China - you gotta love it! When some people think of China, random images pop up in your mind like panda bears, rice, ginger beef (this does not exist in China!), and other such images. All I can say is that, in order to experience China you just have to go and see it yourself. Literally you need to use all your five senses to truly understand the beauty of the country. Don't get me wrong in that I believe China is the best country possible. There are somethings that I don't like such as men spitting on the sidewalk, the smell of cigarettes and the unhygienic street food. Being this is my second time to China, I just find more and more great things that amuse my curiosity about humanity.
Lyndsey and I caught a flight from Muan airport which is outside of the town of Mokpo. This airport is no joke of a lie, the quietest airport I have ever been too. The Saturday we flew, our flight was scheduled for noon. I thought as I got to the airport that it would be bustling with lots of international flights. I was wrong. There was only one flight, ours to Shanghai. Here is the real kicker, it was delayed because of the weather in China. So Lyndsey and I sat around from 9:30am till 2pm waiting for an announcement. Finally a lady from China Eastern Airline told us the flight was rescheduled to 8:00pm. We were tired and a bit mad because this airport had one restaurant (that served Korean food...eee....) and a convenient store that I ate some ramen at! So we hopped the local bus and went to Mokpo for some food. We ended up walking around for a bit and finally went to a BBQ restaurant. I was told I couldn't order BBQ cause it would just be for me and two people had to order. So Lyndsey had some Bibimbap (famous Korean rice dish were you mix a bunch of fermented vegetables with rice and hot pepper paste - I don't like it!) and then I ate some Japanese food before heading back to catch our flight.
Once we checked in and passed Korean customs we waited for our flight. Little did I know but this sign informed me of Muan's pride and joy of their town - the yellow soil onion. wow....
So Lyndsey and I arrived late in China and we had to take a jammed packed bus from the airport to People's Square (the center of Shanghai). It was interesting because we didn't have a travel guide. We printed off some random things from the internet and hoped for the best! When we arrived to People's Square it was dark and cold and near 11pm. We wandered down the street and say a hotel named '24 K Hotels' and decided to book it there. It was a really shitty hotel. I won't lie. We payed about $35 Canadian for a room with a stained floor, mystery marks on the wall, a head to toe brick covered bathroom. Yeah it sucked and it was super cold and I was shivering in bed and decided to ask the front desk for some blankets. They then said the central heating was broken. Thanks 24 K Hotel! I will recommend you in the future!
Here is a picture of the view from the hotel window! Nice! Some dead chickens and a fish. I am not a fan of the shops that literally sell smoked chicken legs, pig heads and all random pieces of animals. It's weird and to top it off they don't unrefrigerated meat in China for the most part. Only at the fancy supermarkets. People will go up and eat some meat on a stick that has been cooked on a sheet of metal that lies on top of a hollowed out can stove. Oh China!
Shanghai has a wicked subway system. I love subways! It is great just like the Japanese subway system. Clean and efficient. Plus in Shanghai it is really cheap. About $0.50 for a one way ticket to most places. Now that is a savings! The subway as you can see is always busy and booming. It is interesting how people push on to the trains. Even if a train is full, someone will try and cram themselves on to it. There were a few times where Lyndsey and I were very closely pressed up against a variety of strangers!
Shopping is huge in Shanghai. Considering it is spilling over with rich people with lots of disposable income! The Chinese dress super nice and love wearing name brand clothing. It is interesting that in Korea, there are many stores that honestly sell the same nameless brands of clothes. Korean clothes are usually made of this odd felt like material and polyester. They also love tacky sparkles, feathers, and all sorts of loud and gaudy accessories. The Chinese on the other hand, dress pretty Western and well really nice! I admire their sense of fashion!
The Bund - the area of Shanghai that is divided by a river. There is the old part of Shanghai on one side and the new part of Shanghai on the other. Lyndsey and I walked for hours because we didn't have a travel guide to tell us where to go. Eventually, we stumbled upon it in the cold! This place was pretty nice with some tall buildings. Not as many buildings as in Hong Kong upon the water front. You'll have to forgive how bad I look because I didn't get much sleep the first few nights and it was pretty cold walking around all day!
Here I am in front of the Pearl Tower. The fog in the air existed for about 4 days while we were there. It was odd and made the air cold! There is also a tacky tacky tourist tunnel from the old side of Shanghai to the new side of Shanghai. Basically you ride a cart through the tunnel while looking at different themed exhibits for $9 Canadian. We just couldn't do it! Even the pictures of the tunnel were cheesy with the strings of lights and bad elevator music playing the background!
