Trip to Shanghai
Shanghai was awesome but man am I glad to be back! Trying to jam so many sights into a 4 day trip is exhausting work.
[Day 1]
We spent the first day exploring the old city and hanging out by the Huangpu River. There was so much to see in the old city: quant little shops filled with incredibly cheap stuff like silk items, artistic tea pots, chinese fans in different shades of the rainbow. It was like stepping back 100 years in time.
The old city of Shanghai
In the evening we took a sightseeing cruise up and down the Huangpu River just as the sun was setting. The views were spectacular. For dinner we went to this really shady place on Nanjing Rd (the touristy shopping district). The usher was this girl dressed in traditional Chinese attire who led us down a really creepy alley to the restaurant. The food was alright but OMG the portions were HUGE!! I found a long piece of hair in one of the dishes but surprisingly it didn't bother me too much.
View of Shanghai Pudong District
[Day 2]
We woke up bright and early to catch the train to Suzhou where many of the famed Chinese gardens are. The train ride was nice, like sitting in an airplane, not like what I thought: wooden benches down the sides of the car jam packed with people. As soon as we got off the train, self-proclaimed tour guides rushed right up to us and harrassed us to no end offering us rides and tours of the gardens. We kept telling them no it's ok but they would keep following you. Talk about being desperate.
The gardens were lovely! We took tons of pictures which I hope to get developed soon. The most beautiful garden by far was the Humble Administrators Garden. The place was huge with a wide variety of different structures for example a grass hut which honestly seemed a little out of place. The Lion's Forest was very interesting too but that architect must have had a really big sense of humour! To get from one side of a rock wall to another you'd have to go up and down flights of stairs, through caves and down winding paths. We pretty much gave up on seeing some of the sights. Too much work!
Stone boat in Suzhou's Lion's Forest garden
[Day 3]
Again we had to wake up early this time to catch a bus to Tongli Town. When we arrived, we got on a boat to an island where there was a mix of buddhist and taoist temples. I even got to practice some archery! =P Mind you I was never really ever that good at it even in high school but I still managed to win a souvenir! Next we got on these battery power golf carts to go into Tongli town. Tongli town is pretty small but still one of the major canal towns in the province with a lot of old town flavour. Everyone travelled around the town either by foot, bike, rickshaw or motorbike.
One of the main streets in Tongli town
Boats all lined up and ready to go
One of the town's oldest traditions involved the bridal procession consisting of men carrying a lavishly decorated sedan chair across 3 consecutive bridges. Doing so would ensure good luck to the married couple. In the evening after we arrived back in Shanghai, my aunt and I decided to hit up the famed Peace Hotel on Nanjing Rd. for some cocktails and a little jazz. What a nice way to end the day. =)
[Day 4]
For our last day in Shanghai, we stayed in the city and tried to take in some more famous sights. We explored Shanghai's trendy shopping and cafe district. It was like stepping into the middle an European city. Then there was Duolun Rd. which was home to many of China's famous scholars.
Watermelon vendors in Shanghai
It was here that I had the nastiest cup of bubble tea ever. I almost wanted to puke. =P We didn't have much more time afterwards before our flight so we only managed to take some pictures outside the Shanghai museum and opera house.
Attack of the pigeons!!!
Man..that's a long entry. Hope you enjoyed it!
Shanghai was awesome but man am I glad to be back! Trying to jam so many sights into a 4 day trip is exhausting work.
[Day 1]
We spent the first day exploring the old city and hanging out by the Huangpu River. There was so much to see in the old city: quant little shops filled with incredibly cheap stuff like silk items, artistic tea pots, chinese fans in different shades of the rainbow. It was like stepping back 100 years in time.
The old city of Shanghai
In the evening we took a sightseeing cruise up and down the Huangpu River just as the sun was setting. The views were spectacular. For dinner we went to this really shady place on Nanjing Rd (the touristy shopping district). The usher was this girl dressed in traditional Chinese attire who led us down a really creepy alley to the restaurant. The food was alright but OMG the portions were HUGE!! I found a long piece of hair in one of the dishes but surprisingly it didn't bother me too much.
