I just arrived in Shanghai. For part of my journey from the airport (which is impressive) to my hotel I used Shanghai's Maglev (non-contact Magnetic Elevation and propulsion). I didn't know there was such a thing here before I arrived and now I know that it's supposed to be the fastest in the world.

The instructions of the IEEE SCC 04 organisers suggested that we take a taxi from the airport. I don't like taxis so when I saw from the signs at the airport that there was such a train as an option, I didn't think twice. It's the fastest I travelled on ground!!! The train had a display with the speed. I didn't really know (until afterwards when I searched on the web its top speed) so imagine my surprise when it kept accelerating past 200 km/h, past 300 km/h, past 400 km/h, to reach a speed of 431 km/h (that's 268 mph) for about 6-7 mins when the track ended and we reached our destination!!! And it wasn't only travelling at a straight line at that speed. Oh no... it was taking turns as well giving us a fantastic view of the landscape. Great experience!