Apple obsession & Lujiazui

Adam has always had an interest and love for China.  Interested in the business, the culture, the growth, the people... so, when we began discussing this assignment Adam was so supportive with much excitement and anticipation because he knew he would have the opportunity to see it first hand.  Now of course he was supportive for many other reasons, but we were pretty happy to have the opportunity to experience this interesting place.  When we have discussed vacations or places we would like to travel, I don't know how many times I said lets go explore Europe - Paris, Rome, Greece; Adam's response was always not until we go to China.  China first.

Well, here in begins Adam's exploration of this place.

Adam also likes Apple. The business side of course (well, and the products - love the iPad!), so aside from following the stock, he had the opportunity to watch the store while he was here!  In the building connected to my apartment is one of the 4 Apple stores in China. There are currently 1.3 BILLION people and 4 stores; 2 in Shanghai and 2 in Beijing.  A quote from City Weekend - a local weekly magazine - "40,000 - the number of customers who visit China's Apple Store per day.  That's four times the average for the company's American stores."  High demand! Over the course of his trip we visited 3 of 4 of the stores and even got to witness the release of the iPad 2 and White iPhone.  The photo below is outside the store connected to my building - and you can see the people all in the queue and security about every 10 yards.  I think this was white iPhone release - he was loving it!

Adam outside Apple in Shanghai

Adam arrived around 9pm Friday, so I needed to keep him awake and moving all day Saturday so that  he could adjust to the 12 hour time difference as quickly as possible.  So, we went exploring.

It was a fairly clear day, so I decided it would be good to take him over to the Pudong side of the river to see the big buildings - the new Shanghai.  We jumped on the metro and headed to the first stop across the river, Lujiazui.  The public transportation in Shanghai, mostly metro, is another favorite of Adam's - and not just the cheap cost, the people watching and cultural aspect of it too - but you can't beat the cost - maximum of 4 RMB per ride, thats less than a buck! So right as you exit the metro stations at Lujiazui, you are engulfed by the tallest buildings in Shanghai.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower

Adam with the SWFC, Jin Mao, and new building being built (see cranes)

Adam with Puxi building in back, plus the Super Brand Mall to the left

Apple store #2 - the largest in China, its all under ground though!

view of all the bicycles lining the street - where are all the people?

Adam in the Super Brand Mall - a funny name for a mall
but pretty accurate - 6 floors of most stores you can think of

view from the street
Jin Mao in foreground, SWFC in background

They are building a structure that will surpass the SWFC
supposed to be done around 2014 - got a long way to go!

After a wonderful lunch at Din Tai Fung, we decided to check out the observatory in the Shanghai World Financial Center, the tallest building in Shanghai.  Adam does not love heights, so we opted for the 94th floor observatory - although the 100th floor offers a glass floor - maybe I can get one of guests to brave it up there!

view of 94th floor of SWFC - a little hazy

window washers outside 94th floor
Adam was not interested in that line of work!

Adam with the Jin Mao
I've always wanted to do a picture like this!

We had a great day seeing New Shanghai - Adam still needed a nap though!  After 24 hours of traveling and having your time flipped upside down, I couldn't blame him.