Shanghai-Oh it's loud. Been living here for 5 months. Can't say I love it. Coming from Australia which was quiet and peaceful with terrific weather and natural scenery, one could understand how Shanghai is a slap in the face. It's also different in terms of culture and civilization from Taiwan. The people here are rough, salt of the earth types. Can't blame em tho, they've been poor for a long time, and many of them (even in rich Shanghai) still are. It's loud, dirty, and crowded. The noise is the thing that bothers me the most. It's just a case of noise for the sake of noise. And as everyone in the city has grown up with it they seem more or less impervious to it. People yell in the metro when 'talking' on the phone; buses, cars and scooters honk incessantly even when the road is clear. The sounds in the metro when doors close, announcements made, and directions given, would wake the dead. Schools blast music over loud speakers early in the morning and in the afternoon during lunch. Guys hawking CD's blare them non-stop on street corners. The list goes on.

The people aren't friendly, they're just living. That's not to say they're rude, they just want to transact and be done with you. There are 1 billion more people waiting. That makes travel unpleasant as well.

Anyway, I'm here and its a very social city with lots of foreigners/bars/restaurants. So fun can be had. More to come soon.