Maglev Ride

After 48 hours of travel time, I got to take the Maglev train from Pudong airport in outer Shanghai back into town. Maglev, of course, is short for magnetic levitation -- that's right, the train floats and is also one of the fastest trains in the world.

The ride reminded me of Thomas Friedman saying that going from an airport in the US to an airport in China is like traveling from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. We entered through a futurisic looking terminal and there were large luggage racks at the entrances where you could store all your bags. The train hit a high speed of 430kph, or about 270mph, and the ride was smooth and quiet the whole way. For the final quater of the trip it slowed to about 200kph, and at that speed it seemed like were were crawling at a snail's pace. The entire 19-mile trip lasted just about 7 minutes.