The Bund view as the sun is setting and I am getting pretty cold! Shanghai is fairly clean and well kept. The stores are super impressive in that they have the most Western consumerism I have seen in Asia so far. Everything from 'Zara' to 'H&M' to 'Roxy Quicksilver' stores are everywhere. Shanghai is truly an international city!
McDonalds - it is taking over the world! I swear! Even in Asia, McDonalds is super cheap and the food choice of many young generations. Some of the older Korean teachers tell me that it is 'horrible' because it is making young Koreans fat! I don't think it's really McDonalds but lack of moving around after eating McDonalds!
Once again a super cheesy pose in front of the Pearl Tower statue! I like to pose! Shanghai is really a giant city and Lyndsey and I saw maybe 1/4 of it!
We stumbled across 'Hooters' while shopping at the Brand Name Mall. This mall was pretty fancy and had a great selection of food and stores. I couldn't believe there was Hooters in China. Apparently there is one is Seoul as well...Who would have known?
I don't know what exactly was happening here. This is in front of a TV station. So I imagine some famous stars and possibly young male stars were there. I say this because there were a lot of young ladies with bouquets of flowers and teddy bears. It was just cool to see a bunch of girls waiting for their chance a love!
Fido Dido, is that you?!? I thought this guy disappeared a long time ago from 7 ups marketing campaign in North America. But in China, he is still going strong and I actually saw that he has a luggage line as well. Hmm, well 'ladee da' that is fancy!
Anything beautiful shot of Nanjing road and all the people shopping their little hearts out. If you look at the left side of the picture, you will see Brad Pitt modeling some watches. Yup, Western celebs are everywhere in Asia selling you everything. I think it is interesting that a lot of fashion ads and well news print ads in general have Caucasian people modeling. In China, Lyndsey and I were goddesses, no joke! Men would take photos of us on their cellphones from a distance and even some people asked to take photos with us. It was odd. In Korea, Koreans just stare at you and don't talk to you. At least in China, they talk to you and take a photo of you! Lyndsey and I were mini celebrities for a week. I now know what Britney Spears is going through! haha Not!!!
Here is the video showing Nanjing Road in action!
Mao, you're dead and that is a good thing! Last time I was in China, there were soldiers around the Mao statues especially in Beijing. But in Shanghai, no soldiers anywhere and everyone was taking photos with Mao. What happened? I can honestly say that people in China appear to be pretty happy for the most part. Even in rural China, tourism is picking up and the locals are really nice! They love a good bargain! Speaking of bargaining, I taught Lyndsey how to bargain in China. In markets you can bargain for clothes all the way to some candy. All you need to do is start really low with your price as a foreigner because the Chinese will start with 4 times what the price of the object really is. From there, it is a fun game of a little give and take from both sides. Sometimes the Chinese will use a calculator to show you the price. Then you can also use the calculator too and have a fun time crunching numbers. I love bargaining and I have been told I am pretty good bargainers because I don't get ripped off by the sales people! Lyndsey also feel in the love with bargaining and eventually she even bargained on her own without my help!
Riding the subway. Clean, safe, and reliable. What more you want? Plus, the signs are in English too and the train announcements. It's sweet!
The delicious $10 meal at a restaurant in the market place. It was super delicious and great with a bottle of Chinese beer! I love Chinese food!
The original outdoor market was closed and turned into some apartments. However, it was moved to the Science and Technology Subway stop underground. This was a great place to buy knock off everything. I like how the Chinese people entice the foreigners into their stores by saying, 'hey pretty lady' or 'lookie, lookie, I give you a good price!' I really enjoy how they want your business! Lyndsey and I went to a jeans stall and tried on some jeans behind a curtain that went up to our shoulders only. So people walking outside of the booth could see use standing behind a curtain trying on jeans. I like how the lady running the booth would look over the curtain and see us standing in our underwear. Good times!
A Chinese New Year themed decor that is plastered on a mall. We also walked down the rich part of Shanghai, Nanjing Road East where there were a bunch of high end boutiques. Of course, I could afford none of it and only used the washroom in one of the rich malls. Oh man, hopefully one day I'll be able to go on a shopping spree in a fancy mall! But you see lots of people in Shanghai shopping away. Where is all the money coming from???
