Shanghai is a huge municipality, with close to 20 million population, more than twice the density of Beijing's. I had been to Shanghai for a few times but only had enough time to finish business before getting on a plane. Shanghai to me was as new as anyone who had never been to the city.

After a day at Xitang and the World Expo, we had roughly two days to see something, with one of them spent with our host. Although we avoided stormy and rainy days, the temperatures and humidity remained high by Silicon Valley standard. Wherever we went, the streets were extremely clean and the skies were surprisingly blue. In addition to spending personal time with my cousin and the host family, we only managed to visit:
* Tianzifang (田子坊), an art street with creative and very Shanghai atmosphere. There is no shortage of high end, genuine quality goods that blend traditional Chinese with modern twists. Bring your credit cards!
* Yu Garden (豫园) where we had no time to see the gardens but were bombarded with tourists and only had time to sample the famous steamed buns (小笼包 @南翔馒头店), stuffed glutenous balls (宁波汤圆), and a local specialty - freshly baked meat filled moon cake (肉月饼), in time for the Mid Autumn Festival.
* Shanghai Museum houses some impressive collections. It kept us from 38°C heat for 5 hours,
* Walking along The Bund, where historical and new hotels and banks and TV tower made up the famous Shanghai skyline

We later took an overnight express train from Shanghai to Beijing. It took us 10 hours covering ~ 1200km, and it cost about 750 Yuan which is about US$120 for a First Class bed on lower level. The train was very comfortable and a way to save a night at the hotel and craziness at the airport. The anticipated bullet train promises a travel time of less than 4 1/2 hours between the two cities.