THIS is the China post
So, you know, I went to China.
The end.
Kidding! I kid.
The tour my mom and I went with was through the local chamber of commerce. Apparently several of them around the country and in Canada do them twice a year - in the spring and in the fall. They're largely centered around getting you to buy things, but maybe all tours are like that. I don't know, I've never done one before. We had a group of 15 people, which was a great size, and everyone seemed to get along really well. I can't imagine doing something like this where you're with people 95% of the day if you didn't get along. o___o
First off, there was a lot of food. LOTS of food. All of it was relatively mild, since they didn't want to have anyone get sick/upset stomach-y. On the whole it was largely bland, but not necessarily in a bad way. I just prefer my stuff with a little more flavor. We were warned before we went not to drink the tap water and that many of the toilets would be squat toilets. I did not use a squat toilet for various reasons including that I would probably fall on my ass if I tried.
Day One -
Olympic village was our first stop. We didn't actually go in the village, but we saw the bubble cube building as well as the aerie tower. They were pretty. And bubbly. After that we went to a jade factory where we got to see some guys carving jade and then were offered a wide selection of jade to buy. There were some amazing sculptures, and I ended up taking pictures more than buying things.
Next up was the Ming Tombs. Apparently you can't go in the tomb that's open. A lot of cultural artifiacts and such were destroyed during the cultural revolution, and those that weren't destroyed completely were largely burnt and weakened to the point that they're dangerous. We did get to see the temples and some of the objects as well as some of the history of the tombs. Only one is open, since that emperor wasn't a good one. Or something. This was the first place we experienced the fact that all the people wanted to take pictures of us/with us. I assume this is because many of them seemed to be on tour groups from other parts of China where caucasians are not common? So we're a novelty? I don't know. So there are a lot of random people in China with pictures of me. :D?
Lunch was conveniently located right next to a Cloissone factor. It was really cool to see the workers laying the copper outlines as well as painting the vases. Such meticulous work. After lunch we hit the Great Wall. Which is Great. Great BIG. 980 steps from the base level where you start to the top, but that doesn't count the stairs to get up to the base level. I'd never given much thought to the Wall other than it's an amazing structure, but the thing I found most interesting was the stairs. They varied in height/depth. Some were average sized, some were barely an inch above the other, and some were a good 1-2 feet tall. I had to grab the railing to help pull myself up. There are a lot of stairs. By the top, my legs were very noodle-y. Going down was more difficult though, because you didn't have the angle to see the depth of the step. But no one died, so all was well.
And then a acupressure massage that was basically me paying someone to beat the shit out of me. Yay? I felt awful the next day, but after that I felt pretty good, so I guess it did the job. Hee.
Beijing - Day One
Day Two -
First stop was the Summer Palace. It's a gorgeous lake and buildings and there were groups singing and performing. It was really lovely. Everything in Beijing is on acres and acres, so we only got to see little bits of all the places - the main buildings you'd see in a postcard. Then we had our "It's time to buy stuff" stop at a freshwater pearl "garden". Really nice pearls, and I got to be a model. Sadly, I didn't get to keep the product. Unless, of course, I wanted to pay for it.
After that we went to Tiananman Square. Were were told that we needed to ask any potentially "risky" questions before we got off the bus, and not in the Square. We were also told there were cameras everywhere and to ignore the police presence, especially if they were *ahem* busy. Again, a huge area, but we only saw part of it. We walked across it to the Forbidden City, which is the Emperor's Palace. It's connected by a canal to the Summer Palace, as the Emperor and his concubine would go by boat rather than by land. There are supposedly 9999 1/2 rooms, but we only saw a few. Most of the rooms you can't get into - you end up in hallways and courtyards. We were there for two hours and only saw maybe 10% of the whole space. That's also the sight of the "Imperial Gardens", which I found interesting in that they weren't your typical garden like I expected - more trees and rock than flowers.
Even though it doesn't seem like much, that was the whole day. We had Peking Duck for dinner - not the traditional meal that it's typically served with, but the duck cooked in that style. I am not a fan of duck. :(
Beijing - Day Two
Day Three -
First stop is the Royal Chinese Pharmacy. A big pitch to try herbal medicines. We all got free consults where they could sense 28 body parts/functions through your pulse. I apparenly have a very angry liver. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that information, but at least I have it.
Next was the Lama Temple, which is a working Buddhist temple. However, before we were there, the bus driver of our tour bus PARALLEL PARKED. He parallel parked the BUS. Between TWO CARS. PARALLEL PARKED. It was insane. We gave him a standing ovation. I can't even parallel park my MATRIX. Crazy. When you walk into the temple grounds, there's a beautiful walkway lined with trees. It's very peaceful. We ran into some monks (not literally) and they were very happy to pose for pictures with people. There were a lot of people there to worship, burning incense and praying. The final building is one built around a HUGE Buddha, that's about 26 meters tall and made out of a single white sandalwood tree. It's disrespectful to take pictures of the Buddha, so I didn't get any, but even if I could, I'm not sure I have a lens that's wide enough to capture all of it.
We went to the Hu Tong area of Beijing, which is the old town. Several familys work with the groups and host luncheons where they make a home-cooked meal for the groups and show them their houses. We wound through the narrow alleys and streets and visited one house. The family was lovely and the food was, by far, the best we had the entire trip. Home cooking is always better. The hostess played the zither for us - a traditional Chinese melody, and then Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. :D We rode rikshaws around the area, dodging between walkers, bikes, and mopeds and cars that were all trying to fit in these tiny spaces. It wasn't quite what I expected, but an interesting view of the poorer side of things.
Off next to the Temple of Heaven. It's now mostly a park that's used for playing hackysack, cards, board games, singing opera, exercise and dancing. We watched some people playing hackysack for a while and a few people in the group tried it. Then we viewed the Temple, which was really lovely. All of the temples are in the same design and the artwork on the edges of the roof/underneath the eaves reminds me of native American art in some ways. I'm not sure how to describe it, but that's the sense I got from it.
That night most of our group went out - either to a Kung Fu show or to the Peking Opera, but we opted to stay in. I think it was a good idea, especially since we had a super early check-out to go to Shanghai the next morning
Beijing - Day Three
Day Four -
Flight to Shanghai and then a bus ride to Suzhou. We had to say goodbye to our Beijing guide who was really great. Our new guide was nice, but just not the same. We also picked up a guide who specialized in the Suzhou area, having grown up there. After lunch (seriously, so much food), we went to the Lingering Garden. We weren't actually allowed to linger, because there was a lot to do, but we did get to take in the bonsai garden, as well as some re-enactment of a music performance for the wealthy owners of the house. More rocks and trees, so apparently it's more what a "garden" is thought of in China. Pretty and interesting, but I kept looking for flowers.
Suzhou is know as "The Venice of the East", because it's built around a series of canals, so we took a cruise on one of the dragon boats. Lots of people waving to us and taking pictures, but then we were doing the same. We stopped halfway and got off the boat to go to a local food market. There were a lot of fruits and veggies as you'd expect, but there were also live crab and eel and frogs and fish and stuff. Looking at you. With eyes. o___o There was also lots of meat being butchered in front of us and an area that was cages filled with live chickens, ducks, geese, and pigeons. I didn't linger there.
Right after that was dinner, which was a little disconcerting. Our hotel for the night was AMAZING - so big and beautiful - but we were mostly just tired and crashed rather than enjoying it.
Suzhou - Day Four
Day Five -
Our first (shopping) stop was the silk factory. We got to see how they get the silk from the cocoons and stretch out some of the cocoons after they've been washed. The place mostly makes bedding - silk duvets and covers and such. There was a silk shop where I was able to buy some scarves for people. I looked at some of the clothes, but what they had listed as a 3x might be a medium in the US. Needless to say, not gonna fit me. I did buy myself a scarf though. I just have to actually wear it at some point.
Tiger Hill Garden was next. A big park area that surrounds the Leaning Pagoda. It doesn't seem like it's leaning from some viewpoints, but from others, it's definitely visible. There's also a monestary there, but the monks were run off during the cultural revolution and never returned. Not that I blame them. Being burnt out of house and home is a little unnerving.
More silk after that - the embroidery institute. We got to watch some of the ladies embroidering and got to see some AMAZING art. Double sided and intricate and WOW. I could have spent a zillion dollars in there, but I restrained myself. Or my credit card did. :D Still, the stuff was just gorgeous. The artistry was overwhelming. Leaving the institute was an adventure in and of itself. It's a four way intersection with no lights and no stop signs and a zillion cars and pedestrians and bikes and motorcycles and everything. Mass chaos. It took us a good half hour to get onto the main street.
On the road after that to Hongzhou where our main guide is from. We went to the hotel and got settled in, then one of the other gals and I went for a walk. In the hour and a half between driving past the area to the hotel and when we went out, a whole street market had been set up. You name it and it was for sale - bags, clothes, shoes, electronics, hamsters(!), fruits and vegetables, prepared foods. Everything.
One of the biggest things that I noticed culturally that really became apparent at the market was the lack of personal space. Everyone crowds in/by/through and nothing is thought of it. I'd bump into people and apologize, whereas they probably didn't even notice. Interestingly, even though you're pretty much surrounded by people everywhere and super close, there was never a point where I didn't feel safe. Also important on this part of the journey - we found a store that sold chocolate. Best find.
Suzhou/Hangzhou - Day Five
Day Six -
An early check out and then we went to the Linyin Garden, which is another working Buddhist temple. We all got free incense that we were supposed to light and make a wish. Lots of monks, as you'd expect, and lots of Buddha. (Is Buddha plural? Buddhas?) That's also the home of the limestone carvings which include the "Laughing Buddha". There were statues of many of the great disciples (if that's the right word) of Buddha in one of the halls. They seemed to go on forever. They all had very exaggerated features, and it was interesting to try and identify what their...aspect was by their looks. I'm sure we got a lot of them wrong.
A ride out to a tea plantation with a quick lesson in how tea is grown, harvested, dried and packaged. More selling of stuff, which I was exempt from since I don't like tea at all. They did a little tea ceremony/pouring and gave us all tea to drink that I failed to drink. In my defense, I did TRY it, but it insisted on tasting like tea, so that was the end of our brief relationship.
Lunch and then a cruise on the West Lake. We are running into a contingent from Delaware a lot, and they're a fun crowd, so our cruise was a lot of fun. Several pagodas and bridges, lotus flowers and giant leaves. We've seen several people getting/taking wedding pictures on this trip, so it's either a really good time to get married or a really good time to take pictures for ads. The best part of this stop (at least for my mom and several others) was the fact that there's a Starbucks in the park area. Lots of people caffeinated themselves and got a taste of home.
After that we went into Shanghai for dinner and then the Jin Mao tower. You can go up to the 88th floor and look out at the city, which is lit up at night. Sadly it doesn't have an outside deck area like the Space Needle, so the majority of the pictures didn't turn out, since it's reflective glass. Woe. There's also a open space in the middle that's glassed in that you can look into and see aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way down. Whoosh. Across the street from that building though is the Shanghai Tower which is 121 stories. IT IS INSANE. Apparently the plan is to make it a city in and of itself with a little bit of everything inside, so you technically never need to leave. o__o
I did have my one bad experience at the tower which was a woman who came up and made some sort of comment to me in Chinese. I don't know for sure what she said, but from her motions/miming, it appeared that she was making fun of my weight. I don't know. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth though, and kind of colored the night for me. I had trouble sleeping that night as well, which left me not in a great headspace, but most of it wore off by the morning.
Suzhou/Shanghai - Day Six
Day Seven -
First stop is the high speed magnetic train. It goes up to 431 km/hour (267 mph). Which is fast. It doesn't feel fast, and the glass is tempered somehow to make the landscape not whir by. However, about 3/4 of the way through the ride, the train going the opposite direction comes by. There's a huge "Whoomph" of air as they pass, and it seems like everything goes twice as fast. WHOOSH.
Silk carpets were next. We got to see them tying off the carpets, and it was really interesting. Completely out of my price range, but beautiful. I did get a couple of pictures that will have to suffice. However, there was a lady there doing paper cutting. She demonstrated for us, and it was simply amazing. In less than 5 minutes she created this beautiful butterfly. She had a lot of really great stuff. There was also a paper-cutting that was hanging that her father had done that was of a tree, but if you looked closely at the leaves, they all formed animals. It was amazing. I skipped lunch, because I felt like I had already eaten ALL of the food. Was very sick of food by this point. Also craving anything but Chinese food. Pizza. Burgers. Pretty much ANYTHING.
Next up was the Bund, which is the area along the river. We went to the older side (we had gone to the more modern side the night before), but it was foggy/smoggy/overcast, so there wasn't a lot to see, so we headed to the bazaar/market. I expected more of a street market type thing, but it was more structured and more like little booths/stores. Nothing much that I saw that I needed. I did see a purse I liked (surprising no one), but I didn't have enough cash for it, so I had to live without (woe). I did get some cute things for my nieces and my sister-in-law there, but really I didn't see much I hadn't already seen elsewhere. I did get a knock-off set of "Beats" headphones that are pretty awesome. $60 bucks. Sweet. :D
Dinner next and then we went to the ERA acrobatic show. It's similar to a Cirque de Soliel, and the athleticism and acrobatics of the performers was breathtaking. Some of the things literally had the audience gasping. Many of the people were bendy. Very bendy people. It didn't tell a cohesive story, but it was really neat and well done. Definitely worth seeing.
Not much sleeping that night - packing and repacking and re-repacking and then an early wake up call.
Shanghai - Day Seven
Day Eight -
Shanghai airport, Beijing airport, Seattle. The weather the entire time in China was sunny and about 70-77 degrees. I got back to Seattle to a torrential downpour. Sigh.
Also, for the BEST sightseeing pictures, I offer you HAMSTER! ON THE GO!
The end.
Kidding! I kid.
The tour my mom and I went with was through the local chamber of commerce. Apparently several of them around the country and in Canada do them twice a year - in the spring and in the fall. They're largely centered around getting you to buy things, but maybe all tours are like that. I don't know, I've never done one before. We had a group of 15 people, which was a great size, and everyone seemed to get along really well. I can't imagine doing something like this where you're with people 95% of the day if you didn't get along. o___o
First off, there was a lot of food. LOTS of food. All of it was relatively mild, since they didn't want to have anyone get sick/upset stomach-y. On the whole it was largely bland, but not necessarily in a bad way. I just prefer my stuff with a little more flavor. We were warned before we went not to drink the tap water and that many of the toilets would be squat toilets. I did not use a squat toilet for various reasons including that I would probably fall on my ass if I tried.
Day One -
Olympic village was our first stop. We didn't actually go in the village, but we saw the bubble cube building as well as the aerie tower. They were pretty. And bubbly. After that we went to a jade factory where we got to see some guys carving jade and then were offered a wide selection of jade to buy. There were some amazing sculptures, and I ended up taking pictures more than buying things.
Next up was the Ming Tombs. Apparently you can't go in the tomb that's open. A lot of cultural artifiacts and such were destroyed during the cultural revolution, and those that weren't destroyed completely were largely burnt and weakened to the point that they're dangerous. We did get to see the temples and some of the objects as well as some of the history of the tombs. Only one is open, since that emperor wasn't a good one. Or something. This was the first place we experienced the fact that all the people wanted to take pictures of us/with us. I assume this is because many of them seemed to be on tour groups from other parts of China where caucasians are not common? So we're a novelty? I don't know. So there are a lot of random people in China with pictures of me. :D?
Lunch was conveniently located right next to a Cloissone factor. It was really cool to see the workers laying the copper outlines as well as painting the vases. Such meticulous work. After lunch we hit the Great Wall. Which is Great. Great BIG. 980 steps from the base level where you start to the top, but that doesn't count the stairs to get up to the base level. I'd never given much thought to the Wall other than it's an amazing structure, but the thing I found most interesting was the stairs. They varied in height/depth. Some were average sized, some were barely an inch above the other, and some were a good 1-2 feet tall. I had to grab the railing to help pull myself up. There are a lot of stairs. By the top, my legs were very noodle-y. Going down was more difficult though, because you didn't have the angle to see the depth of the step. But no one died, so all was well.
And then a acupressure massage that was basically me paying someone to beat the shit out of me. Yay? I felt awful the next day, but after that I felt pretty good, so I guess it did the job. Hee.
Beijing - Day One
Day Two -
First stop was the Summer Palace. It's a gorgeous lake and buildings and there were groups singing and performing. It was really lovely. Everything in Beijing is on acres and acres, so we only got to see little bits of all the places - the main buildings you'd see in a postcard. Then we had our "It's time to buy stuff" stop at a freshwater pearl "garden". Really nice pearls, and I got to be a model. Sadly, I didn't get to keep the product. Unless, of course, I wanted to pay for it.
After that we went to Tiananman Square. Were were told that we needed to ask any potentially "risky" questions before we got off the bus, and not in the Square. We were also told there were cameras everywhere and to ignore the police presence, especially if they were *ahem* busy. Again, a huge area, but we only saw part of it. We walked across it to the Forbidden City, which is the Emperor's Palace. It's connected by a canal to the Summer Palace, as the Emperor and his concubine would go by boat rather than by land. There are supposedly 9999 1/2 rooms, but we only saw a few. Most of the rooms you can't get into - you end up in hallways and courtyards. We were there for two hours and only saw maybe 10% of the whole space. That's also the sight of the "Imperial Gardens", which I found interesting in that they weren't your typical garden like I expected - more trees and rock than flowers.
Even though it doesn't seem like much, that was the whole day. We had Peking Duck for dinner - not the traditional meal that it's typically served with, but the duck cooked in that style. I am not a fan of duck. :(
Beijing - Day Two
Day Three -
First stop is the Royal Chinese Pharmacy. A big pitch to try herbal medicines. We all got free consults where they could sense 28 body parts/functions through your pulse. I apparenly have a very angry liver. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that information, but at least I have it.
Next was the Lama Temple, which is a working Buddhist temple. However, before we were there, the bus driver of our tour bus PARALLEL PARKED. He parallel parked the BUS. Between TWO CARS. PARALLEL PARKED. It was insane. We gave him a standing ovation. I can't even parallel park my MATRIX. Crazy. When you walk into the temple grounds, there's a beautiful walkway lined with trees. It's very peaceful. We ran into some monks (not literally) and they were very happy to pose for pictures with people. There were a lot of people there to worship, burning incense and praying. The final building is one built around a HUGE Buddha, that's about 26 meters tall and made out of a single white sandalwood tree. It's disrespectful to take pictures of the Buddha, so I didn't get any, but even if I could, I'm not sure I have a lens that's wide enough to capture all of it.
We went to the Hu Tong area of Beijing, which is the old town. Several familys work with the groups and host luncheons where they make a home-cooked meal for the groups and show them their houses. We wound through the narrow alleys and streets and visited one house. The family was lovely and the food was, by far, the best we had the entire trip. Home cooking is always better. The hostess played the zither for us - a traditional Chinese melody, and then Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. :D We rode rikshaws around the area, dodging between walkers, bikes, and mopeds and cars that were all trying to fit in these tiny spaces. It wasn't quite what I expected, but an interesting view of the poorer side of things.
Off next to the Temple of Heaven. It's now mostly a park that's used for playing hackysack, cards, board games, singing opera, exercise and dancing. We watched some people playing hackysack for a while and a few people in the group tried it. Then we viewed the Temple, which was really lovely. All of the temples are in the same design and the artwork on the edges of the roof/underneath the eaves reminds me of native American art in some ways. I'm not sure how to describe it, but that's the sense I got from it.
That night most of our group went out - either to a Kung Fu show or to the Peking Opera, but we opted to stay in. I think it was a good idea, especially since we had a super early check-out to go to Shanghai the next morning
Beijing - Day Three
Day Four -
Flight to Shanghai and then a bus ride to Suzhou. We had to say goodbye to our Beijing guide who was really great. Our new guide was nice, but just not the same. We also picked up a guide who specialized in the Suzhou area, having grown up there. After lunch (seriously, so much food), we went to the Lingering Garden. We weren't actually allowed to linger, because there was a lot to do, but we did get to take in the bonsai garden, as well as some re-enactment of a music performance for the wealthy owners of the house. More rocks and trees, so apparently it's more what a "garden" is thought of in China. Pretty and interesting, but I kept looking for flowers.
Suzhou is know as "The Venice of the East", because it's built around a series of canals, so we took a cruise on one of the dragon boats. Lots of people waving to us and taking pictures, but then we were doing the same. We stopped halfway and got off the boat to go to a local food market. There were a lot of fruits and veggies as you'd expect, but there were also live crab and eel and frogs and fish and stuff. Looking at you. With eyes. o___o There was also lots of meat being butchered in front of us and an area that was cages filled with live chickens, ducks, geese, and pigeons. I didn't linger there.
Right after that was dinner, which was a little disconcerting. Our hotel for the night was AMAZING - so big and beautiful - but we were mostly just tired and crashed rather than enjoying it.
Suzhou - Day Four
Day Five -
Our first (shopping) stop was the silk factory. We got to see how they get the silk from the cocoons and stretch out some of the cocoons after they've been washed. The place mostly makes bedding - silk duvets and covers and such. There was a silk shop where I was able to buy some scarves for people. I looked at some of the clothes, but what they had listed as a 3x might be a medium in the US. Needless to say, not gonna fit me. I did buy myself a scarf though. I just have to actually wear it at some point.
Tiger Hill Garden was next. A big park area that surrounds the Leaning Pagoda. It doesn't seem like it's leaning from some viewpoints, but from others, it's definitely visible. There's also a monestary there, but the monks were run off during the cultural revolution and never returned. Not that I blame them. Being burnt out of house and home is a little unnerving.
More silk after that - the embroidery institute. We got to watch some of the ladies embroidering and got to see some AMAZING art. Double sided and intricate and WOW. I could have spent a zillion dollars in there, but I restrained myself. Or my credit card did. :D Still, the stuff was just gorgeous. The artistry was overwhelming. Leaving the institute was an adventure in and of itself. It's a four way intersection with no lights and no stop signs and a zillion cars and pedestrians and bikes and motorcycles and everything. Mass chaos. It took us a good half hour to get onto the main street.
On the road after that to Hongzhou where our main guide is from. We went to the hotel and got settled in, then one of the other gals and I went for a walk. In the hour and a half between driving past the area to the hotel and when we went out, a whole street market had been set up. You name it and it was for sale - bags, clothes, shoes, electronics, hamsters(!), fruits and vegetables, prepared foods. Everything.
One of the biggest things that I noticed culturally that really became apparent at the market was the lack of personal space. Everyone crowds in/by/through and nothing is thought of it. I'd bump into people and apologize, whereas they probably didn't even notice. Interestingly, even though you're pretty much surrounded by people everywhere and super close, there was never a point where I didn't feel safe. Also important on this part of the journey - we found a store that sold chocolate. Best find.
Suzhou/Hangzhou - Day Five
Day Six -
An early check out and then we went to the Linyin Garden, which is another working Buddhist temple. We all got free incense that we were supposed to light and make a wish. Lots of monks, as you'd expect, and lots of Buddha. (Is Buddha plural? Buddhas?) That's also the home of the limestone carvings which include the "Laughing Buddha". There were statues of many of the great disciples (if that's the right word) of Buddha in one of the halls. They seemed to go on forever. They all had very exaggerated features, and it was interesting to try and identify what their...aspect was by their looks. I'm sure we got a lot of them wrong.
A ride out to a tea plantation with a quick lesson in how tea is grown, harvested, dried and packaged. More selling of stuff, which I was exempt from since I don't like tea at all. They did a little tea ceremony/pouring and gave us all tea to drink that I failed to drink. In my defense, I did TRY it, but it insisted on tasting like tea, so that was the end of our brief relationship.
Lunch and then a cruise on the West Lake. We are running into a contingent from Delaware a lot, and they're a fun crowd, so our cruise was a lot of fun. Several pagodas and bridges, lotus flowers and giant leaves. We've seen several people getting/taking wedding pictures on this trip, so it's either a really good time to get married or a really good time to take pictures for ads. The best part of this stop (at least for my mom and several others) was the fact that there's a Starbucks in the park area. Lots of people caffeinated themselves and got a taste of home.
After that we went into Shanghai for dinner and then the Jin Mao tower. You can go up to the 88th floor and look out at the city, which is lit up at night. Sadly it doesn't have an outside deck area like the Space Needle, so the majority of the pictures didn't turn out, since it's reflective glass. Woe. There's also a open space in the middle that's glassed in that you can look into and see aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way down. Whoosh. Across the street from that building though is the Shanghai Tower which is 121 stories. IT IS INSANE. Apparently the plan is to make it a city in and of itself with a little bit of everything inside, so you technically never need to leave. o__o
I did have my one bad experience at the tower which was a woman who came up and made some sort of comment to me in Chinese. I don't know for sure what she said, but from her motions/miming, it appeared that she was making fun of my weight. I don't know. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth though, and kind of colored the night for me. I had trouble sleeping that night as well, which left me not in a great headspace, but most of it wore off by the morning.
Suzhou/Shanghai - Day Six
Day Seven -
First stop is the high speed magnetic train. It goes up to 431 km/hour (267 mph). Which is fast. It doesn't feel fast, and the glass is tempered somehow to make the landscape not whir by. However, about 3/4 of the way through the ride, the train going the opposite direction comes by. There's a huge "Whoomph" of air as they pass, and it seems like everything goes twice as fast. WHOOSH.
Silk carpets were next. We got to see them tying off the carpets, and it was really interesting. Completely out of my price range, but beautiful. I did get a couple of pictures that will have to suffice. However, there was a lady there doing paper cutting. She demonstrated for us, and it was simply amazing. In less than 5 minutes she created this beautiful butterfly. She had a lot of really great stuff. There was also a paper-cutting that was hanging that her father had done that was of a tree, but if you looked closely at the leaves, they all formed animals. It was amazing. I skipped lunch, because I felt like I had already eaten ALL of the food. Was very sick of food by this point. Also craving anything but Chinese food. Pizza. Burgers. Pretty much ANYTHING.
Next up was the Bund, which is the area along the river. We went to the older side (we had gone to the more modern side the night before), but it was foggy/smoggy/overcast, so there wasn't a lot to see, so we headed to the bazaar/market. I expected more of a street market type thing, but it was more structured and more like little booths/stores. Nothing much that I saw that I needed. I did see a purse I liked (surprising no one), but I didn't have enough cash for it, so I had to live without (woe). I did get some cute things for my nieces and my sister-in-law there, but really I didn't see much I hadn't already seen elsewhere. I did get a knock-off set of "Beats" headphones that are pretty awesome. $60 bucks. Sweet. :D
Dinner next and then we went to the ERA acrobatic show. It's similar to a Cirque de Soliel, and the athleticism and acrobatics of the performers was breathtaking. Some of the things literally had the audience gasping. Many of the people were bendy. Very bendy people. It didn't tell a cohesive story, but it was really neat and well done. Definitely worth seeing.
Not much sleeping that night - packing and repacking and re-repacking and then an early wake up call.
Shanghai - Day Seven
Day Eight -
Shanghai airport, Beijing airport, Seattle. The weather the entire time in China was sunny and about 70-77 degrees. I got back to Seattle to a torrential downpour. Sigh.
Also, for the BEST sightseeing pictures, I offer you HAMSTER! ON THE GO!