China: Shanghai The one and only ...

Shanghai offers many spectacular views and different perspectives, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, and both high-speed and slow-paced. 

Entering Shanghai, we would immediately be overwhelmed by its colors, its people, its futuristic skyscrapers and its diversified lifestyles. The very first thing we could see from a distance away were the 600+ meter Shanghai Tower and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, with its distinctive pink spheres.

  Shanghai is situated on the estuary of Huangpu River. It serves as the most influential economic, financial, international trade, cultural, science and technology center in East China. 









It also is a popular destination for visitors to sense the pulsating development of this country. 




 





In addition to its modernization, the city's multicultural flair endows it with a unique mysterious attractiveness. Here, one can find the perfect blend of cultures, the modern and the traditional, and the Western and the Oriental.
 





 

New skyscrapers and old Shikumen, a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements that first appeared in the 1860s, together draw the skyline of the city.

Western customs and Chinese traditions intertwined and formed the city's culture, making a visitor's stay truly memorable.







 
The Huangpu River reminded me of the Thames River in London. The water is dark in color and I did see some parts where it looked very polluted, but the river plays a huge part in the identity of Shanghai and it provides beautiful backdrops for photos. It is a shame that just like many cities in China themselves, this river has gotten so polluted.




 

 The Huangpu is the largest river in Shanghai. It divides the city into two regions: Pudong to its east and Puxi to the west. Dong and Xi mean 'East' and 'West' respectively in Mandarin Chinese. 





 

First, we went to see if we could book up a river cruise at night, but it was pretty expensive. On this Friday night, it was also very crowded with all of the pushing and shoving from hoards of Chinese tourists to get on board then to fight some more in order to have a good place to stand ...





We should have skipped. But we couldn't pass this one of a lifetime opportunity, so there I paid almost $60.00 for two tickets for a mere 30 minute ride on the Quanqiu Tong ship, one of the large fleet of luxury ships on Huangpu River. The name means 'the Crystal Palace on the River' due to its transparency. This ship contains the most glass in comparison with other cruise ships in the area.




This ship has everything: Bar Counter, Sunny Deck, Banquet Hall, Conference Room, Central Air Conditioning, Television etc. They serve light meals and coffee, as well as soft drinks on board. Believe it or not, there were a bunch of passengers gathered around tables inside with meals and drinks on their hands ignoring the most important thing on this trip: beautiful scenery of Shanghai at night.






The temperature once again dropped back into the low single digit, and with the wind blown across the bow, where we stood, made my whole body shaking uncontrollably.






Shanghai's scenery at night is so lively and beautiful. The ornate classical and modern buildings take on a new and exciting look as they were lit up by an abundance of colored lights. Looking across the Huangpu River to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Jinmao Tower is a magical sight. It's better looking than the Thames River and its banks with lots of people and sizzling businesses.

Walking westward along Nanjing East Road, we quickly reached the famous Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, the gaily illuminated shops were an exciting backdrop to the cheerful crowds that came here after dark to enjoy the carefree atmosphere, where it is possible to pick up a bargain or enjoy a tasty morsel to eat. One can find plenty of tea houses here as coffee shops in Europe or in the U.S. Surprisingly, many of them open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.




Apart from enjoying a lone taste of tea, We saw customers sit around and play cards, chess or just chat loudly. Fashionable entertainments are favorites with young people. When night falls, Shanghai bathes in the light of various entertainment venues. Nightclubs, Karaoke, discos, tea and coffee houses are all very crowded.





We finally have to say goodbye to Shanghai and China. We got back to our hotel late at night after a long evening full of fun. Tomorrow morning we were heading back home to prepare for our traditional shopping for our Lunar New Year, the Year of the Snake.

On the way to the airport, I took a picture of a scooter filled with live chicken, probably on the way to the market early in the morning.

China: Wuxi

It took us less than an hour driving from Suzhou to Wuxi. The weather started getting a bit colder than the day before but it wasn't too cold. A couple layers of heavy jackets was good enough, but it was still the coldest we ever faced.

The main attraction in Wuxi is The Three Kingdom City. It was built as background by the China Central TV for shooting the TV series of Romance of Three Kingdoms.



It is a recreation of the panorama of the chaotic Three Kingdoms Period in Chinese history.








Covering a huge area of many acres, there are large-scale numerous Han-style buildings in the city, including King Wu Palace, Nectar Temple, water village of Cao Camp, seven star altar, signal fire platform, wheel-tower gate (outer gate of government official) and more than 20 ancient warships.







Moreover, the scene of "Oath of Brotherhood in the Peach Garden", arena, the Eight-Diagram Formation are added and entertainment items such as borrowing arrows with straw boats, amusement on ancient boats, bathing place at the shore of the lake, horse racing, singing and dancing performances newly developed in the scenic area.

