Touring China: Shanghai (II)

*Warning: Photos Intensive*

13-21 May 2009

An entry just on our wild time at Madam Tussaudes’ Wax Museum.

First up was the glamor area, a place where all the Hollywood stars are. However, I do not think I would like to flood you with pictures, so I’ve only selected some for posting =)

With Hollywood’s 2 famous actresses: Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts.

They even had props and costumes for you to try on, but I was too lazy to change into the costumes =)

And then, the goofiness started to rear its head, as my sister and I went crazy posing with Pierce Brosnan, Enstein, Princess Diana, Prince William etc.. The list goes on!

And then, it was on to the sports section.

Where my sister acted more goofy, while I posed with Man Utd’s famous Beckham, and me trying to pose like a car model =P

With the hour allocated to us finishing up, we quickly took photos with some of the wax models in the Pepsi Ambassador section. I thought my posing was already quite funny.

But when I saw my sister’s I knew that I lost! =D

She is the ultimate of ultimate goofy posers!! Kudos to her =D

Touring China: Shanghai (I)

*Warning: Photos Intensive*

13-21 May 2009

As we spent more time in Shanghai, I thought it might be easier if I blogged the whole of Shanghai together in parts, even though our time spent there was divided into 1st day, and then the last few days.

On our first day, upon arriving at the airport, we made our way to Maglev train station to try out the world’s first 430km/h train ride.

I actually thought it was very much like Japan’s bullet train, as we arrived in the city area in 7 minutes.

We head on to ChengHuangMiao Commericial District subsequently, a place that used to be popular during the Ming and Qing Dynasty. Currently however, it has been converted into a large retail and entertainment district. It was during here that we were left to our own devices for dinner, and what was recommended to us was their ‘foodcourt’ like dining area, where they served all kinds of cuisine.

Unfortunately, to our dismay, the food was really terrible! The xiaolongbao’s  bread was too hard to be eaten, and one had to drink the soup through a straw, which burned your throat due to the intense heat from the soup. (And even if you could wait for it to cool a little, it was too darn salty!). The food there was either too bland, or too salty. Even their bubble tea tasted very weird… In the end, my family had to resort to buying snacks in order to tide through our hunger in the night, especially my sister.

But I guess the saving grace of the place was that there are nice scenes for photo-taking =)

After dinner, we were treated to a river cruise of the HuangPu River, where we could enjoy the night lights of Shanghai, despite having to endure the pushing, shoving and loud-speaking ways of the China people.

Our hotel stay was at Jin Jiu Sheng Hotel, a hotel which was located in PuXi, but pretty far off from the city area. This was also the hotel that we would put up in during the last few days of our time in Shanghai. The first room we got was smaller, but thankfully the room we got for the last few days was much bigger.

Toilet facilities was just alright, nothing too great, but at least it was decently clean.

The next morning, we made our way to NanjingRoad, a shopping place in Shanghai, very much like Singapore’s Orchard Road. But most of the shops were selling branded items, and due to the lack of time, we did not shop much, but just take a stroll around the place.

After that, our next stop was to Madam Tussaudes’ Wax Museum. But that is another entry on its own =)

Touring China: Wuxi

*Warning: Photos Intensive*

13-21 May 2009

It’s on to Wuxi, as our very first stop is the Three-Kingdom Movie & TV City!! Because of the boy, I became very much influenced by him too into developing an interest in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. As such, I was quite excited to visit the city.

(Little me at the gates)

Our first stop was to watch a performance of one of the battles in the story. Unfortunately, due to my poor memory/listening skills, I was not able to catch which battle it was. Nonetheless, it was a pretty cool show despite being only 16 minutes long.

Riding on a buggy train, our next venue was one of the homes in the country of Wu. It was the place where Liu Bei stayed in when Sun Quan bethrothed his sister Shang Xiang to the former, hoping that Liu Bei would be seized and put under house arrest (albeit be very well-treated) and his forces be merged into Sun Quan’s.

So while we were given the opportunity to visit the marriage room, my sister and I decided to explore the other areas instead. And hence, chancing upon the above lovely views!

Moving on, we got to ride upon the battle ships of Wu, as we enjoyed some sea breeze, or should I say, lake breeze. And seriously, don’t the pictures remind you of the movie Red Cliff?? =)

While it seems like we didn’t visit much places within the city itself, don’t be surprised that all of that actually took around 1.5 hours! So before we left, I decided to take some pictures with the good guys, namely Shu and Wu =)

Then, it was back to shopping, as we headed off to Zhongshan Road. The stuff here were somehow much nicer, as my sister and I got something for ourselves =)

Our night in Wuxi was spent at Green Land hotel. While the beds were again hard, the room was still a lovely one! Very comparable to the hotel at Nanjing. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the room, but here’s a video to compensate for it. Yes, their toilet has the see through glass pane too!! =D

The next morning’s tour was of Wuxi’s  Li Garden. While we were here, we ended up ordering some snacks from a store, which was very delicious much to the delight of the tour group. The store even had beancurd of salty flavour! (which had good reviews). The stall owner must be very happy, for he got orders from all 20 people in the group!

