Miranda swiveled her head around to look out the big window, which was 
partly painted over with colorful Coke ads and descriptions of blue plate 
specials. Yan'an Road, like all of the major thoroughfares in Shanghai, was 
filled, from
the shop windows on one side to the shop windows on the other, with people on 
bicycles and powerskates. In many places the traffic was so dense that greater 
speed could be attained on foot. A few half-lane vehicles sat motionless, 
polished boulders in a sluggish brown stream.