Shanghai is Sinking

 Our tour guide in Shanghai, Chris, told us that the city is sinking. I made a note of this and on researching it found a good article from ABC which appeared last summer. The collapsing water table is to blame. At one point the city was sinking at a rate of 4 inches per year. Here's a link to the ABC article if you're interested: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=120074&page=1

The story mentions the Huangpu river and the Bund, which we have previously posted about. I said that the area reminded me somewhat of the New Orleans River Walk. We saw lots of Chinese tourists there taking pictures and enjoying the skyline. Shanghai has been called the "oriental Paris," and today is the financial capital of China. While Bejing spreads out and out and out, Shanghai goes up and up with numerous skyscrapers and more on the way, as the construction boom attests.

The "oriental pearl" television tower has come to symbolize Shanghai (you see it on lots of postcards) and is the 3rd largest tv tower in the world.  Alice said that it was comparable to the Statue of Liberty in New York City which explains the long lines of tourists waiting for their turn to get an elevator up the the observation level -- that, and it has a great view. For more information, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Pearl_Tower
~Peggy