Rapid Fire China: Part 2

The time has come, or rather the time has been found, for me to write another blog about China! So, here we go:

Day 5- Beijing to Shanghai

It was hard to believe that we were already half way through the trip. It seriously seemed like we had just arrived in Beijing and it was already time to fly to Shanghai. If there was one thing that I wished was included in our Beijing itinerary, it was a visit to the Olympic Park. Luckily, our tour guide arranged for us to at least swing by and admire the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube, aka where Michael Phelps owned everything in 2008.

After a brief 2 hour flight, we were in Shanghai, arguably China's most international city. At the airport we were greeted by our new tour guide, Peter Wu. Freaking Peter. He was just the greatest. We hopped right back on another tour bus and headed downtown. Within minutes of being on the bus, Peter was cracking sex jokes and I knew it was going to be a fun few days. Driving on the freeway, there was a distinct and noticeable difference from Beijing: trees. I didn't really realize it when we were in the capital, but there were hardly any trees! It makes sense since Beijing is so far north and has a really intense winter, but it was still refreshing to see some green. Something else really noticeable about the Shanghai skyline was that every building looked different, it was so cool! Beijing definitely had the more communist, square box building feel.

Driving along the immense network of freeways, we made it to Old Town Shanghai. I think Old Town was my favorite place that I visited in China. When we arrived, I was a little taken aback by the amount of people there, it was SO crowded! Our tour guide was pretty fearless and just dove right into the mob and kept waving his little flag, hoping that all 24 of us would at some point be able to make our way to it. I think we were the only Americans there, which was pretty cool, but also the cause of lots of stares and picture taking. It was so hilarious because people were just snapping photos of us left and right; iPads, camera phones, actual cameras, it felt like the paparazzi. In between picture taking, we made our way through the crowded streets and lantern covered alleyways.

Of course, food pictures

So. cool.

Jesus chillin with Adam and Eve

This kid was just so cute

Pictures of people taking pictures

After our somewhat chaotic tour of the old streets and wandering through the market, we were off to The Bund. If you look for pictures of Shanghai's skyline, this is most likely what you will see. The Bund is the walkway along the Huangpu River that offers phenomenal views of Putong, Shanghai's new financial center. If you are remotely interested in cutting edge design and unique perspectives on buildings, go here. There is so much to look at and the view is unmistakeable. We spent some time admiring the sights before going to dinner and then getting back on the bus to drive to Suzhou. It was a long travel day for sure, but Shangahi had made a positive first impression.

The Bund

Two guys on our tour haha. The only word this
Chinese woman could muster was "basketball"

Day 6- Suzhou

All in all Suzhou was pretty uneventful and I think China Tours could forgo this step of the trip and spend another day in any of the other 3 locations. Suzhou is considered a "small city" with a population of 11 million people... While there, we went to a traditional Chinese Garden and then had some free time to walk around the canals of the city. On our itinerary, Suzhou was labeled "The Venice of the East". In my humble opinion, it was nothing of the sort, but there were some canals. I think part of my lack of interest in this city was just because I was hitting that point in the tour: I was really tired of constantly moving and hearing what seemed like constant, yet unnecessary, information about China and it's history. This almost always happens to me when I travel, there is a point when I am just too tired to care or be interested. Luckily, those spells usually only last me a day or two. As night fell, we loaded back onto the bus and made our way to Hangzhou.

Traditional garden in Suzhou

Peter! The best tour guide ever

Bonzai Trees that are hundreds of years old

Walking along the canals was actually really
interesting to me. I felt like I got a glimpse into
daily life for some of the locals.

