Shanghai to Nanning

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I have arrived in Shanghai, it is around 8am in the morning and I have survived the sleeper train, standard procedure of battling with the Chinese and the subway with my massive backpack so I can get to my hostel.

I am staying at the Rock & Wood international hostel and it is probably one of the best I have stayed in for under ¥50 a night, ¥10 for a beer (big bottle) lockers that fit my backpack in and pretty decent beds! Plus there is a huge common area, a pretty little stream outside and constant hot water...you could easily get stuck here..in a good way.

Day 1 of Shanghai and it is raining and cold, it is almost like being at home...almost! But still I venture out to explore this city, its history and culture. 1st stop in the contemporary art museum, took me a while to find it which meant I got to see a lot on the way. I stumbled across a street that was full of antique shops, Jade jewellers and the most beautiful little buildings, if only the weather had been nicer it would have been a great place to sit, have a tea and watch the world go by...

I tried to see and do as much as I could, wandered through People's Park which is in the city centre and again a lovely area tonsit and watch the world go by, but not today. Instead I got distracted by the flurry of people around and what they were doing, it took me a while to work it out, throughout the park there are rows of posters hanging with photos of people and writing, at a first glance it looks like a missing persons board...but what I actually think it is...is a dating board! It had their photo, birth date, info and telephone number! None if this online stuff in China just pop to your local park to discover the singles in your area..!

There is a famous street East & West Nanning street which is metropolis heaven, shop after shop, bright lights, music playing, event promo's going on, it really reminded me of London town there was so much going on it was hard to take it all in. Bit it was just so cool, this is what I thought the big cities would be like, I couldn't wait to get back here at night to see it all.

The next day the weather perked up so I could see Shanghai in its full glory, I went up to The Bund which is the financial heart of Shanghai, all the sky risers and sky scrapers can be found here, lots of recognisable companies, very prestigious. Once again another astounding view, it is quite breathtaking as it is located on the river so you see the city and the water. There is a ferry thay goes back and forth for ¥2 less than 30p! Such a cool way to see it if you can get to the deck as everyone pushes, shoves and runs to get their first, so funny to watch, you would think someone famous was waiting at the top. Once over at the bund it is very overwhelming as it is so hectic with people and the Buildings are so overpowering, I felt so miniscule, for once in my life! I took it all in by walking around, having to stop to really gain perspective on these huge buildings and thinking how there were people in there working, that was me 2 months ago!

China is full of parks, they really take their greenery seriously so once I again i gave my feet a break from walking and watched everyone else, some people on their lunch going for a run, little kids playing, the oldies doing their exercises! I got mesmerized by these female statues..angel like, I don't know what it was about them but I just though they were so elegant, maybe it was because they were surrounded by a city of buildings, offices and what feels like a male dominant area and these were so beautiful, pretty and female.

Shanghai is a great city to get lost in with so many areas offering different sights, it really buzzes with excitement, old & new buildings, skyrisers, temples you name it, Shanghai has it.

I decided to take a trip to Suzhou from here as it is around 30 minutes away, I have heard from people that it is a good place to hit. So off I went with my Lonely Planet as a guide and map to discover! There were some lovely parks, pagodas, the usual but it seemed that people were more interested in taking a photo of me than the surroundings. Love it!

As most of you know green is my favourite colour well in Shanghai there is a Jade Buddha which was on , my hitlist whilst I was there and I am really glad I went as I am starting to get a "Templed out" so to speak! But this was cool, the Jade wasn't as as green as I thought it would be but still I had not seen anything like this up close and personal before. It is amazing to see the amount of detail that goes into a temple, they are always so intricate and it really makes you wonder how long it took to create, or even who thought of it and the symbolism behind it all. There were a lot of people around praying and lighting incense, including a few monks, always makes me feel slightly odd like I am intruding as I am not there to worship but to be a tourist.

From Shanghai I took the train south to Hangzshou, I really wanted to go here as again I had heard great things, plus it had more to offer than just another city as there is a lake there..and I was sure that there would be plenty more parks to hang out in! I arrived late in the evening and had a nightmare trying to find the hostel, starting with getting off at the wrong bus stop! The hardest part of China is the language barrier, if you have what you need written in Chinese characters you will be fine however I did not have anything in Chinese it was all in English so when asking for directions I was getting sent here there and everywhere, getting very frustrated and hangred (tired & hungry, thanks Lauren!) I eventually found it later and was about to in guns blazing and tell them the instructions were not very clear...bla bla blaaa but got totally distracted by the campest young Chinese guy who told me how he loved my British accent and that he watches Pride & Prejudice and Downton Abbey as he loves all that, so my anger melted pretty quickly!

