It had to be done. The Shanghai World Finance Centre is 100 floors high. There is a huge gap in it, between the 95th and 100th floors, which makes it look like an enormous tent peg from across the river. For RMB150 each they will put you in a elevator and take you to the top of the third highest building in the world.

In fact, they bow politely and say something charming in Chinese as the doors close. It’s rather disconcerting, as if you are about to be shot to the stars from the top as part of the solution to population pressure. Of course, the doors open again on smiling faces welcoming you onwards and upwards.

At the very top the views must be astonishing on a clear day. (Does Shanghai have clear days any more?) Even today you get a magnificent vista across Shanghai, the confluence of the Suzhou Creek into the Huangpu, and the ludicrous bauble that is the China TV tower.