Day 7- Hangzhou 

We were only in Hangzhou for a day and a half, but I really wish we could have spent more time there. The city was really pretty and I was eager to explore. I guess the "main attraction" is West Lake. It's a giant lake right in the middle of the city around which there is constant activity. You can walk around the whole lake, take a boat ride across it, or stroll along the walkway that jets out toward the center of the lake. I always like when big cities have a major central park because it serves as an escape from the constant hustle and bustle of the metropolitan life. We spent the majority of the day on and around the lake until we headed out to do some tea tasting. Hangzhou is known for it's green tea, and even though I'm not a huge green tea drinker, I impulsively bought a ton of it. It's pretty good, and it's health benefits make me want to drink more of it, but I think I now have a lifetime supply of green tea. On the plus side you can freeze it so it won't go bad.

West Lake

I wish we could have ridden on the golden dragon boat

Boats on a misty lake

Momma

Tea bushes everywhere

Day 8/9- Back to Shanghai

After spending the day in Hangzhou, we drove back to Shanghai. Upon arrival in Shanghai, we changed really quick and then headed out to see the world famous Shanghai acrobats. I'm really glad we decided to go and we even got seated in the VIP section! The show was incredible and left me awestruck. We got to our hotel pretty late and after a quick drink at the bar, retired to our rooms. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, because we had the entire day free and could do whatever we wanted. Mom and I were really excited for this day to come because we were gonna get to travel like we normally do, sans tour guide and a large bus. We planned out our whole day and after a relaxing morning (surprisingly not-common on structured tours) headed out to take on Shangahi!

We were armed with a metro pass, a map, and some phrases in Chinese that Peter wrote down for us. That was all we really needed to get around and it ended up being an amazing day. First stop was the Jade Buddha temple. Finding the temple was a bit of a struggle, especially when your map isn't to scale and 3 blocks turns out to be 7, but we finally made it. We played lots of charades, pointed at the map and to the phrases that Peter wrote down and eventually made it! Navigating Shanghai without speaking the language is a lot harder without a tour guide, but Mom and I really loved the challenge. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures of the Jade Buddha, but she was beautiful! Absolutely enormous and an incredible piece of handiwork, she was a breathtaking site to see.

Jade Buddha aside, it was really neat to see the
Buddhist temple and all the worshipers.

After the temple we made our way across town to the MAGLEV, the world's first high speed train! I don't know what I was expecting, and yeah it went really fast, but unless you're using it to actually get to a destination, it wasn't worth the trek out to see it. Maybe I missed something, but looking back, I think I would forgo high speed train, especially with such little time.

Next up on the agenda was an arts and crafts museum.Once we got out of the metro, we asked several people which direction we needed to walk (again, our tourist map was not the best for navigating small and curvy streets). A young couple was really really nice and helped us out. At first, they had no idea where we were trying to go, so they busted out their translator and were working between English and Chinese to try to give us directions. One of them was a university student and spoke basic English, but it was, essentially, a game of charades. With a little help from google maps on their smart phone, we said our thanks and headed out in the right direction. Along the way we stumbled upon a vegan restaurant called Cafe Maya. It was a sign; we had to eat there. So we did and it was amazing! We had real coffee and fantastic Asian fusion food. Then something even more incredible happened. We saw the girl of the couple that helped us with directions briskly walking past the window of the restaurant. Both my mom and I recognized her and smiled and waved. Upon seeing us she suddenly stopped and walked into the restaurant. To be honest, at this point, I had no idea what she was doing or what she was going to say to us. She walked right up to our table, and slightly out of breath, told us that the museum we were looking for was closed due to Chinese New Year and we shouldn't waste our time. She then proceeded to give us a list of other museums in the area that we might like and told us the hours that they were open. Faith in humanity completely restored!!! I could not get over how nice that was. She tracked us down and was genuinely concerned with how we were getting along. It's interactions like this that you miss out on when on such a structured tour. Personal connections and communication is such a vital part to travel and getting to know the place that you're visiting, and it's something that absolutely shapes your experience in a foreign place.

