Look at this crazy place I found in Shanghai!

This was inside one of the many government buildings. It was a multi-story complex dedicated to the past, present, and future of Shanghai. It was filled with multimedia presentations on the water systems, photo exhibits of the Bund under British control, and video extrapolations of what the city would become in 2020.

Of all these cool things, the best was this gigantic model of Shanghai. I walked around it about five times, trying to get some kind of sense of how to photograph the dang thing. Then, finally, I decided to grab a shot that included a few tourists to show the scale of this monstrosity.

By the way, thanks so much for all the interest in the Newsletter yesterday! I put a map on that page showing where all the early subscribers are coming from. I was, frankly, surprised how many people signed up! Now the pressure is on to deliver something that is worthwhile!

Filed under the categories: China, Nikon D2XS, Shanghai, Travel

I crossed under the river one night from the Bund to get a closer look at the Oriental Pearl Tower. There was a cool fountain at the bottom and no tourists around.

This is a good thing, since it is always hard to make tourists look “cool” in photos. No matter what, everyone ends up looking like a gawking Rick Steves. Speaking of which, his travel series on PBS called “Europe through the Back Door” always gave me cause for concern.

Filed under the categories: China, Nikon D2XS, Shanghai, Travel

It was well after sundown when I finished some meetings, so I went down to the Bund to take some shots across the river of Shanghai. Even in the middle of the night, the river was full of boats coming and going, all lit up with various festive colors. Everything had an electric feel and I very much enjoyed walking up and down the river as the lights changed and new boats came and went…

Filed under the categories: China, Nikon D2XS, Shanghai, Travel

Shanghai looks huge and amazing no matter what side of the river you are visiting! I think I went back and forth 8 times to see it from one angle then the next as the sun was setting. There is this electric train that goes in a tube under the water that is surrounded with enough flashing neon to send the average Japanese kid into seizures. It’s all fantastic and electric — and both banks were covered every night with people admiring the view… Normally I don’t like tourists in my shots, but this one was kind of about the viewers of the city viewing the city.

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

Shanghai! What a crazy cool place… It has 200% the energy and activity of New York… Very fun and exciting. It was good to have a local group of friends to show me the best haunts… of course I was a bit of a drain since I had to carry my camera around… but… comon of course!

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

This was shot on the Bund in Shanghai inside a small but nice building that had a few high-end stores. I thought the chairs and couch had a nice texture and shape near the rich decor, so I had to set up for a quick shot!

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

This is shot from the old British part of Shanghai called the Bund. The rain was bitter rough that night and I was on the roof, but I managed to get in position and stay dry enough (for a moment) for this one.

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

Here is booming downtown Shanghai after dusk with a lit pirate ship crossing the river…

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

Shot from the Bund…

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

A crystal clear day in Shanghai… I had to whip out the camera for the occasion!

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

Every night around dusk the lights come on all over Shanghai as the new Chinese carry around their Prada purses, their D&G belts, and check their stocks on their mobiles.

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

Here is a shot from the Bund of Shanghai. It shows the new area of Pudong surrounding the river. I usually don’t do creative re-imagining of these places, but I had some extra time and was really bored last night in the hotel!

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

I happened to be in China exactly one year before the Olympics and the entire country is in an excited maelstrom over the upcoming Olympics in Beijing.

I also was very lucky to meet and talk to Dou Dou Huang ( his profile here ) who is a world renowned dancer and one of China’s shining stars. He was part of a dance troupe that was doing some choreography and preparing for a big ceremony tonight that will take place at the Oriental Pearl tower in Shanghai.

I was taking a lot of shots of the performance, moving around from spot to spot. The big finale of the performance is when Dou Dou Huang breaks out of the other dancers, grabs ahold of a cable hanging from high above, and does this death-defying jump about 20 feet into the air, riding up the Beijing 2008 banner in a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon move.

Dou Dou and his wife dolly were very nice and spoke perfect English. He told me that he was just in New York where he was in charge of choreography at the Met. I told him that was no big deal because I did the same thing 10 times last week. His wife was really cool too. Her name was Dolly. She gave me "their" card and it said "Dolly and Dou Dou" with their email address.

Since he was such a great performer, I tried to impress him by singing a song that I learned about China on one of my favorite shows, When the Whistle Blows. I had the chocolate cake and everything.

You can see below if you zoom in that his silhouette is the exact same shape as the Beijing 2008 logo. I don’t know if he held his body like that on purpose or if I caught it just right… but amazing nonetheless!

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

Here is a shot of Shanghai – the Pudong new area from across the Bund. A diamondvision floats by, showing the Chinese the latest consumer product of aspirational value.

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

I can’t believe the size of Shanghai. Not only is the current size unlike anything I have ever seen, but the current construction will dwarf it’s current state, currently.

They don’t call it "capitalism" – they call it "market economy". Whatever they call it, you don’t see people reading Mao’s Little Red Book any more.

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel

On the way to meet some friends on the Bund in Shanghai, I came across this cool martini bar so I grabbed a quick shot. I thought the lights and colors inside were really slick.

Filed under the categories: China, Shanghai, Travel