We are glad to see the coverage World AIDS Day has received.

It has been very organized in China. The main ceremonies were in Beijing, but there was also a large one here in Shanghai, on the main downtown shopping thoroughfare of Nanjing Road. Nanjing Road is six miles of stores, the last mile of which leads almost to the Bund and is a pedestrian mall paved with marble, lit up at night, vehicle free and very popular. It was along this mile that the ceremony was held--we watched the set-up, and saw hundreds of older teens in white medical-type coats with little red ribbons on their lapels wearing red hats or white visors saying World Aids Day as they were preparing for the event. There were registration tables set up all around to dispense information, and a stage had been erected, the size used for a rock concert, with huge speakers and tons of red lanterns. Hundreds of black folding chairs were set out.

As we mentioned, the main ceremony was in Beijing, at the Great Hall of the People. For the first time ever in China, which has been in denial about its HIV and AIDS problem, an HIV carrier spoke before a crowd of top health officials, experts and students. His message was "We want to love and be loved."

The theme of the international campaign this year, which is to promote awareness, to educate the populace about AIDS and prevention, and to reduce the stigma associated with it, thereby encouraging those affected to seek treatment, is "Live and Let Live." The campaign will last a month.

There are now over one million AIDS/HIV patients in China. The number is expected to increase to 10 million by 2010. The primary cause of AIDS in China is dirty needles.

Former President Bill Clinton has an op-ed in today's New York Times: AIDS Is Not a Death Sentence.

"Historians will look back on our time and see that our civilization spends many millions of dollars educating people about the scourge of H.I.V. and AIDS, which has already taken 25 million lives and could infect 100 million people over the next eight years. But what they will find not so civilized is our failure to treat 95 percent of people with the disease."

"Given that medicine can turn AIDS from a death sentence into a chronic illness and reduce mother-to-child transmission, our withholding of treatment will appear to future historians as medieval, like bloodletting."

It's Sunday just past dawn in Shanghai. We're off for our morning walk -- today we are starting at the historical Peace Hotel on the Bund , a few blocks from our new and shiny hotel.

"For decades, the Bund has been the center of Shanghai in economy and finance. A number of tall buildings stand alongside the Huangpu River like a multinational architectural show. Among them, Peace Hotel, with its Characteristic of the green pyramid, enjoys a glamorous attraction of the passers-by. The Peace Hotel faces the developing Pudong new area and soaring Orient Pearl TV Tower over the Huangpu River, and next to the Nanjing Road Shopping Area."

From the Shanghai website:

"Shanghai, the largest city in China, attracts people at home and abroad like a magnet. People come here for its culture, its history, its people and all the vigor and vitality it shows in its rush to international metropolis status. Like a pearl set in the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, Shanghai is the showcase of China's fast growth and a bonanza of tourist attractions, business opportunities and cultural activities..."

We'll be back sporadically throughout the day. We'll try to take some photos to upload. Looks like there will be some sun today. By the way, we love visiting at this time of year--the temperature is in the high 50's, cool and breezy but never cold. Light jacket (not sweatshirt or coat) weather.

Through James Capozzola's TRR we found the Religion Test . The test is like the gender test lots of bloggers have taken lately (we came out 86% female on that one). Here are the results of our religion test, indicating which religions most match our answers:

1. Reform Judaism (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (87%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (85%)
4. Bahá'í Faith (76%)
5. Sikhism (75%)
6. Islam (70%)
7. Orthodox Judaism (70%)

We were struck by the apparent closeness of the belief systems of Islam and Judaism, an assertion also made by reputable texts on the subject (we wouldn't take the word of an online test). As to what that means or portends for the future of either group in the middle east, we're not even remotely qualified to render an opinion, so we won't.