So this is the 3rd day in China and I thought I would write a quick update as to how things have been going!
First things first I will let you know that the flight made it (of course) with only a 3 hour delay at Dubai airport, So can't complain too much although it did mean we missed the Welcome dinner. (ah well, got the leftovers sent to our room!)
After that we got stuck in straight away Monday morning with a lecture on Shanghai and its archetectural and general history. A truly fascinating talk and the main thing that completely shocked me was the shear amount of extreme construction going on in Shanghai! Every time I became fascinated by a near impossible building the next slide would uncover an even more extravagant one, some of true beauty! (true nerdy Civil Engineer coming out in me!). Shanghai alone seems to make all of the construction projects in the UK pale in comparison, not to even think about the whole of China. This was a great introduction to Shanghai and set expectations high as to what to expect when out and about!
We then moved on to a pretty rapid introduction to Chinese which was taught well even if in the Chinese repetitive fashion, which I found needs a fair amount of work outside of "class" to get it to stick in my brain but saying that it must be working as I am starting to pick up more and more! We also started our Calligraphy classes writing old style Chinese characters with brush and ink - Very soothing although none of mine will be going on my wall just yet .. Although there is a definite determination to make one good enough for that purpose in my time here!
After a very troublesome nights sleep (First experience of Jet Lag - Ahhh) we started on the first day of Trips. Visiting the Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai museum of Urban Planning, the Shanghai Tunnel Museum, Yu Gardens & the market just outside. We also got our first glymps of the Pudong Skyline (including some of those amazing buildings from the presentations, & one of my favorite buildings, the Shanghai World Financial Center, fittingly surrounded by mist as if the skyline was just boasting about it's shear epic proportions). All of these were amazing places to visit showing off the ingenuity of the ancient Chinese and the never ending thirst for improvement of the modern Chinese city along with seeing the beauty of the gardens and bustle of the markets. 
We also managed to make our own way to the Bund on the evening to see some of those massive buildings I have been mentioning and the Melting Pot of architecture that can be found in this area (Literally from all over the world!) which was a really interesting sight on an evening and a great opportunity to get a good few photo's!
All in all I have been enjoying China so much I haven't really managed to form proper opinions about it or put them into words as it stands but I am just enjoying keeping an open mind, observing and getting involved in what ever I can. This is how I plan to keep it and maybe by the end I will have a valid oppinion and some closing words to say! So until next time 再见 (Zàijiàn)!