The whole scenic area of Three Kingdoms City shows a majestic and spectacular vision and has profound connotations. When you walk around the city, every wheel-tower gate and every brick are as if telling one thrilling story after another in troubled times to the tourists.






The Three Kingdoms City is a double-dwelling city which centers on the production of television and film and also pays attention to the tourist function, thus attracting multitudes of tourists to the scenic area.



 



There was so much walking from one stop to the other, but every now and then we would be able to hitch-hike a worker electric bus. Beside the scenery, they also provided with small fast food eateries, and plenty of ice-cream and soft drink shops.







We left the area in the afternoon. We'd stop at Lake Taihu on the way back to Shanghai.








Taihu Lake is one of main 5 freshwater lakes in China and located in South Jiangsu and connects to Zhejiang Province. It is the second biggest freshwater lake in China.









The whole lake resembles a crescent facing the East. Featuring abundant plant and animal life, the scenery around the lake varies from season to season attracting many visitors. Wuxi section of the lake is the most famous and beautiful and a cradle of Wuxi culture.





It would be a long drive before we'd be able to check into our hotel in Shanghai. Once we got there in the evening, hopefully we had some times left to explore the city at night.

China: Suzhou

 

Lion Grove Garden is one of the four most famous and representative gardens of ancient classical style in Suzhou City. The other three are Blue Wave Pavilion, Lingering Garden and Humble Administrator's Garden.







 



Lion Grove Garden was reputed as the 'Kingdom of Rockery'. The rocks were piled up skillfully and ingeniously, and most of them look like lions in different postures and verve: playing, roaring, fighting, sleeping, or even dancing. It is said that looking north from Small Square Hall, one can see nine stone lions standing in a row and that is the Nine-Lion Peak.










But sadly to my own poor imagination, I couldn't find much excitement here at all.




















After spending about an hour here, we decided to skip the other gardens. 



























 
Hanshan Temple is a Buddhist temple and monastery in Suzhou which is located at the town of Maple Bridge, about 2 miles from the old city of Suzhou.
















 

Before we got to the entrance, people were selling fruits from push-carts. The fruits were the variety of exotic Asian kinds, which one could find almost anywhere in Southeast Asia. The price here were more expensive. I guessed that they were after the tourists.









Temple has been famous since the Tang Dynasty. The temple compound is a scene of luxuriant green creating a secluded atmosphere.










The buildings in it are in an unadorned and natural style. In the center of the compound stands Mahavira Hall. Behind the hall stretches a wooden corridor, at the end of which stands a small tower with a wall behind and a stream in front. 






Pingjiang Road in Suzhou is known to be 800-year old street and it is the best preserved ancient “water lane” in Suzhou.


















It is roughly about a mile long street set alongside with a north-south canal. You cannot find a better place in China in which modernity and tradition match hand in hand.











 Before heading to Suzhou, I checked on the lonely planet guide, and found at least 3 famous bridges:

1) Jinli Bridge
2) Xinglong Bridge
3) Yongan Bridge










I took many pictures of the bridges I could find but there were no sign board to indicate the names of those bridges. I have no idea which one is which.











The mile long cobblestone path runs alongside with a canal with willows dipping their branches in the water. Cute little bridges that cross and all flanked by old white-washed local houses. The paddle boats rows on the canal while people stroll along the cobblestone path.









While most of the canals in the city have been sealed and paved into roads, there are two outstanding areas which give visitors a clue to Suzhou's 'Venice of the East' moniker.








On the eastern side of the city, Píngjiāng Lù is undoubtedly the prettier and more popular of the two. This pedestrian road is set alongside a canal. Whitewashed local houses and trendy cafes selling overpriced lattes sit comfortably side-by-side. You can see the locals wring their dirty mops into the canal and are completely oblivious to the hordes of tourist jostling to get their pictures.







On the way back to our hotel, we found more Tea farms that carried all the most expensive tea on the market. Once again, we didn't bother to buy any.







 From our hotel to one of the busiest night life streets wasn't too far. It was within 10 minute walk. Shiqian Street has plenty of restaurants, bars and late night shops which sell everything from designer chopsticks, silk, artifacts, household items, golf clubs, and lots of clothing shops with great prices on big brand name clothing for men and women. But I had no idea if they were the real or faked ones. From the price stand point, I guessed they were 90% fake.





Shiqian Street is therefore quite convenient with most of what a visitor would want all in a single street. You can find a good mixture of fast food restaurants like McDonald, KFC, high-end diners included DaMarco Italian restaurant and The Bookworm, a cozy Euro style place inside a classic Suzhou house with live music.







We stayed here for the night and ready to head to Wuxi early tomorrow morning.