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Published: October 30th 2016
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We arrived in Shanghai and to our hotel at midnight. Straight to bed. The travelling.... Ughhh? And I had no food. Or at least real food. Note to self, pack more snacks When on a tour!
But what I saw driving from the airport to the hotel I know I will like. Unfortunately I won't get time to spend in Shanghai for a few days. Going to some outskirts areas first. Our tour guide here is awesome. Frank is his English name. The guys got quite a sense of humour! And he provides a wealth of knowledge. We left semi early today for Suzhou. Which is where our guide is from. He kept referring to it as a town... A town of 13 million people!!!! But I guess it's a town considering that Shanghai has 28 million people. I swear no one sleeps because there is always someone moving! But before we headed on that hour drive, we drove around Shanghai for a bit. We stopped in the financial district.... Wow! buildings were a minimum of 85 stories high. All different shapes, colours, designs. Yet it all seems to go well together!
Out hotel is fabulous. Newly constructed. Remote
curtains, tv in bathroom... Lovely!
Now we are on our way to Suzhou. There we stopped at the "French quarter" . Quaint little area that is at least 100 years old. Restaurants, pubs... It all was beautiful and smelt fabulous! fresh breads, pasts, pizza... Yum! I want a pizza!! Sadly though we didn't eat there but ate at a restaurant on a stationery boat on the water. That was not good. Interesting about eating at most of these restaurants is that the tables are huge with a lazy Susan in the middle of the table and all dishes (enough to feed a small army for a table of 8) are placed on the lazy Susan to pass around. Some of it is very good. And we get beer with every meal!,! Just put your cup on the turn table and they fill it with beer first. If you want something else, you have to ask for it.
Next we visited the Garden of Master of Nets. Nit the garden you are thinking,but a very peaceful and stunning rock (lime stone) garden. It's funny how beautiful and warm something seems, but in reality it's very cold inside them!
After lunch we boarded a river boat to take a cruise on the canal. That was cool. Very much like a river cruise in Venice!
Supper was much the same of a traditional Chinese dinner. It seems like we are being served the same things on a rotation. Getting a little bored of that.
Some more fun facts...
Ding ding hau = awesome in Chinese
To get a plate for your car in Shanghai, and it's only for Shanghai you need to pay 88,000 yuan to join the auction to attain a plate. That does not include your license or a vehicle, but just that lovely plate. The rules are very different.
It's a nice early night... Kinda need that after getting some free time and risking our lives crossing a street here. Nobody pays attention to traffic lights or the lines on the roads. In fact I think they take it as a suggestion, and pedestrians are definitely not a priority. Even the scooters will drive between you and don't stop!
Tomorrow is almost here, so until them!
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