View from SWFC looking towards the Huangpu River. There's a saying that the way up is harder than the way down, but the view is from the top. Well, this is one view from the top that you don't have to work at, not even to lift a finger to press the elevator button. Instead you are escorted by an attractive stewardess on a flight of fancy in a futuristic bullet-capsule, complete with mood-changing lights, that takes you to the observation deck on the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Centre. Here you can drink in the breathtaking view of the city studded with skyscrapers of all architectural flavours. After your photo ops and kodak moments, you can pick up your mementos, including a bottle opener shaped like the building. Yes, the SWFC is affectionally nicknamed the Bottle Opener by the natives.

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Sussing out the goodies in a pedestrian tunnel. While the above-ground economy booms, the subterranean counterpart in the below-ground linkways at busy road junctions is also thriving. These urban bazaars provide a bare-bones living for enterprising locals as well as itinerant traders from far flung provinces like Xinjiang, Tibet and Mongolia. Operating like guerrilla marketers, they pop up here, there and everywhere, sometimes under the very noses of the authorities. Spreading their wares on sidewalks, overhead pedestrian crossings and underground passages by day, these smooth operators melt away by night. Perhaps city zoning is enforced with a light touch because these activities are not particularly disruptive to the legit biz, and they help prop up the lower-end economy with affordable staples. No overheads for these baubles, bangles and beads.

Cathedrals of consumption tower over the pedestrian traffic. Located off the Bund, Nanjing Lu is a shopping street reserved strictly for human traffic, except for a mini train that takes shoppers from one end to the other, and electric police buggies. With a history stretching back to the Opium War era when it became a conduit for foreign goods, Nanjing Lu is the go-to place for luxury imports, attracting tourists and locals alike. Shoppers can shop till they drop.... into some comfy seats in the many restaurants and cafes to refuel. Sidewalk benches and concrete planter boxes provide more basic respite for the shopper on safari. On your lucky evening, you might chance upon some live jazz sax-player on an upstairs balcony, stirring visions of old Bai Le Men. A foot patrol sends out all the positive vibes. Wind down the day with an evening stroll.

Iconic towers vie for your attention on the Pudong side of the river. Shanghai is built on the banks of the Huangpu River which flows into the estuary of the mighty Yangzijiang (the Yangtze River). A leisurely cruise down the river lets you admire the soaring skyscrapers, among which the Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Building and Shanghai World Financial Centre were the world's tallest till dethroned by newer builds. Facing off on the opposite bank is the historic Bund with its colonial era architecture. Interspersed on both banks are gleaming condos, hotels and office-mall complexes. This spectacular lineup is punctuated by picturesque old factories, warehouses and quays bustling with the day's business. As you soak in the splendour, your cruiser weaves through an endless stream of barges, launches and small coastal ships. There used to be waterborne electronic billboards beaming their enticing out-of-home messages straight to the riverside residents. Then you might also...

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Shopping boulevards keep shopaholics suitably inebriated. In a culture where face is everything, Huaihai Lu and its cousin pedestrian street Nanjing Lu let you play oneupmanship against other haves or have-mores, or even the have-mosts. Wallet-busting establishments of conspicuous consumption line both sides of the street offering signature buys of the rich and famous. New money or old money it gets you all the status stamping your lusting heart can desire. Here and there, and in the side streets, wannabe places cater to those who prefer indulgence lite.

All in a day's work. Talk about a hard day in your climate-controlled cubicle! These folks literally have to eat noodles by the sweat of their brows. Through the millennia neither war nor famine, earthquake or flood or whatever catastrophe that man or nature can cast their way, these descendants of the dragon have triumphed over all. It's written in your 8 numbers of fate. Take it as it comes.