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View from the boat
the oriental perl tower and the goodyear blimp
Mark and Chrissie Hayward Day 38
Arriving at the South Station in Shanghai we struggled a little with the subway system as we always do in a new city. A bit of a trek from the station later and we were at our hostel for the next couple of nights, the YesInn. We had heard mixed reviews of this so we were a little unsure what we'd find when we got there. It was very modern and clean, the lovely bathroom had a sit down loo and loo roll, we got breakfast thrown into the price of the room and free internet. Apart from it being a little bit out of the way we were really impressed.
Entering our dorm we met our Aussie and Brit roomies and chatted for a while before going out for a bite to eat (more dumplings). Having settled in (and unpacked everything) we left to visit the French Concession area of Shanghai which has a load of old buildings brought bang up to date and converted into modern bars, restaurants and shops. It was a great place to just wander and take in this trendy modern china. Even after a couple of hours we felt like
we were in a completely different country.
Heading along the road we had read about a great cheap eatery which sold some of the best dumplings in Shanghai. After a bit of a translation problem with a very stern Chinese lady, we ended up without the dumplings and ordered two dishes instead of our intended three, thinking that we could get another if we were still hungry. The amount of food that came out was astonishing!
From here we headed toward the Peoples Square stopping off in one of the parks to try out some of the exercise machines that are everywhere in China. It was really funny and not a sight (i think) many of the locals had ever seen before. We like to feel we are giving something back to the countries we visit!
The Peoples Square was packed with people on their May holidays having fun with their families, so we just sat and people watched whilst the sun started to go down and the skyscraper lights came on - a great way to finish the day.
Day 39
After getting our fill from the free breakfast (as well as stocking up
for lunch or mid morning snack) we headed to the station to go for a day trip to Suzhou, only to find that due to the demand of tickets the first train we could get was at 1:30 ... 'Damn' said Mark and Chrissie! Deciding that it wouldn't leave enough time for us - we booked tickets for the next morning (as well as our ongoing tickets for the 6th) and headed for the famous area of Shanghai called the Bund which is the riverside road lined with grand buidings built early in the last century.
May day fever had really kicked in as this was also packed, so we headed toward the end which looked a little quieter and treated ourselved to a 'Bingde Pijiu' (or a cold beer to you and I) and nursed it in the shade for an hour or so - it was a haven from the crowded front and really relaxed us both.
Walking back down the Bund we took in some of the history from a walking tour in the book including a visit to the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank with its impressive (most impressive) marble interior.
From the end
of the Bund we headed to the Yu Yuan Bizarre. This was well worth the walk, it was a bustling bazaar where you can buy anything from 'genuine' designer clothes to tacky souvenirs all set in some of the old Shanghai architecture. We had a great time looking through the stalls and bartering for a 'real' Calvin Klein belt for Chrissie from 380y to 40y (2.60 pounds) - if that's real Calvin Klein we'll eat our packs!
Walking back to the Bund, we had planned to meet Ron (Charlie and Nancy's dad) for a pint in the bar at the Captains Youth Hostel, and managed to also meet with all of the guys from the dorm and bump into Alastair (from the Yangtze cruise).
We had a great evening of a couple of beers and Pizza for tea watching the sun go down over the Bund and the impressive lights across the water in Pudong. We were even lucky enough to have an impromtu firework display which would have rivalled most we have seen in the UK! It was a great night and we looked forward to meeting up with Ron again the next day
where he has very kindly offered us a room at his flat for a couple of days overlooking the water.
Suitably fed and watered we went back to the hostel.
Day 40
An early start saw us on the 8am train to Suzhou around 45 minutes from Shanghai. On arrival we were again caught by the fact that you can only buy train tickets from the station you are leaving from and queued in a very busy ticket office to get our return tickets. If you bear in mind that Suzhou is maybe around the size of Birmingham but only has one station and everyone has to buy their tickets in this way you might be able to picture just how busy it was.
Return tickey booked we went to see what Suzhou had to offer. After some Chinese character code-breaking we worked out which bus we'd need and counted the stops to get to our destination - one of Suzhou's famed gardnes - The Master of Nets Garden. Very pretty.
We next stopped in to see the twin pagodas which were also very cool. It was here that we saw the biggest bees we've
ever laid eyes on!