Jingan Temple - the oldest temple in Shanghai that is still alive and kicking! It was nice to see people praying, offering, and getting ready for some good vibs for the new year! It is interesting to see the modern buildings in the background of such a pretty temple! With this monument, people were throwing coins at it to make wishes. So Lyndsey and I were partaking in trying to get a coin to land inside one of the holes. Lyndsey got one in after 10 tries. I gave up after 5 tries haha
Here is a shot of the temple from the staircase within the temple! They are constructing and renovating which is so common to see in Shanghai. This city is booming so fast and there are giant construction cranes everywhere in Shanghai!
Behind Nanjing road, Lyndsey and I decided to take a side street. Behind there we found a wicked little market where we did some shopping with the locals. Honestly I love finding the non-tourist markets because even the locals are a bit surprised to see a foreigner there. I like to support them a bit more rather than the bigger stores. So after shopping, we continued walking in the cold and we stumbled across this piece of art. I thought this was just such an awesome picture! I hope you see the beauty in this picture like I do!
Here is a picture of the tiny side street market that we stumbled across. Some good deals and it was sure not the cleanest of places haha but I liked how the people were friendly!
A shot of my pick me up snack on a rainy day in Shanghai. I chose the Milk Tea for a dollar and the 5 piece chicken nuggets for a dollar. $2 goodness. Lyndsey opted for the happy meal. It's odd to say but McDonalds in China tastes the same as in Canada. McDonalds in Korea tastes slightly funky. The fries have a weird coating and after taste in Korea. Man, Koreans can not cook Western food what so ever!
A shot of Pudong - the new and fancy part of Shanghai. Lots of Western style building and stores. Sometimes it felt like I was just walking around Toronto because it didn't feel like China. It's odd in that you can't really smell or feel the pollution either. In Beijing, I could blow my nose and literally it would be black inside of the tissue. I don't know what they are doing in Shanghai, but the air felt alright!
Lyndsey and I also decided to get some Chinese full body massages because last time I came to China, Annee and I had a few of them and we loved it! So we stumbled across a massage parlour on Nanjing road and thought well it must be pretty touristy and popular because of it's location. So we went up stairs and gave it ago! It was one of the most painful experiences of my life! We had two men massage us which I am not use too. Their strength pounded the kinks out of our bodies. I never thought there would be so much pain in a massage! The worst massage move was when I was sit straight up while seated, the grabbed my arms, lifted them, and jammed his knee in my back and lifted me! It was so painful. Lyndsey and I laughed because the next day we both woke up with stiff muscles haha We also ate a DQ Blizzard after the massage, so that helped!
So Chinese New Years eve, a lot of things closed early for the night. Oh no, what to do! Lyndsey and I did know! We went to Pizza Hut by our hotel because really nothing was open haha So we enjoyed a nice dinner of pizza along with other Chinese families who were out celebrating. I thought I was hilarious to see Hungarian Goulash on the menu! Here is the video of me enjoying the Hungarian goulash. I did order it for $3 Canadian, and it was a little soup bowl. I do admit, it wasn't bad and reminded me more of a watery beef stew. However, this was the closet thing to Hungarian food in a long time!
A video of Chinese New Year's eve - fire works outside of Pizza Hut
The day after Chinese new year and literally the sideways were so full of people that a lot of us had to walk on the streets. It was cool to see how there were soooo many people. I can't even explain what a cool sight it was! Plus, everyone seemed to be a good mood too.
The view across the 8 lane road to the Bund. There are all the hundreds of people lining the boardwalk of the Bund. I didn't think so many people would be downtown. Literally it was hard to walk on the wide path way because there were vendors and people everywhere! We had a somewhat crazy woman come up to us. I saw 'crazy' because had crusted foam on the outside corners of her mouth. She was chatting with us and Lyndsey's purse was on the floor by her feet, I told her to pick it up cause petty theft is popular. The lady went away as Lyndsey picked up her bag.
Didn't believe me about all the people on the other side of the 8 lane road? Well here is the shot to prove so! Look at all the people! I am standing on a bench to take this shot! After I took this photo a Chinese guy asked to take a photo with us but I let Lyndsey take the photo with this guy. His mom looked pretty happy that her son was with a nice girl like Lyndsey!
A photo I took by turning my body away from the guy who was taking the photo with Lyndsey haha So many people!
This is me freezing my little butt off on the boat tour. It sucks that we didn't know that you had to pay extra by ordering a drink to sit down. So I stood for an hour on the boat tour at the front. My nose was running by I was loving the view!
Here is the view of what I saw from the front of the boat. It was beautiful! The water was not so beautiful with some bits of garbage and cloudy water haha
Here is a video clip of the Bund walkway during the daytime!
