Shanghai and Mt Heungshan
Yet again another part of china that is completely different to the rest
Shanghai is a mix of British and French influence as both factions claimed it as their trading port for the east (good ol opium) - the buildings are western and the people are oddly witty, pretty much a nice way of saying a lot of people on the streets try to scam and hustle you into something; influence from the old piratey shanghai days no doubt.
One of the popular scams is a touristy 'tea ceremony' where a group of young chinese students who know enough english to confidently exploit western tourists pretend that they are tourists themselves from another chinese provence and they are about to check out a very unique and cultural event where the tea and 'ceremony' ends up costing ~$100aust. Yes they did attempt this one on me however I was warned about this at the backpacker hostel earlier.
After a few days there (at a hostel and at a friend's place, this dude I met only in hongkong a week earlier) I decided to take a train to Heungshan, this awesome small town named after the mountain which towers over it, part of the yellow mountains.
I met a german traveler, the only westerner on the train - and we hiked together up the mountain (only half way then we took a cable car, otherwise it would have been dark by the time we got there; we did, however, walk the entire way down the next day - guided by a group of chinese guys who could speak english fluently). It took a lot of effort but the summit was absolutely amazing! words cannot describe it, nor can the images show what it was like to be there (although I will definitely upload them soon). The summit was 1.86km above sea level and a fog blanketed some of the smaller peaks to resemble what the chinese call 'cloud sea'.
Anyhow, currently I am in wuhan, arrived at 3am; my contact here is an old primary school friend of mine who is working as an engineer, he only has one key for his place, so I figure I'll stay on the net till morning; do some hardcore photo uploading... I hope this lan centre is cheap...
Shanghai is a mix of British and French influence as both factions claimed it as their trading port for the east (good ol opium) - the buildings are western and the people are oddly witty, pretty much a nice way of saying a lot of people on the streets try to scam and hustle you into something; influence from the old piratey shanghai days no doubt.
One of the popular scams is a touristy 'tea ceremony' where a group of young chinese students who know enough english to confidently exploit western tourists pretend that they are tourists themselves from another chinese provence and they are about to check out a very unique and cultural event where the tea and 'ceremony' ends up costing ~$100aust. Yes they did attempt this one on me however I was warned about this at the backpacker hostel earlier.
After a few days there (at a hostel and at a friend's place, this dude I met only in hongkong a week earlier) I decided to take a train to Heungshan, this awesome small town named after the mountain which towers over it, part of the yellow mountains.
I met a german traveler, the only westerner on the train - and we hiked together up the mountain (only half way then we took a cable car, otherwise it would have been dark by the time we got there; we did, however, walk the entire way down the next day - guided by a group of chinese guys who could speak english fluently). It took a lot of effort but the summit was absolutely amazing! words cannot describe it, nor can the images show what it was like to be there (although I will definitely upload them soon). The summit was 1.86km above sea level and a fog blanketed some of the smaller peaks to resemble what the chinese call 'cloud sea'.
Anyhow, currently I am in wuhan, arrived at 3am; my contact here is an old primary school friend of mine who is working as an engineer, he only has one key for his place, so I figure I'll stay on the net till morning; do some hardcore photo uploading... I hope this lan centre is cheap...