Greens, greens and more grins =)

Our last stop for Wuxi was to a zisha glay teapot museum. Here, we were introduced to the art of teapot making, much to my intrigue, as I found out that the type of clay used is different from what we usually use in pottery, plus there are 4 colours available. Purple, brown, black and green, of which green is the most precious. While my family was not that into teapots, we did purchase a special cup with a tea-leave compartment, which will come in very handy when we make tea from our Longjing tea leaves =D

Touring China: Nanjing

*Warning: Photos Intensive*

13-21 May 2009

Our trip to Nanjing saw us first heading to Mochou Hu (Sorrow Free Lake). And guess what, it was raining!!

Over there, we got to learn more about the history of the Ming Dynasty, with Zhu Yuanzhang as the first but ugly Emperor =P

It was also here that I discovered that Zheng He’s naval expedition was actually not to explore areas outside China,  but was tasked by Yongle Emperor to hunt down the ousted Jianwen Emperor! It’s just that during his hunt, he unknowingly began his famous voyages.

Because our journey to Nanjing from Hangzhou was a 4 hour coach ride, before we know it, it was already dark. During then, we got to tour the shopping area of Nanjing with its interesting shops and lovely lights. It’s also here that we get to view Fuzimiao.

Our stay for the night this time round was Vogue Boutique Hotel. And I must say, although the bed was pretty hard, it was one of the nicest hotel ever!!! The place so very clean and nicely lit. Plus, it had a very interesting thing – it had a see-through glass view of the toilet!!!!!!!! (Kinky!) But thankfully however there is a screen for shy people to close the blinds =)

The next morning, we went to visit Changjiang Bridge, where it is used by both motor vehicles and train. Apparently this was the very first bridge built solely by the Chinese. In the past, most bridges were built in collaboration with foreigners. But because of the exorbitant price quoted, and because the foreigners looked down on the abilities of the Chinese, the latter felt very strongly that they had to construct this bridge on their own.

With all the help from the commoners who donated their steel for the bridge, it was finally completed after many years. And because of the sheer generosity of the people of China, the government promised that no matter what, Changjiang Bridge will never start a toll on the vehicles, making it the only toll-free bridge in China.

After the bridge, we went on to marvel at the art of a master who specialised in drawing inside crystal balls! Yes, the above two art pieces are done by him, where the artist had to create an opening on the crystal, and paint backwards in order for the paintings to be viewed correctly frontward for the audience. This is seriously no easy feat, especially to paint with very minimal space inside the crystal!

Our last tour of Nanjing was to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall.

A place of much sombre, it was really sad to see the brutalities of war. That’s why the tour guide said that the people of Nanjing are usually happy-go-lucky, because of their history.

And that is also why they treasure peace very much, something I think sometimes most of us who are lucky to live in peaceful countries, take for granted of.

Touring China: Hangzhou

*Warning: Photos Intensive*

13-21 May 2009

Coming on from Suzhou, the tour headed off to Hangzhou, where our first stop is the Wansong Academy. Now, why is this place famous?

Because of the legendary lovers Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.

But… Did you know that the story was just a myth?? Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai though are real people, but they are separated by at least 200 years. Meaning that they would never have been able to meet each other in real life. So, how did the story come about?

Apparently Liang Shanbo was a really good official in the past. But because he died young and the people really loved him, the Emperor betrothed him while he was dead to Zhu Yingtai, a girl who died at the age of 15 due to illness.

The steps up to the famous school.

Moving on, we made our way to Leifeng Pagoda. But because the weather was just too warm that day, the picture was really crappy, and we didn’t bother to stay too long due to the heat.

Our next stop is Huagang (Flora Harbour) Park, where we were treated to more greenary and fishes, before heading off to Xintiandi (New World), a place with restaurants and bars.

After that, we got to take a boat tour of Xihu!!

And it was such a lovely peaceful ride. The wind against your face, the nice smell of the waters…

After dinner, we were due for a cultural show.

I must say that the actors and actresses were really amazing with all the acrobatic stunts while presenting performances of famous generals, myths and legends and goddess.

Before you know it, it was time to return to the hotel.
This time, we stayed in Kingdea Hotel, in which the room was pretty spacious.

Plus, they had at least one English channel on tv!! Imagine the glee on me and my sister, especially when we potatoes =D

The next morning, we made our way to Meijiawu Tea Village.

Over here, we were introduced to one of the famous teas in China – Longjing tea. With all their advertising, I decided to take it up too, as I bought some for myself, and decided that to keep healthy, I would start drinking it every day from now on. And guess what, I really am drinking green tea every day now!! =D

Our last stop is Liuhe Pagoda. The interesting thing about this is that although in height it has the appearance of being a thirteen-story structure, it actually only has seven interior stories.

Alrighty, that’s all for Hangzhou. Next stop, Nanjing.