The Oriental Pearl tower in all it's glory!
The copious amounts of people lining the walkway of the Bund as seen from the boat. Shanghai has a variety of buildings that have different architecture. It's interesting because this city doesn't feel like China. Even though I am all the way in China, it felt like I could be back in Canada. haha I can't really explain this thought.
A close up of the people on the walkway. I like how there are numerous vendors in China selling you anything on the streets. You can buy some meat on a stick, a cheesy souvenir, or even a photo of you in front of the Pearl tower. Lyndsey and I bought these candy covered balls on a stick. I thought that they resembled tiny candied apples. So after bargaining for them, Lyndsey and unwrapped our candy coated surprise only to bite into some tiny crab apples. That where ar
The video literally showing all the hundreds of people enjoying Chinese New Year on the water front of the Bund:
Another shot of the Bund, the old side of Shanghai!
This is a shot of the new side of Shanghai called Pudong. As you can tell there are a number of new and fashionable buildings. Very trendy!
Who is that peeking from in between the apartment/office buildings??
Just beautiful!
This is the Shanghai South Railway station. It's huge and new and lots of people were there hopping a ride to various cities. There were many many shops selling a variety of last minute train snacks that are all not refrigerated and shrink wrapped such as: smoked chicken leg in a bag, fish skin soaked in spicy sauce, a hard boiled egg, pig skin, and other such meat products that make you wonder how people can eat these preservative filled meat products. I love meat, but I won't even eat it! I opted for a bag of peanuts and an orange Fanta.
Hangzhou - an awesome lake town outside of Shanghai. Lyndsey and I didn't' really know what to expect coming here. But it was great! This was a rich little resort town with Starbucks, some name brand shopping, and even a Porsche dealership. It was crazy!
We met a variety of Chinese people from all over China. It was great to chat with strangers in English. We even took a bunch of photos with random people. Everyone was super friendly, curious, and just wanting to speak English. In Korea, Lyndsey and I never really experience talking to Koreans outside of work. Usually they will claim they can't speak English.
This is me striking a pose by a little floating pagoda. There was still a bit of snow as you can see and it was kinda colder here than in Shanghai. Too bad you can't really see the hills behind the lake, it was nice! I enjoyed that sometimes Lyndsey and I would be taking a picture or just sitting on a bench and enjoying the view, and random Chinese men would take our photos. It still cracks me up!
The cheesy lake show that is coordinated with music. It reminds of of Las Vegas, I think it was the Belliago hotel that did the water show. haha But people sat around and watched it in the cold!
This town reminded me of Banff in a weird way. There was beautiful scenery, tons of tourists, and lots of nice stores and boutiques! I was a bit sad though because I bought a steamed bun, which are super famous near Shanghai, and I dribbled bun juicy all over my jacket and I smelt like a steamed bun!
This cute little couple was great! The old man kept looking at us and smiling. He then proceeded to speak Chinese non-stop while walking with us. His son then came over and asked where we were from and we said Canada. The old man then went on a rant about how much he loved Canada! Lyndsey then called them 'Mama' and 'Papa' and they loved it! We took a few photos and I gave the man my Calgary Stampede pin. He was super thankful and loved it! It moments like this that I fall in love with the world!
A beautiful temple opening!
A warrior of some sort! The sign was in Chinese and I can't read!
A picture of the beautiful architecture! That is one thing that I love about Asia and I keep getting drawn back too!
Probably one of my favorite pictures of China. I love this country!
Did somebody say "Hooters' again! haha I had no cash left on me at the time and only my VISA card so Lyndsey and I thought well we might as well hit up Hooters again! But his time in Hangzhou. We had a super nice waitress which was ironical also working there to improve her English. Man, these Hooters girls are smart!
The empty Hooters looks so lonely! I do commend these girls in that they are willing to take a job in a foreign shop to improve their speaking. Even going to English restaurants in Korea is painful because the staff do not speak much English. When I went to McDonalds in China, they were totally on the ball!
So we had to hop the train and go back to Shanghai. It was freezing at night and I decided to grab a piece of street corn (not literally but corn cooked by a old lady on the street). I was a bit sad because it was a bit dried out probably from being steamed all day! booo! While we waited for the train, we visited two tiny local supermarkets and picked up a few random things! This man has a common way to transport luggage by using an elongated stick to balance to loads of items on both ends! I can't imagine how heavy it is!
