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Tallest Structure in Shanghai
This is the Shanghai World Financial Center at 101 floors and 1670 feet. A Warm Welcome in Shanghai
When we left Beijing we were originally going to head in the direction of Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors. After some discussion with fellow backpackers, we found that it would have been much more difficult and costly than we originally had hoped. We looked into prices for train and flights to Shanghai, and were helped by a Korean who was staying in our hostel. He knew the budget airlines and searched for a ticket for us in Chinese. This was very beneficial seeing as how the Chinese site had cheaper prices, even though the english site was still run by the same company. We sent in a request for the tickets, and they arrived at our doorstep the next day by courier at no charge. Overall the plane ride cost close to $100, and it was the same or more for a 16 hour train ride.
When we finally arrived in Shanghai, we were immediately approached by several "independant drivers". These drivers are always at airports, train stations, and inflate the price of where ever you need to go by five fold. We fought through the swarm and got a metered taxi.
Shanghai
Landscape photo of Shanghai In the taxi ride to our hostel, you could tell something was very different. The buildings were massive, and the architecture certainly was not the same as in Beijing. Shanghai felt like the 'New York' of China. We took a metered taxi and arrived at our hostel. As we neared the front stairs, we see Jet, Evert, and Gui all on the front patio having a Tsing Tao. Of course we couldn't refuse. We quickly checked into our room and went back outside. Not long after, another couple who we had met in Beijing, Gareth & Lex pulled in. They had just arrived from Xi'an and were staying there as well. After they had arranged for their room, we decided as a group to go out and see the city the next day.
That night, while conversing around a few Tsing Tao's, Dave, Gui and myself decided to check out a local club to see what it would be like. We hadn't really seen any night life while in Beijing, and we thought that we would be better off in numbers. We were recommended to a place called "M2" by a Spaniard we had met a little while earlier.
West Lake
bridge crossing in West lake. We jumped in a taxi and were told of the price before entering so that we had a good idea of what to pay if the driver tried to give us the "tourist rate." Unfortunately, the cab driver was either unsure of the location or just didn't like us, because he dropped us off a mile away from the club. On exit from the taxi, we ran into some children who couldn't have been more than 6 years old each begging for money. Keep in mind, this is 11:30pm at night. Gui decided to give the child a dollar, as he found it hard to resist the scrawny, but cute kid. These kids were obviously working for their family, as we could see the watchful eye of their mother in distance. As soon as Gui dropped that dollar onto the childs hand, we were surrounded by 3 or 4 other beggars who followed us for the good part of a quarter mile. We ended up finding the club with the help of a couple passing Chinese business men, and went in for a couple of drinks. The club wasn't really anything out of the ordinary. With the exception that smoking
West Lake cont.
Group shot at West Lake. is allowed practically everywhere in China, nightclubs not excluded, this would be the only variation from our bars. The music was different as well, but nothing out of the ordinary. Mostly house beats and techno beats for the majority of the night. After we had our fill, we decided to make our way back to the hostel seeing as how we had an early start the next day.
Day 1 in Shanghai
We woke up at a decent hour, and the six of us left for the tube. We had to travel about an hour to get Gui before we could begin. After we arrived at his place, we set out for the city. We walked for close to 10km's that day, and I really think I am underestimating the length, because after all was said and done, I was beat. There wasn't a whole lot to tell about Shanghai, other than the size and magnitude of the structures. There wasnt the history of Beijing, or the Chinese character or feel to the city. I could begin to describe some of the buildings that we had seen, but I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
Hangzhou - West Lake and Ling-yin Temple
The following day, we had decided on departing Shanghai for another city that was just outside the city limits. The place was called Hangzhou. We had heard of a few good sites to see, namely 'West Lake' and 'Lingyin Temple.' The temple was our first stop, and we were all pretty excited to see it. At this temple, there were thousands of stone carvings of different Buddha's. They were scattered throughout the park/temple and were much larger than I would have originally thought. There was a quiet stream that made its way through the temple, with the occassional turtle that would swim by. Tourists cruised through at a quick rate and it was sort of funny. The way the Chinese tour or visit anything is by standing in front of the attraction, and taking 300 pictures with it. The worst part, however, is where there is the 7 or 8 of us that were trying to do the same in front of one of the more popular Buddha's, it was nearly impossible to get a clean shot. There is no order, and the mind frame is certainly 'every man for himself.' Watching
this for a little bit and getting pushed out of the way, the 'White People' had enough. We threw up our shoulders and pushed a few of the little chinese guys out of the way and took our picture!
After we had gotten enough of the stone carvings, we moved to the West Lake attraction. This was a
very peaceful and beautiful place. There was a walkway that circled the lake, and buildings that were built back in very early years.
"Ripping water shimmering on sunny day,
Misty mountains shrouded the rain;
Plain or gaily decked out like Xizi;
West Lake is always alluring."
These are the words composed by the famous Song Dynasty poet Su Dongpo (960-1127) when he compared the West Lake to Xi Zi, the most beautiful woman in ancient China. These poetic sentiments leave one in no doubt of the glory of the scenery that inspired them.
We made our way slowly around the West Lake, saw some very original and inspriring works of Art, statues, and buildings. A place such as this makes you believe that you actually are in China, as opposed to the metropolis of a city such
as Shanghai.
We had to mack the train to get back to Shanghai for 5pm, and we sure cut it close. The ridiculous part is that we had all purchased our tickets, and were actually in line for the train. Since there were so many people in front of us, by the time we reached the train platform it was final call. The 6 of us ran down the platform at top speed. We barely made it in, but we did. These first two days in Shanghai were definitely a workout. I can easily say we must have walked close to, if not over, 20 kms. The next day
poured and we felt that after the intense first bit we had had, we would stay in, read and plan ahead. We had only one more day in Shanghai, but then, we were off to Shenzhen!
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Sheena
non-member comment
Hi
Hey Jeremy....your trip sounds so great and the pictures are gorgeous...I really like the landscape phot....is really nice. Hopefully you are enjoying yourself and take lots of pictures! I'm glad you are meeting people....take care :)