Is Shanghai really the city of my dreams? If not, it comes pretty close to it. The city, well the greater part of it, is decidedly eclectic, enigmatic and something very different. That mix of old and new, modern and classical, ephemeral and pragmatic. And, that's on the surface of it. As a visitor, that's perhaps as much as I may get.

There exists there an urbaneness that, thus far, I have only found in Paris and Tokyo and, perhaps Montreal and Cape Town. By comparison, London and New York are "gritty" - "abrasive" for want of another word. I'm not particularly well travelled so, opinions may vary.

My first visit to Shanghai was in April 1994. Not exactly a life time away but, the transition - from that time to this - has been stupendous. At that time about the only skyscraper of note was the Pearl Orient Tower. In fact, it may have been the only major building on the Pudong. Aside from a collection of some of the the tallest buildings in the world, Shanghai now has the largest mass transport system in the world. At that time, there was nothing - just people commuting on bicycles.

Since then, I have made several more visits to Shanghai. And, every time, the place always amazes me. It's more about the people than much else. But, let's let the pictures tell the story...