Hey Doc

WOW is all I can describe the experience riding the Maglev, short for Magnatic Levitation Train. (Learn more here). Did I mentioned that I got a job ? OK, The design team for the group which I work for is located in Shang Hai, China. To better understand the product, I was sent to Shang Hai for a week of training. Maglev that connects the PuDong Airport to Shang Hai suburb is supposedly the first commercial use of this technology in the world. This track was built in 2002, stretches 30 km between PuDong Airport and Shang Hai, well, not quite all the way to downtown Shang Hai, which I don't understand why. From the LongYang Station, the #2 Transrapid Line will take you to the downtown.
That 30 km (18.6 miles) journey took only 7.5 minutes, reaching a top speed of 450 km/hr (280 miles !! That is faster then the race cars at Indy500). Although the train is capable of a top speed of 310 miles/hr but because of the distance of this track, the train has to start decelerate before it reaches the top speed. When we were going at 350 km/hr, another train came from the opposite direction passed us. All I felt was a "thum" and a blurred object passing. Think about this, the relative speed between the two train was 700 km/hr (435 miles/hr).
I got back to Taipei last night. The weather really feels like Winter now. All I did in the 10 days in Shang Hai was eat and at work, no exercise at all. The street there is just not suitable for running. My first visit of Shang Hai was in 1993. Back then, there wasn't any freeway or subway. PuDong was just a old community. Things has changed so much. China is a giant slowly waking up.