Dan's China diary - day 9

In May 2006, silicon.com senior reporter Dan Ilett travelled to China, seeking to get behind some of today's most interesting tech and business stories. This is his warts-and-all diary, which appears daily this month. For in-depth coverage of this fact-finding trip inside China, including analysis and exclusive stories, click here.

Sunday 14 May, Shanghai

It's a crisp sunny day in Beijing and also my last.

Spent last night walking around town. I'm aware that Beijing and the other big cities are nothing like the majority of China but I still like what I've seen here.

It's a big brash city with an almost mechanical, clunky feel to it. There's an undercurrent of chaos in the streets you can never prepare yourself for but every now and then you get a glimpse of the government's controlling hand in action.

But it's much more open and friendly than I'd expected. I know I'm a newcomer and don't understand the society anywhere near as well as a Chinese person but kindness is universal and I've seen a lot of it here. People often stop to talk, to ask questions or tell me about Beijing's fascinating history. Some of them have gone out of their way to show me around and welcome me into their homes when they have very little to show. It's a shame it's a fleeting visit but a week is better than nothing and I'm grateful to have been here.

Check out of the hotel and fly to Shanghai.

Shanghai looks different from Beijing - there are more high-rise buildings, which gives it a look of a younger New York. It's so much more developed than I'd thought it would be.

The cab pulls up to the hotel. It's so quiet here that the bell boys are playing football against the security guards - nothing like the party town I'd been led to believe Shanghai is. I think I'm in the middle of nowhere - the wrong place for Shanghai.

I cancel the booking, leave the hotel and get back into the cab. Question is, where next? Fortunately I have a friend in Shanghai who owns a bar - I call Kit and he puts me onto his friend Andy, a tour guide in the area, who directs the taxi driver to his neighbourhood.

I wait for Andy in a restaurant, which is more of a Hong Kong-style greasy spoon café. The waitresses look at me strangely as I stare even more bewildered at the tanks of live fish and lobsters. Someone places an order for fish and the waitress shoves a net in the tank and carries it to the kitchen. You don't get much fresher than that.

Personally I find hotels pretty sterile places. But Andy finds me a cheap and cheerful motel down the road from his place and, more importantly, near Kit's bar. I feel a bit like Alan Partridge staying in a motel - I even catch myself starting to sing 'Goldfinger' as I'm walking down the corridor but manage to stop.

After checking in, I go to meet Kit - an old mate from my university days in Japan. I haven't seen him in eight years. Not much has changed with Kit except now he owns a bar here, which means he can be more picky about the seven or eight girlfriends he usually has, the scoundrel. His bar, the Eager Beaver, used to have a reputation as a bit of a rock and roll joint but he's changing the theme of the place. It's good to see him after all this time.

Later I head out to see some more of the colourfully lit city but can't stay awake so go back to Partridge's palace to crash.

Come back tomorrow as Dan starts the working week overhearing some talk about the rollout of 3G in China.