Soft Sleeper

From Jinan to Shanghai we traveled in style. Jackie, the director of International Affairs at SUAD, managed to get a us a free upgrade on the train to the soft sleeper class. I'm not a seasoned rail traveler (thanks to the US for having the worst passenger rail system of any developed nation), but I thought our four person private sleeper compartment was awesome. It beats every plane and bus I've been on hands down. The steady quiet rhythm put me right to sleep. No honking, no swerving, no ear popping, no turbulence, no pooping babies, no barfing ladies... the only casualty was a lost paperback book. I left my book on my bunk, stepped off the train and turned right around to get it. In the 60 seconds it took me to get back to my bunk, someone had already snagged the book. Who would want an English book? It's a small loss, but I was really enjoying Kingsolver's commentary on American food culture.
We arrived in Shanghai to the find ourselves booked in a super modern, western style high rise hotel suite. I have no idea how we can afford to stay here, but I'm not complaining. We must be getting an amazing group discount.
The cityscape is remarkable, and we have an excellent view of it from our 14th floor suite. I wouldn't call it beautiful, but that's just my aesthetic. It is a strange patchwork of old two story, tile roofed houses and giant glass and steel sky scrapers. Some of the architecture is very bizarre. You can expect to see some photos and hopefully a few sketches posted soon.