This is Fox Town, the giant shopping complex outside of our hotel. The Regal East Hotel built right into Shanghai indoor Stadium. It was a super nice fancy hotel for a pretty good price! This mall was also a discount mall which was cool. They had a nice little food court in the basement and a Watson's drugstore where we would go to buy random things from chocolates to face wash! Watson's is pretty much equivalent to Shoppers Drug Mart.
There is Shanghai Indoor Stadium. Our hotel is built into the lower portion of the building! It is super cool! There was a nice young fellow named Paul who worked as a doorman at the hotel. He was super nice and Lyndsey was chat with him every night. hehe I think she secretly liked him! But good for her, a lot of Chinese guys were really nice!
The last day trip we took was to Suzhou - the famous garden town and canal town outside of Shanghai. We had to go to the Shanghai North Railway station. This station was even more congested! It was the end of the week and everyone was heading back to their jobs because the holiday was over! Check out the line ups that Lyndsey and I also had to wait in to buy a ticket! The worst thing is that people were smoking and it was gross standing next to them. We watched this man smoke two cigs in a row and loving every moment of it! One that I can't stand in Asia is men hocking phlegm/spit balls on the streets. It is sooo gross! It drives me nuts!
Here I am waiting for our train to be called. All the other hundreds of people are waiting as well to go home!
I chuckle at the fact there is an 'air' sickness bag on a train. Oh China, you're English is getting better!
Suzhou - what a difference! So this town was more like traditional China with street children, motorized rickshaws, old box type buildings, and well everything is covered in a sheet of dirt. It's real and I like it too. I get frustrated when the locals are all shouting at you 'lady, lady, hotel!' and other slogans so they can have your business. What was more frustrating is that Lyndsey and I couldn't find the tourist office and we wandered for 30 minutes at the train station in circles. Finally we just decided to start walking. We didnt' know where and we were both frustrated. While walking we eventually saw a sign that said 'Tiger Hill 3.9KM' and decided to go there. The hard part was that we didn't know if we were walking the right way. I was cold and tired and grumpy. But we walked and got to see everyday life unfold. People selling fruit out of a truck, children playing, and old people watching the day unfold. I like seeing that! We also saw these older house boats that people lived on. They definitely looked a bit scary in that I thought they could sink at any time!
Just a street shot of life happening in Suzhou on a side street.
Finally we reached the canal and enjoyed the view of the houses lined up along the water! It was pretty nice!
Tiger Hill, we made it! We paid a few bucks to get in and started wandering around. The place was booming with tourists. Vendors were everywhere selling anything you could imagine for a few bucks.
I don't know what this is! But is looks pretty cool!
The tourist canal boats, they are a bit different than the boats people live in like in the picture above!
The quiet canals in Suzhou. I enjoyed the silence and scenery!
This would have to be my second favorite shot of China. This is of Tiger Hill's monument where goods and treasures were stored for safe keeping!
A shot of Suzhou from Tiger Hill. There are construction cranes in the background constructing more block type apartments for the growing Chinese population.
A close up of the tower and yes it is leaning and not Lyndsey's bad photo skills! I looks so small next to it!
A nice shot of the grounds of Tiger Hill. I wonder what it is like in the summer!!
I look so cold and tired in this photo and I was haha Just posing in front of a temple!
This sign is great!
Leaving the ground of Tiger Hill and heading back to Shanghai for my last night in China! So sad!
Little did we know that when we went to the train at 6pm, all the trains to Shanghai were sold out! Immediately we panicked because we left our luggage at the hotel. We were planning to spend the night in the airport because our flight left early the next day! I had never been stranded before and I freaked out! But the intelligence of the Chinese shone through again! there were mini van set up outside of the train station with people yelling 'Shanghai!'. We asked a random man and he wanted $50 Canadian. We said no way! We then asked another lady and she offered 10 bucks each. We agree because we didn't want to be stranded. So we took a mini van back for 2 hour driving with some other random people who were stranded in Suzhou. The funny thing is, that if this was Korea, we would totally be stranded because spontaneous thinking is not really used in Korea haha
Here is a video of us in the van!
Our little van to the plane was delayed because 5 Koreans missed the boarding call. The thing that bugged Lyndsey and I was that their friend didn't want to the whole plane to leave because they were late! Come on, grow up and don't miss your boarding call. I was frustrated because I slept at the airport for few horrible hours. Even when we got back to Shanghai from Suzhou, we missed the train to the airport and we were stranded again. So I bargained with a taxi drive and she drove us. A night of bargains. It was hard to leave China but I really enjoyed my trip there. I can't wait to see the rest of China in the future!
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