The lotus root carrot curry was delectable

With the Craft Museum no longer an option, we proceeded to the next item on our drawn-up itinerary: The Shanghai Museum. The line to get it was pretty insane, but it was worth the wait. Time passed with the help of two adorable kids in front of us. They had just met in line but had already become the best of friends. My mom and I are convinced that one day they will be married, they were that adorable (Also, the line was that long that I had the time to formulate the idea in my head). From textiles to pottery and furniture to paintings, the museum had an incredible collection of artifacts. I highly recommended going if you find yourself in Shanghai. Potentially the best museum I've ever been to and, get ready, it's free.

The Shanghai Museum (notice the line on the right)

This is a "pillow". The woodwork is amazing though!

Indigenous textiles. Obsessed. I would have worn this.

By the time we came out of the museum, the temperature had dropped about 10 degrees and dusk was settling in. There was still so much to do though! The Nanjing Shopping district was within walking distance of the museum and it was highly recommended that we visit. So we did. It kinda felt like Vegas, all the bright lights and hustle and bustle everywhere. We discovered that we could walk, though it was a long walk, the entire street until we reached the Bund on the river bank. As we strolled along, I just tried to take in all the sights, and keep my hands warm. We later heard on the news that a bizarre cold front hit Shanghai and dropped the temperatures to below freezing. We finally arrived at the Bund and decided that we should take a night river cruise. Mom was dying to do it and I'm really glad she convinced me. We bought our tickets and then set off in search of food before our boat left the dock. That turned out to be another grand adventure.

Nanjing Shopping Area

Who would have though that looking for food along one of the most popular destinations in Shanghai would have been so difficult? We looked at the address of where our dock was and decided to walk in that direction since it was several block away. To be noted: if all the addresses are going to be for boat docks, there's probably not going to be a ton of restaurants wedged between them. It was getting darker and darker and we just kept walking and walking and not seeing anything. Plus, we were running out of time. After what felt like ages, I saw some blue lights, illuminating a sign that read "King Dragon". We had found food.

 As we entered the restaurant we quickly realized that we were in over our heads. Our host escorted us, dressed in a full suit, down a hall of mirrors to an elevator, complete with a red velvet interior. Oh shit, did we enter a high-end strip club? Turns out we didn't, but this restaurant was something else. I like to think that it's where diplomats and famous people eat on their visits to China. The dining room was beautiful! Giant chandeliers and gorgeous place settings made me question my wardrobe choices of a snow jacket and hiking boots. There were even multiple chopsticks lined up as though they were salad, entree, and dessert forks! We were seated and given a menu. Momentarily, Mom and I both thought we weren't going to be able to afford anything on the menu. Choice meats, fresh fish, and abalone caught earlier that day were priced in the hundreds (USD!). After a brief look of panic between us, we found the back of the menu: fried rice, dumplings, and some other vegetable dishes. When we ordered, we could tell that the waiters were chuckling at our choices of all the cheap peasant food, but all that was on my mind was the food itself. The meal was absolutely to die for. It was the best food I had in China, after the home-cooked meal at the professional cricket fighter's house.

With our pockets a little emptier but our bellies a lot fuller, we made our way to the dock and boarded the ship for our night cruise on the Bund. Seeing the magnificent architecture during the day was amazing, but at night, the cityscape was transformed. It was unlike anything I've seen before and it was a perfect closing to our trip in China.

The Bund at night

 We eventually made our way back to our hotel and were both pretty exhausted. We did it though. We navigated the extremely large, and modern yet traditional city of Shanghai without speaking a lick of Chinese. I slept like a baby that night and the next morning we boarded a plane and headed back to SFO.

I am so incredibly grateful that I was able to take this trip with my Mom. Not many people get to travel with their parents, but for me, it's always been a really great experience. My Mom was the first person who took me on an international trip and her desire to travel has definitely been instilled in me. Even though it was a structured tour and I didn't have to do a lot of planning, it felt really great to be able to invite my mom to join me on a trip, especially to a place neither of us had ever been before.

Coming Up: The pros and cons of tours