Blogs from Zhouzhuang, Jiangsu, China, Asia

We visited the little canal town of Zhouzhuang our second day together. The city had some beautiful things to see and delicious food, but the locals have definately learned to squeeze every cent out of the tourists. Every stall sells the same stuff, so we realized that nothing was truly an "original" as the vendors had insisted, and they originally asked for 200% more than they would sell for. All you had to do was say you didn't want to pay that much and keep walking and they would chase you down and offer their goods for substantially less. My favorite part of this town (besides the shopping and the cafe latte) was the Budhist Temple. I got a bit more artistic in this town with my photos, so bear with me.... read more

You think you know how to count? Wait till you get to China! Whether you are shopping, buying tickets to the bus, train or to a concert, or simply asking for a table for your group.............you need to know how to count "the Chinese way". As in, there is absolutely no other way! I visited Shanghai and Zhou Zhuang 2 times in the last 2 months. My 3rd visit to Shanghai in 2 years. Was here on my way back home from a trip to Turkey and Greece last April. And then a second time around, on my way back again after meeting up and traveling with friends from Beijing through Xi'an and finally here in May. Yet, it has taken this long for me to realize that the Chinese count with their fingers in ... read more

You all know how much I love big cities, but I am finding that Shanghai is testing my limits. I have decided that I much prefer a smaller city of, say, 12-13 million. Traffic here defies imagination--I can't even think of a word to describe it (and when I can't think of a word, that's a problem!) because not only is it congested, but it is different. Pedestrians having anything near the right of way? I don't think so! Bicycles are like cars and they just drive head on into the throngs of people crossing the street. The other day I almost got hit by a motorcyclist driving on the sidewalk. Maybe I should have looked a little closer into that travel insurance idea I blew off. So yesterday, Emilia and I took the bus to ... read more

Taking advantage that Rene, Jenny's friend was visiting Shanghai, we decided to go to Zhouzhuang, a town only 1.5 hours away from Shanghai and best known as: "Venice of the East". Zhouzhuang is indeed a beautiful old town, full of canals and bridges. Before 1980, tourism was not developed there but thanks to a Chinese artist that sold a painting of one of the bridges in more than US$32,000,000 to the President of the Occidental Petroleum in 1984, became well known to the rest of China. A trip to Zhouzhuang should not exceed 4 hours. Immediately after arriving, we were surrounded by old ladies selling maps, offering hotels, etc. After a few minutes walking into the town, we arrived to one of the main streets, which we recognized because of the hundreds of kiosks and stores ... read more