Blogs from Shanghai, China, Asia - page 267

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Asia » China » Shanghai January 22nd 2006

Dear Diary, Chinese food is soo damn good. Ok so the flight was very smooth. I sat next to a baby and a middle aged artist man. I got nervous and homesick for the first time when the plane was landing and I saw Shanghai's buildings. It hit me that I was here to stay for the next 4 and a half months with no chance of turning around to go home. I also realized I can't speak chinese...but whatever. All my relatives have been really nice. So far I've just been getting settled and spending time with relatives. I've also played badminton with my cousin and some girl and today my uncle took me to this...market thingie where they sold flowers and pets...that makes sense, right? All teh animals looked really pathetic. I felt so ... read more
My grandfather
Pet market

Asia » China » Shanghai December 24th 2005

Finally...the adventure begins. Thailand here I come! Yet first Jeff and I had a 10 hour layover in Shanghai. By taking China Eastern and having this layover in the Pudong Airport we saved $300 and got to spend a day in China!!!! Jeff and I paired up with two other English teachers in Hiroshima that were going to Myanmar, Larissa and Eric. I was a little worried at first since getting in and out of China usually requires a visa and a bunch of paper work. I mean...what if they never let us out of China once in? Worries aside we went into the city. It was quite interesting trying to get out of the airport. They had a special counter just for us 'transit' passengers and gave us really cool stickers to wear (sidenote: ... read more
Magnetic Train
Famous Teah House
Old Town

Asia » China » Shanghai December 21st 2005

Got to the airport in Xi'an abolutely fine but when I got there the flight said it was going to Pudong - fook! Checked my stuff in thinking the hostel surely couldn't have made that much of a mistake but within 20 minutes I was fully reassured I was going to the right place thanks to Lonely Planet (Pudong is the name of the airport you see). The fliught was possibly the worst I've ever had - internal flights in China fly quite low you see so you get a LOT of turbulence plus the pilot of the plane was as bad at flying as most of the Chinese are at driving so it must be generic (you have to see the roads out here to understand). Still here to tell the tale anyway so then ... read more
The Tourist Tunnel
Pearl Oriental Tower
Me, Gallad and Ian on my birthday

Asia » China » Shanghai November 28th 2005

Unfortunately we only had one day to enjoy this enchanting megalopolis. After arriving in the city by bus we found ourselves wandering the dim back alleys of Shanghai. You wouldn't think it would be hard to find our hotel (pictured), but when everything is in chinese charachters and the locals only speak chinese, and you're not even sure you've got the right hotel things can get pretty messy. But we did it and we had a damn good time doing it. After checking in to our lavish room. We decided we hadn't spent enough time wandering the streets and headed out again, this time down the old Nanjing Donglu main pedestrian thoroughfare. The next day armed with our camera we again headed into the city and did what tourists tend to do.. marvelled at the old ... read more
Nanjing streetscape
Liza walking down Nanjing
Chairman Mao

Asia » China » Shanghai November 27th 2005

Including her amazing experiences: On the loooong bus ride to Shanghai Visiting the Shanghai History Museum and Pearl Tower Checking out the Sex Museum (I know you'll all read it now!) Meeting up with some blondies and a giant Zigzagging her way across a bridge Shopping... and shopping... and shopping Adopting her own fighting cricket Pretending to be a guest at the Hyatt & Hitting the Disco Tunnel ... among others. Friday morning dawned bright and early and we were at the local bus stop just after 8am, ready to make our way back to Shanghai for the weekend. We got on the bus straight away... and waited...and waited. Over two hours later, we managed to actually leave Haimen for the big smoke. The time in between was spent riding around town, watching the driver and ... read more
Newsboy
Run, Emi, Run!
Family Photo

Asia » China » Shanghai November 25th 2005

Hello, my fellow Americans! (to quote Richard Nixon, another traveler to China) Well, while you all were busy digesting your Thanksgiving turkey, Gigi, Emilia and I took a trip to the Wal-Mart in Shanghai so we could be even more proud of our heritage! I mean, brilliant! Why should Wal-Mart pay all those pesky cargo charges--open up a store close to the source! You will be interested to know, however, that they use an "in-culture" marketing strategy. The pharmacy is full of herbs and Chinese medicines (like seahorses) and the supermarket--well, just look at the pictures. It's NOT your corner Wal-Mart. After our visit to the capitalist giant, we balanced out the day with a visit to the house where Chinese communism was born. It sits around the corner from a Starbucks and across the street ... read more
Bird flu?
Frogs, anyone?
Emilia's getting good with the chopsticks

Asia » China » Shanghai November 22nd 2005

Hello, everybody! I miss you and I miss my teachers and my friends. I got to Shanghai last Friday. On Sunday night we went to an acrobat show. It was really fun. On Saturday we went to a Buddhist monastery. There were statues of Buddha. When people pray to Buddha, they can't point their shoes at the Buddha. People have been taking my picture that I don't know because I am different. Today people took my picture 14 times! Yesterday people took my picture 4 times. I am havng a good time.... read more
Me and a fish in a restaurant
We had a back and foot massage!
Me and a Chinese girl

Asia » China » Shanghai November 21st 2005

We got here on Friday night after a looooooooooooooong trip via Tokyo. Actually, the trip was pretty uneventful--just the way I like 'em. Shanghai is a huge city--it totally dwarfs New York. Actually, being here has given me a much better understanding of New York and its immigrant roots and influence, from teeny hole in the wall restaurants to contantly being offered great deals on "Rolexes." (So hard to resist!) This is a city of contrasts. If you wander the back streets and alleys you get a glimpse of old China and how the masses really live. If you stay on the tourist track, you see opulence and loads of conspicuous consumption. There must be more Gucci (and Versace, and Prada, and Chanel--well, you get the picture) stores per capita here than anywhere else in the ... read more
Just the first of many...
Me and Gigi
Bad translations abound

Asia » China » Shanghai November 19th 2005

Including her brave encounters with: Aeroplane food, Drug runners, Chinese immigration officials, Taxi drivers, Squat Toilets, Beggars, Street sellers, Chinese currency, Fighting crickets, Acrobats, Market stall-holders, Chinese masseuses and various culinary delights, among other things.... Read on if you dare. The plane trip over to China on Thursday was pretty uneventful. I ate my meals (no problems at all - I love aeroplane food), tried unsuccessfully to sleep (even after only 3 hours' worth the night before) and watched some movies. For those Dale Kerrigans out there, I saw "Look Both Ways," "Must Love Dogs" and "Touching the Void," and "Must Love Dogs" was first. About halfway through the flight I started stressing, because I was carrying a bag of vitamins over for a Chinese friend of my parents', and when reading my booklet on China, ... read more
Good Old Qantas
The Bund
Good morning, Shanghai

Asia » China » Shanghai November 18th 2005

Even though I'm back in Old Blighty, I thought I'd finish the story of the trip. Last time I wrote, we were in Beijing, we then made a detour to the wild west to the town of Datong. We took a train to Datong, 165 miles south west of Beijing. The train rose up through the mountains outside Beijing and on to the Loess plateau. This place defines the colour brown. Everything is a different shade of brown, that's when you can see it that is, for Datong is one of the most polluted cities in China due to industry and coalmining. While we were staying in Datong we visited the Hanging Temple (Xuankong Si) at Heng Shan. Really spectacular and a touch scary when you look at the pillars it's supported on. I'd advise not ... read more
Hanging temple of..
Bright lights, big city
My, that's huge




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