On Top of the World

(Sandy)

Monday March 29

Hi Everyone!!

Today was actually a comparatively slow day for me. I had a few unscheduled hours to use as I wished! So... I will tell you a little about yesterday in Shanghai and my trip to the top of the third tallest building in the world (Shanghai World Financial Center). When I was here 9 years ago, the tallest in Shanghai was the "Jetson Family-looking" Oriental Pearle TV Tower... today it is the third and soon to be the fourth. Construction of the tallest in the world is well underway. The Shanghai World Financial Center is an awesome sight. You gaze upward in disbelief that it is a real building. The Sky Walk is on the 100th floor, 474m above the ground level. I was told that the elevator zooms to the top at eight meters a second....and that it takes only about a minute and a half to reach the top. (I'm not doing the math!!) The Sky Walk offers a trek across an observation deck that is glass on three sides. It has a partial glass floor which is heart-stopping for those who are afraid of heights. Looking straight down 100 floors to the busy streets below one can see the dwarfed Bund, the comparatively short Jin Mao Building (second tallest in Shanghai),and of course the tiny old Pearle Tower.

The other really cool thing that happened to me in Shanghai occurred at an unexpected stop at an art gallery. While I was purchasing a book on paper-cutting, the sales person and I began to chat and I told her that I was an art teacher. All of a sudden she called to another person in the store and Li Shou Bai, a famous paper cutter, showed up at the counter. Through an interpretor he asked if I had some time to spare...and began creating a paper cut of a butterfly. He allowed me to film him at work and then signed and dated the piece and gave it to me! Until I read his bio in a magazine, I did not know of his great achievements and his gold award as "Best Paper Cut Master in Virtue and Skill". He is also the director of a number of impressive Shanghai Cultural and Artist Associations. Li Shou Bai  creates in other media as well. I wish I had had more time to investigate his other work. Time is always an issue here...there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything you'd like.  Best to all, Sandy