Say not that this life has been uneventful, nor that I dared not risk uncertainties on a lark and a whim. Who can predict the coursing currents along the river of life? Without previous intention, some how I find my way back to Shanghai. It has been eight years exact since I last passed these parts. With the rapid pace of frenzied development, I’m certain much has changed. Having stepped off the MagLev, the air smelled…industrial, despite the gentle down pour of spring rain. The sparser commercial lighting all lit aglow in the outer suburbs, reflecting off the wet streets into a tapestry of neon and advertisements. It was all an expected welcome from this famed mega-city.
Having arrived on a lengthy trans-Pacific flight into the night rain, there was not much to be done except find food and make headway to the hostel. Additionally, as I hadn’t slept due to the last minute rush of preparations for the trip, I immediately fell sound asleep upon arrival.