It may have been an unglamorous 15 hours from JFK to Shanghai in coach, but once on the ground, my transportation prospects improved significantly: I floated into the city levitating on a magnetic field at 260km/h.

The train that connects Shanghai’s Pudong International airport with the outskirts of its regular metro line was the first high-speed Maglev train to operate commercially in 2004. Not many have followed since, and that’s a shame, because the ride is smooth, fast and nearly silent (although I may actually prefer the fighter-jet hum of a nice Japanese shinkansen).

What’s also a shame is that the ride only lasts eight minutes, and only skips 10 stations on the Metro’s #2 line before plopping you at Longyang Rd. station-still on the eastern fringe of the city. From there you must hop the traditional underground Metro and its humdrum, ancient wheel-and-track drivetrain for access to central Shanghai. Boo. But the speed! Eight minutes to cover 26km is not bad at all. The train can top out at 430km/h on the ride, but mine only made it to 260km/h.

The smooth ride certainly aides in the jet decompression process-a process I’m now finalizing at the time of writing with a few beers and some dumplings before hitting the World Expo. Until then!

By the way, you may have noticed some gnarliness on the nosecone in the top photo. All I have to say is I’d hate to be the bird/squirrel/whatever that met its fate being introduced to a Maglev train’s face at 260km/h: