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Because Abby is a marriott points millionaire, we got to start our day off in style by eating in the VIP club at the top of the hotel. This was pretty amazing as we could see the whole city.
We met our tour group in the lobby and headed off to explore Shanghai. Diva squad showed up in 4 inch platform heels which they promptly traded in for sandals, a great disappointment to the rest of us.
Our first stop was The Bund where we saw a wall street style bull (apparently a gift after the US single handedly took down the market, our bad), a flower wall (self explanatory) and the new skyline of Shanghai. We snapped some obligatory pics and I schemed on how I was going to steal a Chinese baby as they are the cutest things in the world.
Our second stop was Nanjing Street, the equivalent to time square. Very commercial and definitely over crowded. We did the lap, snapped some more pics and then headed back to the bus. There is a very creepy train that runs the length of the street playing American children songs and picking up kids. We are
still not sure if this was with the parent's approval or not.
Our final stop in Shanghai was to the french consession, a small section of old pre-WWII stone houses that use to be privately owned but have since been graciously (?) turned over to the Chinese government. They are now bars and restaurants, apparently a good place to go out at night.
On our way to Suzhou, our tour guide shared some interesting facts about China with us...facts like the old run down apartments near city center are sometimes taken from the owners by the Government, but fear not. If this happens, the Chinese government gives you one apartment per family member or millions of dollars...I will say nothing more.
Finally we boarded the bus and headed towards Suzhou "venice of the east". Our first stop once we were there was a boat ride through the Great Canal. This was actually pretty amazing. The boat was a small traditional Chinese boat that sat about a foot above the water. The canal itself was about 12 feet deep and ran through the city center. We were able to see houses along the canal and small restaurants marked
with red lanterns. Bridges and pagodas provided ideal picture moments and at one point we stopped at a "traditional chinese market".
This was apparently a market which specialized in meat and small arms, a one stop shop if you will. The meat was mostly frogs, turtles, eels kept alive in large buckets which people were grabbing at. There was a small dog in a cage, I can only assume they were looking for a lovely home for it to run around and play in....RIP fluffy. There was also a nice young man sitting on a blanket selling hand guns, an offer ALMOST too good to pass up.
After about 20 minutes, we all met back up and continued sailing. We ended at a small bridge, boarded the bus again and headed off to our hotel. This hotel, although not as nice as Shanghai, was still pretty baller. Upon entering the room the first thing I noticed was the complimentary gas masks in the closet, something which probably should have been more alarming than it was.
We dropped off our stuff and met up with our two new friends and handed the hand written note our tour guide
had given us to a taxi driver, intending to go to the "man made lake district". Our taxi driver looked at the Chinese note and then said something very quickly to us in Chinese. Eventually a hotel staff member walked over, said something in chinese, looked at the note, then off we went.
The man made lake district was a little underwhelming, although we did find a really cool bridge to snap some pics on. We eventually walked around until we found a restaurant filled with what appeared to be locals and walked in. Fortunately they had an English picture menu, a item worth its weight in gold. We ordered some fried pork which came in a platter of hot red chilis (were we expected to eat these????) some delicious dumplings and an item we affectionally dubbed meat pyramids (still not sure what these things were or what this "meat" actually was). After a few beers, we got adventurous and tried the meat pyramids, a decision which will haunt me for the rest of my days.
After dinner we walked around the lake and finally understood the appeal. There were colorful lights on everything and it was pretty
spectacular. We found a bar named "we will rock you tunnel" which offered 2 for 1 drinks and settled down. We eventually made friends with a group of Chinese people next to us, one of which spoke English. We eventually learned he use to live in NYC but now lives in China in the "sweater, wedding dress and electronic business". The market demands what the market demands. They taught us a few drinking games, all involving dice and yelling, before we finally headed back to the hotel.
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Cheap wedding dresses
Nice Post and cool pics.