Hangzshou has to be hit if you're in China, it has the city, water and the countryside. I rented a bike, got a map and off I went to explore. I have not been on a bike since spinning classes at the gym so it felt really good! I cycled around the lake, stopping at a pagoda to see a slightly misty but pretty good panoramic view of Hangzshou. I had my kindle with me so I would find a bench with the best view and read for a while. It was really different to being in the city, getting the subway everywhere and getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of it all...it was nice just to stop and take it all in. There was a nightmarket so I went there in hopeful anticipation of some good food and cheap knock offs! Good food I got and cheap knock offs everywhere!

I am really trying to be adventurous with the food I eat, it is mainly all street food, so the language barrier is harder than ever but I show them my 'I don't eat meat' post it, point at what I want, saying "that one" and hope for the best, most of the time it works out ok...most of the time!

I was planning on heading out to the tea plantations which were only just outside if the city and I met a girl in my hostel who also wanted to do this, Anna who is half German and Chinese, Anna's uncle had been so he advised us if the best place, bonus! So off we went, it was a scorching day which made a difference from the rain and mist lately. We wandered through the village and ate egg and noodles for breakfast before trekking through the tea plantations. Its weird to think that the tea we drink could come from there, it goes on forever. There was no real path so we just went any which way we could...at one point ending up in someones backyard full of chickens!! Luckily Anna speaks Chinese so she was able to apologise to the lady that came out to see why the chickens were making so much noise and guided us through kitchen, with people cooking, back out onto the street. Again, it was cool to see a more rural side of China, it is how I imagined it to be with people out in the field picking, the men sat outside playing games, the women cooking, washing or constantly asking us if we wanted tea! Considering we were in the tea district it is actually so expensive to drink especially for a backpacker, and as most of you know, I do love my tea.

That night I was getting the sleeper train to Guilin, a 20 hour train ride down south. I had a mad dash to the train station as I didn't realise that where it was departing from was an hour and a half away by bus! Oops! So it was a rushed goodbye to Anna as I panicky fled in a taxi to take me to the train st, when I showed the taxi driver my ticket and he saw the time of the train he sucked in his breath and made an oohhweeee noise..and then floored it all the way there, it only took 40 mins!!So once again I was about to embark on another sleeper train this time I could only get a hard sleeper, sounds worse than it is. The soft sleeper is what I had last time, where there are 4 in a cabin and you can close the door. In a hard sleeper there are 6 of you, 3 bunk beds...and no door, oh and only squat toilets. So it is quite cramped and personal space goes out the window when you're in China. My intial thoughts were..this is going to be the worst 20 hours of my life..but once again China surprised me. I managed to get the middle bunk which is a safe bet as the bottom one everyone sits on and the too I would struggle to fit, even in the middle bunk I couldn't sit up, I had to poke my head out in order to stretch. There were 2 women on the bottom bunks who patted the seat for me to sit with them and again were trying to feed me with what they had, over here a lot of food is given to you in plastic bags, not a take away box or container, the bags are similar to what you would put fruit or veg in at the supermarket. So the woman are sat there eating with chopsticks out of these steaming bags, I've got my rice pot and they are trying to put what they have into my pot, with their chopsticks!! I am trying to say no thank you but they are having none of it.

I made it to Guilin which attracts a lot of tourists and travelers, there is a lot to see and do here cycling, hiking, treking, river cruises and rice paddy fields. Sadly I did not have time to do any of that as I only really had one full day here. I was lucky to meet Chelsea a dutch girl who is also travelling solo and had been in Guilin a week so she showed me the hotspots she could for the day. It is quite an expensive area to be in as everything has an entry fee even the parks, so we slyly saw what we could without paying! Guilin actually reminds me a little of Thailand, as some of the main attractions such as Elephant Hill is actually on the river, the scenery really looked like the rocks and mountains that surround the water in Thailand. We also tried out the adult playground equipment for a quick workout whilst some Chinese boys were trying to discreetly take a photo, discretion does not exist here so we posed nicely for them!

From Guilin I headed south to Nanning which is my last stop before moving into Vietnam. Nanning was a pit stop for a day and it was raining! China has definitely been an experience to say the least. The 3 weeks I have been here have shown me an insight to a completely different way of life. Everything is just so different, I will miss a lot of things about China except the spitting, squatting and crazy traffic! It has been incredible and I am really pleased that I took this opportunity, it really was the cultural experience I wanted.

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Photos

The Bund
Doing a pretty good tourist pose here..

Shanghai by night
The amazing Bund

The Jade Buddha
So you weren't allowed to take photos so this is me doing a sneaky one!

Suzhou Gardens
Beautiful Chinese gardens, this is what my back garden will look like one day...

My trusty steed
Me and my wheels for the day

Tea Plantation
The incredible tea plantation in Hangzshou, it went on forever.

What a view!
We hiked through the plantations, they just went on forever.

Twin Pagodas
Chelsea and I with the Sun and Moon Pagoda in Guilin

Gotcha!
These girls were taking photos of me so I stopped, posed and then took one of them!

Sleeper Train
This was my sleeper train from Hangzshou to Guilin