We spent the rest of the afternoon pottering around the old town area of Suzhou which has lots of canals crossed by little bridges and surrounded by traditional architecture. We stopped for a meal in a little 'restaurant' that had no English menu and where the cook didn't even seem to understand our 'point it' guide filled with lots of pictures. So we went for the Menu Point and Eat Challenge picking two random dishes and hoping for the best - thankfully all of the ingredients were recognisable (and acceptable) to us and both dishes were lovely - who knows what we could have ended up with!
Due to meet Ron at 7.30pm we were in plenty of time and just 5 minutes from pulling into Shanghai station when the train stopped and did not continue for another hour and a half. Very annoying (and obviously we couldn't understand what was going on) but thankfully Ron was still there waiting for us when we eventually arrived on the Pudong side of the river. This is the newly developed area of Shanghai most of which had been built since the early 90s. Ron took us
back to his fantastic apartment overlooking the riverside where we took in the stunning views and were treated to a gorgeous homecooked meal of steak and wedges with salad and a few beers. Incidently this was the first time we've used a knife and fork to eat a meal since we left home!
Day 41
After probably the best nights sleep in the most comfortable bed of the trip, the gastronomic delights kept on coming with eggs on toast for breakfast washed down with proper coffee.
It was then time to settle an old score - donning our whites and heading out to the centre court it was time for the clash of the tennis titans in the M. Hayward V R. Merriman championships which was currently sitting at 1 game each (7 years ago)! With conditions hot and humid, Chrissie (sensibly) took the option of using the local swimming and sauna facilities which she very much enyoyed, but Mark and Ron ploughed on regardless.
Warming up it was apparent that Ron had spent all of his spare time practising for this very occasion, whilst Mark was struggling to remember which end of the tennis raquet
was for holding and which for hitting the ball! It was shaping up to be a long day for the Hayward camp!
It was a great game and i'd like to say that Mark put up a good fight - but i'd be lying! with a whitewash of a 6-1 first set and a slightly more respectable 6-4 second, the title will be Rons until the return match in a year's time at the home venue - I think we will be in Brazil, is that OK with you Ron?
Showered and changed we headed for a local noodle bar where we had a feast and Ron would only let us pay 3Y towards the bill - it was delicious and Mark managed to hoover everyone's leftovers as well (always willing to help).
From here we took a stroll down the river ending up at the ferry to take us across to the opposite bank. Spalshing out on the 'airconditioner ferry' (as it said on the sign) we were wondering whether we had inadvertantly boarded a cargo ship of airconditioners, but were pleased to find out that it was another bit of Chinglish sign writing! Finding a
reputable looking tour operator we booked the three of us on a tour boat up the river, being promised that we would be leaving in 5 mins. A man with a flag came to show us the way, but instead of taking us to the river, we were herded on to a bus. We all thought this odd as we had been sat only a few feet from the river - however we went along with this magical mystery tour. Luckily enough after picking up a few more enroute we arrived at our boat - where we were met by a very insistent lady who took us to the VIP section in the bow casually saying that it would only cost another 100y each more. Politely declining we headed to the deck and had a great view of both sides of the river with the sun going down.
Back to the flat after a quick stop for some more cold beers (and food for the train the following day) we sank a couple of beers whilst gettig dolled up in our finery where we were heading for the Cloud 9 bar on the 87th floor of the Jinmao Tower
(the 4th highest building in the world) at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Ascending in three different lifts, it was quite a vertical commute, we arrived at the bar which was stunning. Escorted to our table we chatted for a couple of hours over some beer and wine taking in the lights of Shanghai and gradually watched as the rest of the city lights went out only to be luminated by a thunder storm.
Deciding not to brave the rain we got a taxi back to Ron's and tucked into another beer or two whilst finishing off some packing. We had a lovely stay with Ron and were sad to leave (not only for the 5* luxury) and leave Shanghai with very fond memories from our world tour. Thanks a million agian Ron, we feel thouroughly spoilt! All the best and see you in Brazil in a year for the return match!
Day 42
Up early for our train we headed over to Shanghai South Station (which is an amazing modern station, bleive me , we appreciate this when we find it!) for our 25 hour train journey to Guilin. The journey comprised a lot of sleeping and
reading, that was until the lights went out and Chrissie was kept awake for most of the night with yet another incredibly loud snorer (or in this case a snoring pair).
Overall the 25 hours went really quickly and we were in Guilin feeling very relaxed before we knew it.
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