http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/rosy59/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from rosy59 en-us Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:53:56 +0000 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:53:56 +0000 Well itrsquos over my time in Shanghai is finished as of 1600 today when I fly out with Singapore airlines.So to leave you all with a last blog herersquos some random pictures and thoughts of my time in this are of China.People are so willing to help anywhere anytime I have had a translating problem complete strangers will offer to assist.Issues such as pushing and shoving do exist but itrs http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-366768.html Had my 50th birthday party at a place called Barbarrosa which is a great little barrestaurant in the middle of the gardens in Peoplersquos Square. Exit 11 and turn left before the Art Museum.It has decorations and is themed what you would loosely describe as Moroccan with a menu similar to Coffee Club for lunch sandwiches pizza pasta and wine and quite nice coffee.The staff are attentive a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-366264.html Real life in Suzhou alongside the canals is quite a hard life from what I have seen. Water is drawn from stone wells and people wash up their dishes and clothes beside them. The canals are also used for washing up washing clothes and mops in and donrsquot ask where they do toilet tasks. People live in the boats moored around the canals and daytoday life is conducted along the sides of it. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangsu/Suzhou/blog-365854.html Decided I needed some fresh air and country living so took myself off to Suzhou for a couple of nights and days.Suzhou is a small city of 5 million total but only 2 million within the city proper 100 kilometres west of Shanghai. Compared to Shanghai it is like a country town single level housing in some area dogs and cats everywhere old people out walking kids playing and not a hint of smog http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-365712.html Another day as a tourist in Shanghai.Shopping malls are all starting to look the same old streets with quaint washing lines hung overhead and various shops underneath then all look the same and food stalls are all selling candied crab apples and rockmelon crescents and the temples whether Buddhist or Taoists are all starting to look like each other alsoVisited the Yuyuan gardens in the Old Town http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-364251.html Today I played tourist on a weekday as I have finished teaching and await my last piece of assessment I am giving my students which is a test on Thursday.The 993 bus was as crowded as ever I swear the road works are getting worse in the new expo construction area and I had to stand almost the whole way grumpy and tired to start the day. Got to Lujaizui and paid my 35Yuan to see the TV tower mu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-363552.html Today I had plans to see the Taoist temple in the Century Ave area and then meet friends on the Bund to walk to tea to a great little Muslim restaurant nearby specializing in food from the Xin jiang Province.The temple is right in the heart of modern Pudong and is such a startling contrast to the nearby 8 lane road metro and shops.The Qinci Yangdian Temple is on Yuanshen Rd which is just over th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-363154.html The University I teach at is winding down the semester for spring Festival that is starting early this year on January 26.So festivities are underway already which include end of year parties.To start the ball rolling on Friday night we received tickets to a special concert held at the Grand theatre Peoplersquos Square Shanghai. This concert was put on by the municipality of Shanghai to honour http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-362847.html Pagodas and temples abound in the Hangzhou are Buddism is very much alive and well in some parts of China.One of the most famous must sees right in Hangzhou is the LeiFeng Pagoda and surrounding temples. This is a short walk from the hostel and can be seen towering in the sky day and night.It has been rebuilt numerous times with the last rebuilding in the 1950rsquos with only the original 977 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-362544.html There are numerous other attractions in Hangzhou many along the lakes edge or easily accessible nearby. Some of them includeA small art gallery on the little island off the causeway which seemed to specialize in the traditional water colour art works that most people know as Chinese art. People working and playing scenes of gardens and houses with very washed out colours heavy black outline http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-362003.html West Lake in Hangzhou is ldquotherdquo original lake there are many others in China but this is the real one.There are excellent EnglishChinese maps of the lake and its surroundings to be bought for 5Yuan although not quite to scale for a few of the sights it does give you an excellent idea of what to see.Or you could just wander and find things along the way. It is 15kms along the whole http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-361442.html West Lake Youth Hostel is on Nanshan Road and right beside the lake just out of the main city area. Itrsquos a fantastic little place with such a nice ambience friendly helpful staff who speak some English and within easy distance of restaurants temples museums bus and of course the lake and the magnificent walk and paths and gardens.We booked a private room with its own shower and toile http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hangzhou-/blog-360954.html On Wednesday afternoon Karl and I and half of Shanghai decided to head off for New Years Eve.We left university with a crowd of students all of us at the bus stop trying to get on buses already stuffed to the gunwales trying to hail any cab amazing.Lucky us managed to get a cab and we sped off to Century Ave Metro stop. This is a great metro station that has 3 lines of metro is close to us http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-360947.html On Tuesday a week ago we headed off in the afternoon to what is referred to in the guidebooks as ldquoOld Townrdquo.This was Karlrsquos last day in Shanghai and we had not managed to fit this ldquomust seerdquo sight in the itinerary as yet. Old Town or Nan Shi as the locals refer to this area is in Puxi so we headed off on the 993 to the ferry terminal and the end of the bus line. Y http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-360642.html Culture culture and more culture was the theme of the day.We knew we were in for rain on Sunday we so decided to plan our day around the art galleries and museums in Peoplersquos Square in Puxi. And yes we woke up to fine misty rain.Having got out of bed late we made it into this area around 1230pm after the usual bus and metro 6 and metro2 travel so lunch was the first priority.The food co http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-360230.html The Chinese language is rich and full with descriptive terms and phrases. When they translate into English they try to move this same type of language across and the use of superlatives and platitudes abound. Here are some excellent examples of cross cultural confusion mistranslation and general confusion http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-360197.html Did not have enough time to load pictures for the last blog so here they are http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-358633.html This blog is as much for me to remember what I have been doing as anyone that reads it hence my need to be quite chronological at times.Because we were expecting rain on Sunday we decided to venture into the French Concession in the Puxi area on Saturday. The locals donrsquot call it this only the westerners and apparently very few French ever lived here.This area is an old established part o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-358397.html Friday is my day off so Boxing Day we set off for a day of sight seeing and playing tourists and visiting the many toilets around Shanghai to service Karlrsquos bladder which does not like cold weather.First stop was the Municipal Bureau where I had to hand over 400Yuan and get something done with my visa to get my Foreign Experts Certificate which allows me to stay and work in China. We too http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-358133.html Its business as usual on Christmas Day in China so our classes went ahead as per normal. SSPU did allow us to rearrange and make up classes so we could have the afternoon off but I still had 2 x 80 minutes classes to teach on Christmas morning.Kim one of the other ESL teachers and I decided to combine classes and we organized a big room plus enlisted the aide of our 2 partners Karl and Roly a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-357923.html