its easy to mistake shanghai for paradise. If you go as a tourist or expat, chances are you didn't see the 'real' shanghai. It is a amazing place full of riches, but like every major city, its also full of poverty and it being china, it can be harsh. I was mostly at the nice parts and expensive places because of who I was visiting, but I did get to see some of the less grand areas, and its dirty and still old china. I liked shanghai a lot, but would love to experience it more as a local and less as an expat. I was slightly disgusted at times by the expats living in china because of their attitue towards the workers and the place they are taking for granted.

sohi, did you go to other places besides shanghai?