View of Shanghai Pudong District
[Day 2]
We woke up bright and early to catch the train to Suzhou where many of the famed Chinese gardens are. The train ride was nice, like sitting in an airplane, not like what I thought: wooden benches down the sides of the car jam packed with people. As soon as we got off the train, self-proclaimed tour guides rushed right up to us and harrassed us to no end offering us rides and tours of the gardens. We kept telling them no it's ok but they would keep following you. Talk about being desperate.
The gardens were lovely! We took tons of pictures which I hope to get developed soon. The most beautiful garden by far was the Humble Administrators Garden. The place was huge with a wide variety of different structures for example a grass hut which honestly seemed a little out of place. The Lion's Forest was very interesting too but that architect must have had a really big sense of humour! To get from one side of a rock wall to another you'd have to go up and down flights of stairs, through caves and down winding paths. We pretty much gave up on seeing some of the sights. Too much work!
Stone boat in Suzhou's Lion's Forest garden
[Day 3]
Again we had to wake up early this time to catch a bus to Tongli Town. When we arrived, we got on a boat to an island where there was a mix of buddhist and taoist temples. I even got to practice some archery! =P Mind you I was never really ever that good at it even in high school but I still managed to win a souvenir! Next we got on these battery power golf carts to go into Tongli town. Tongli town is pretty small but still one of the major canal towns in the province with a lot of old town flavour. Everyone travelled around the town either by foot, bike, rickshaw or motorbike.
One of the main streets in Tongli town
Boats all lined up and ready to go
One of the town's oldest traditions involved the bridal procession consisting of men carrying a lavishly decorated sedan chair across 3 consecutive bridges. Doing so would ensure good luck to the married couple. In the evening after we arrived back in Shanghai, my aunt and I decided to hit up the famed Peace Hotel on Nanjing Rd. for some cocktails and a little jazz. What a nice way to end the day. =)
[Day 4]
For our last day in Shanghai, we stayed in the city and tried to take in some more famous sights. We explored Shanghai's trendy shopping and cafe district. It was like stepping into the middle an European city. Then there was Duolun Rd. which was home to many of China's famous scholars.
Watermelon vendors in Shanghai
It was here that I had the nastiest cup of bubble tea ever. I almost wanted to puke. =P We didn't have much more time afterwards before our flight so we only managed to take some pictures outside the Shanghai museum and opera house.
Attack of the pigeons!!!
Man..that's a long entry. Hope you enjoyed it!
3 Comments:
Awww I wish I was there to see everything with you =P When you were in Nanjing lu you did you pass by that really shady ally. The one with fake goods and garbage all over? Hmm I should put up my pics of the Humble Administrative Garden. There was this one part that had ducks under a hut! I was surprised at the pigeons you saw. Out of all the time I was there, there were no pigeons? Well I did eat one though...errr 4 of them, yum yum. Outside of the Shanghai Mueseum you should of seen all the kite flyers, not nasty pigeons! I hope that you enjoyed Shanghai, and put up more pics =)
By
Phong, at 8:12 AM
You can find more pics on my Webshots account. Go to perly_whirly3. I had to make a new account cuz there was way too many pictures. =P
By
perly_whirly, at 10:30 AM
Wow, I have never seen Shanghai before.. it looks so beautiful! Like, the architecture looks like the stuff in old tv shows, but it's like.. genuine and complete! I'd really enjoy analyzing the engineering behind the architecture.. lol.
The garden sounds really nice too.. like a good place to go exploring if there was a lot of time.
Haha, the picture of all the boats lined up.. looks like a rollercoaster, where the ones at the back can't get anywhere unless the ones in the front move first... and then the pictures of the pigeons.. lol, so cool! Many pretty / cute birdies.. hehe.. never knew they existed around the world.
By
Anonymous, at 12:59 AM
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