Monday, January 23, 2012

Highlights of Shanghai

Of all the few cities we visited, Shanghai reminded me most of home! We separated from the group and went off on our own. We wanted to stay near the bund so we booked our hotel at the Waldorf Astoria in Shanghai, which was absolutely amazing. It was just the perfect place to end our trip. Service was impeccable and hotel was gorgeous.  I even used our bidet toilet everyday.  I love knowing that my toilet seat is warm before I sit on it.  Oh, and I got access to facebook at our hotel.  I'm not sure if it was the hotel or if I just got lucky and was able to access the page.  I felt so much more connected when I was able to connect to fb, sad but true!

The weather was a lot more bearable than Beijing and was much like the weather in San Francisco.  Not only was the weather better, but the city itself was a lot more modern.  There were McDonald's with a 24 hour delivery service, a lot of high rises, luxury malls, beautiful buildings and much more.  I felt so much safer here!


McDonald's delivery guy!
Our hotel was seriously right across the street from this spectacular view!

At the Waldorf Astoria!


Outside the Shanghai World Financial Center
We also visited the Shanghai World Financial Center, which is currently the 3rd tallest building in the world.  By 6pm, all the buildings lit up and we were able to enjoy the spectacular view over on the Pudong side, where all the newer establishments and high rises were.  We got a perfect view of the Jin Mao Tower (world's 10th tallest building) as well as the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Through this visit, I've learned that Shanghai is seriously a fast growing city, with new establishments in the process of being built. 

Besides being tourists, we also ate a lot of delicious and authentic foods.  I would definitely love to come back to visit in the future.  By that time, I'm sure the city would have gone through more improvements.  I can't wait!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Master of the Nets Garden

Another beauty in Suzhou.  Our tour guide definitely over hyped this spot.  In his opinion it's a lot nicer than the Summer Palace in Beijing, which I did not get a chance to visit.  This place is a hidden gem, as we had to go through a sketchy alley to reach to it.  One minute you're walking on sidewalks where motorbikes and cars are permitted to drive on and then the next minute, you're in a beautiful garden.  It's strange, but I didn't question it.  I just enjoyed the peacefulness of the garden and almost forgot we were in crazy China, until we had to get back onto our tour bus.  I'll be short with words here and let the pictures do all the explaining! Enjoy!









Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Wuxi: A breath of fresh air

Wuxi is probably a 40 minute drive away from Suzhou, so it was still within the Jiangsu Provice, which also includes our next destination (Shanghai). It is located on the northern shore of the Tai Lake, which is part of the reason for our visit into this city. We headed to Turtle head park, located on the shore of Tai lake where we are able to enjoy some of nature's beautiful scenery. Wuxi is truly something special and I am definitely a sucker for scenery and nature's beautiful creations.  I'm not sure if it was just me or if it was the place, but I noticed a temperature change here.  The weather was warmer and more bearable.  It was definitely a breath of fresh air, away from the hustling and bustling of the city life, where cars and bikes take over and people do not have the right of way.  It was peaceful, serene and just amazing.  I felt like I was a character wandering around in one of those Chinese dramas set in ancient times.

The lake was calm, there was no wind and a lot of picture perfect scenery.  We were so caught up with picture taking that we drifted away from the tour guide and missed out on some educational facts.  It was kind of therapeutic!











Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Suzhou canal night tours

Suzhou is a city not too far from Shanghai. I didn't know anything about this city until this trip. Supposedly, it is known to be the Venice of the East.  I've never been to Venice before, but someone on our tour group has and mentioned that it has it's similarities, but not quite exactly the same.

Not only is this a city with beautiful sites and scenery, but it is also known as one of Jiang Su province's economic core, known for manufacturing goods such as silk and pearls.  Well, at least that's what our tour guide, Ocean, said.  We skipped out on the silk market, but was able to check out the pearl factory, where the tour guides bring us tourists, I didn't leave with anything because I already have a pair of pearl earrings and necklace.

This was another city filled with culture and history.  It was a good change from the hustling and bustling city of Beijing.  We flew into Shanghai from Beijing and traveled a little shy of two hours by our tour bus to get into Suzhou.  By the time we checked into our hotel and settled in it was already dark.  

Some of us in the group opted to go on the night canal tour, which was beautiful, short and sweet. We enjoyed the old town architecture with night lights that reflected off of the Yangtze River.

Enjoy the pics!




Seniors dancing at the square where our boat leaves for the canal tour.


Friday, January 6, 2012

The rest of Beijing

Next up: 13 Sacred Ming Tombs, Jade Factory and The Great Wall

The great wall was one my highlights during my time in Beijing!

What may now look like old and historic stones put together is actually one of the world's greatest man made wonders.  As we took our journey up our section of the Great Wall (Ba Da Ling), my head was filled with questions on the establishment of this great wonder.

"How long did it take them to build it?"
"Why are some of the steps uneven?"
"How did people survive this horrible weather building it and guarding it?"

And many more...

Luckily, we had clear skies and were able to get a somewhat clear view of the scenery.  There was a sandstorm (not sure if its properly translated, but this is what I made out from what our tour guide told us) in Beijing.  This caused overcast skies and horrible weather in Beijing.  Though it was definitely an unforgettable experience, I think the view would probably better during late Spring or late Autumn.  It was windy on the great wall and at times, I thought the wind would blow me away.  Yes, that strong and I'm not even exaggerating.

Yay! Another thing knocked off my bucket list!




We saw a flyer somewhere that people run marathons on the great wall. On our way down, I decided to run down a section to see what it would be like to run on it. Let me just say that it's not easy. Phew, I broke a sweat. At least I can say that I was warm for a little bit.