Next Door

If I didn't already know it, there was the discovery today that Shanghai really is next door. The alarm clock wasn't set so I woke up later than I wanted to; at about six minutes past seven to be precise and splashed water on my face, brushed my teeth, threw on my cleanest dirty shirt and a couple of other things, packed my laptop and rushed downstairs into a taxi and on to Suzhou train station because my train was at 7.56 a.m.

Less than an hour later I was in Shanghai and it was into the underground and down to Henshang Lu. Now, some of you might know Hengshang Lu, which is, for me, one of the nicest parts of Shanghai. It is where the French Concession was. So there was me, about one and a half hours after leaving Suzhou's Jin Jie Hu Lu, strolling down this very European part of Shanghai, looking for a fry up and a cup of good coffee. In the end I made my way down to Shanxi Nan Lu for the good coffee and a nice sandwich, the wireless connection, buying "The Shanghai Daily" and "The China Daily" on the way. Shanghai really is next door and I am getting the train back at 5.35 p.m.

The picture above was taken getting on the D-train, which gets you from Suzhou to Shanghai in less than forty minute. The first class ticket costs 31 rmb, which is about 2.95 Euros.