I've just made the last click on my computer, giving me my flight ticket to the Far East. I am finally going to Shanghai, a trip that I've always dreamt of.

What do I know about Shanghai? Not much really, except that it will host the World Expo 2010. In addition to that, I also know some historical facts like the foreign concessions – the French had one between 1849 and 1946 – or the bombings by the Japanese Army in 1937.

From a personal point of view, the only contact I have had so far with that city was my multiple readings of the comic book "Tintin and the Blue Lotus"...I can’t remember how many passionate hours I spent reading and looking at the drawings of the famous Hergé.

Like the young Belgian reporter a couple of decades ago, now it is my turn to discover this oriental city. My faithful companion in this adventure is my girlfriend Yichen, who is also the starting point of this trip since she is from Shanghai.

Ten hours after the plane left Helsinki, we arrived at the Pudong International Airport. I am about to get my first physical contact with China. From my experience of travelling to a new country or city, I know that my first impression of the place will determine how I feel about it: either I'll like it or I won’t, but usually I know it immediately.

Of course, it is hard to get the right impression of a city when the first thing you see is the airport. However, even at the airport, there was already one surprise for me. We were in Shanghai in May 2009, during the bird flu epidemic and had to pass through a gate that will check our body temperature. Around us, everyone is wearing a protective mask which made the whole thing feel like I was in a hospital and not in an airport.

After dealing with the entry procedures, we meet Yichen’s parents who are there waiting for us. After many warm hugs and some official introduction to the parents in the Shanghai dialect, we start to make our way to Yichen's home. According to Yichen’s father, we need to drive one hour, if the traffic jam wasn't bad.

Now I can really start to get a feel of Shanghai. Since I live in Finland, a country of 5 million people spread over a huge area, I am immediately stunned by the population density. There are people everywhere... in front of me... behind me... to my right... to my left... up and down… everywhere!

There were people everywhere in Shanghai. (Image: Radio86)Another major difference with Finland is the traffic. The expected one hour of driving has turned into an hour and a half... "Traffic is good today," says my father-in-law. Well, that is his point of view. As I lived years ago in Paris, I would say it is "fluid," the Parisian expression used to describe traffic on the Paris "périphérique."

As we drive into the city, two things really make an impression on me: the height of the buildings and the pollution. Shanghai’s buildings are really gigantic. A twenty-storey building would look like a tiny cottage next to Shanghai’s. Just one example, The World Financial Center, the highest building in China, is 492 meters high, one and a half times the Eiffel Tower… Regarding the pollution, just try to imagine what a city of 20 million people is able to produce in car exhausts, industrial fumes, and other environmentally-unfriendly things. It is easy to describe. You just can't see the sky clearly. There is permanent smog! Quite shocking when you are used to breathing the pure air of Finland…

Little by little, I become aware of another aspect of the city: the noise. Shanghai is definitely the noisiest city I have ever visited. Hoots, shouts, whistles from policemen, traffic… a never ending cacophony no matter what time of day or night.

Surprisingly, I can tell you I really love this city. My first impressions are good! Shanghai has passed the entrance examination to the list of cities that I like.

However, I still needed to form an impression of the Shanghai people.

Here again, my impression is very positive. I can take the example of how I have been welcomed by Yichen’s family as evidence. I don’t think a star would have got a better welcome than what I experienced. For the nine days I stayed in Shanghai, I have had the feeling I was an important person on an official visit.

But it was not just my girlfriend's family. Everyone I met welcomed me and seemed ready to do me favors. Now, a couple of months after the trip, I can't come up with even one instance of bad social interactions. I guess the fact that Yichen was next to me helped a lot and might have helped me avoid the misadventures that could happen to “typical” tourists. The only thing that really distubed me was that everyone stared at me. According to Yichen, this is not only because I am a westerner, it’s also because I am quite tall (1.93 meters high).

You just have to shop when you're in Shanghai. (Image: Radio86)Actually, my height proved to be quite a problem. I wanted to do some shopping – since prices are very low, you can’t resist shopping even if you're not a fan of such activities. I was just about ready to give up though, since my clothes size obviously seemed to not exist in Shanghai. Pushed by Yichen, I decided to try one last venture. And then, miracle of miracles, that shop has my size!After choosing some clothes, bargaining the price (Yichen’s mission) I was ready to put an end to my shopping nightmare…

Of course, every trip to a foreign country has its share of anecdotes that you tell your friends about when you come back. I'm not going to break this universal practice, so here are two of my favorites. Yichen and I wanted to take a cab to go back to home. I don’t know why, but that time, it was just impossible to catch one. We could have lain in the middle of the street and no one would stopped. So, we decided to take the bus. Of course, there was a huge crowd waiting at the bus stop.

We were starting to wonder if we would be able to jump in the next bus which is, by the way, the last bus of the day. Yichen was still trying too get a cab, and finally one car, an “unlicensed taxi” (a guy playing the taxi driver in order to earn some extra money), stops. Another person at the bus stop seems to be interested in using the cab. After Yichen, the other “client” and the driver end a kind of negotiation in a language I did not understand a word of, the four of us get in.

In the car, my three Chinese “companions” start to shout and yell at each other. I try to get some info from Yichen, but she made it clear that it was not a good moment to ask her as the “discussion” seemed to get more and more tense. I was basically preparing to jump out of the car at any moment. Fortunately, I didn't need to. The driver dropped us off at the place we agreed on. Yichen tells me the “discussion” was just about who was going to be dropped off first. All the shouting and yelling just for that!

My second anecdote revolves around the dangers of the road. When you're in Shanghai, you have to be careful and always look both ways before crossing the street. In Shanghai, scooters are electric, so it is totally impossible to hear them coming. And since they are also used to driving without headlights, the probability of meeting an accident while crossing the street is quite high. No sound, no light equal danger!

In keeping with my being French, and despite my great trip in Shanghai, I have to make one complaint. One thing which is really annoying in Shanghai is that you can not walk by yourself peacefully. You are always harassed by street sellers. It is impossible to walk more than 10 meters without being accosted by one of them!

But I want to make it clear that I loved Shanghai for all the things I experienced over there. I am looking forward for my next trip there... And I promise, I will tell you all about it.

Edited by: Geni Raitisoja