I thought Maglev was the name of a place. I chose the Maglev train excursion because I love trains and ships and boats and any kind of ride oh, except Ferris wheels and roller coasters. Well, what a great train ride I had yesterday! Maglev is short for magnetic levitation and I just had the fastest land ride of my life, at 431 kilometres per hour. I travelled from the Shanghai station to the airport 8 miles away in 8 minutes. Beautiful. I could see the scenery out the windows because they're fitted with high-tech "decelerating glass" so that the landscape doesn't fizz by. This I know because we went into a small museum at the terminal before we returned to or bus and learned how the magic works. It begins with a brief history and the first passenger coaches moving at the speed of a horse's locomotion.

It's sort of like a hovercraft. The train rides about ten inches off its "track", no wheels involved, and ecologically friendly. The fare is nine US dollars, one-way. This is the longest and fastest passenger train on earth. It is hoped that this mode can be developed into a full public (low-cost) transportation system in China to accommodate its vast population.

WoW

It has warmed up a bit and I could have had my outdoor swim yesterday but I had to catch a train. But I pedalled. I've been using a recumbent bicycle in the gym for several days, reading a mystery as I pedal. Then I found the sauna. It's a steam bath, really, which I prefer, but my Finnish roommate calls it a wet sauna. I had to hurry so as not to miss the afternoon Trivial Pursuit game, followed by martinis with my team-mates. (We came in second.)

I'm busy. If I didn't get up early in the morning I wouldn't have time for my blog. But I intend to come up with a first draft of a synopsis and an outline for a new screen play. More sailing time like today should help. We're cruising the Yellow Sea, not due to arrive at Beijing until 11 a.m. tomorrow.

I can't seem to bring words and pictures together. I think I managed to post a picture I took of Shanghai as we were coming into harbour. It was a bright, cool day and we had a fabulous view of incredible buildings as we were tugged into a mooring. An Asian American next to me said he had first come to Shanghai in 1983 when it was all rice paddies. I was here in 1996 and came in by boat coming in from a three-day cruise on the Yangzte River. Shanghai wasn't nearly the city then that Hong Kong was. In the last ten years it has become the financial hub of Asia, with a population of 23 to 27 million (the figure varies according to the guide you talk to).

I took a Shanghai-by-night excursion and it was dazzling. The architecture is stunning and brilliantly illuminated. We walked around to see a pedestrian street. The lights and the crowd made me think of Blade Runner - remember that movie? I was afraid to stray far from the guide and I asked bus-mates to notice if I was missing (I'm still slow with my bad foot). The mass intelligence of a group of tourists is only slightly higher than that of a sulky four-year-old, resistant to suggestions. They should be supplied with a long leash with handles on either side so they can go two-by-two and never get lost.

The heart of the financial district is studded with skyscrapers, monuments to the world's banks. We stopped at an 88-story building for viewing and photo-ops. My foot was not up to it, nor my head (vertigo), so I stayed in the bus, but my caregivers shared their pix with me: several of a view down through the central cone of the building which caused curly feelings in the balls of my feet just looking at it. I also saw pictures of the night lights of the city taken from up there. A fellow shipmate with whom I usually have dinner took the day tour. She said that when she was looking aroiund and down, she found herself looking UP at a 128-story building and two window washers suspended above her, busy polishing.

This morning I'm going on the Maglev train to the airport, a speed trip of 8 minutes one way. I am told that the 88-story view is on the itinerary. I'm sorry, but I can't go up there.

I'm going more lightly this trip, saving fewer souvenirs, trying to absorb and layer new impressions over old ones. That sounds as if I am orderly. Not. I'm as jumbled as ever but I find I can remember only so much and it has to fit in with my scheme of things. It's easier this way. It's probably because I'm so old.