for us!
One hangover from the day which will become tedious at a later stage will be the seemingly endless approaches from touts selling Rolex watches, shoes, jackets, the kitchen sink, etc. Choina is definitely a consumer society, well, at least they see any foreigner as a ravenous consumer. Mind you, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some certain items.
Better get back to it.
timmyb