Shi De Tang Hotel Wujiang

... the first few people have completely finished their meals. STUPID!!!!

... bought me a small hot water bottle like
thing. It doesn't open, the water stays in the rubber all the time.
It comes with a plug to electrically heat up the water in the bottle,
it is really cool, hot actually. A little light goes off on the electrical cord when
it is warm. I love it. Many of the students have them, they put them
in their lap in the classroom to stay warm. It is the hotest thing.


I have checked ...

... my itinerary, which included Pingyao, one of the best examples of beautifully preserved ancient architecture in the country. Their response invariably was: "why would you go there?...it's so old!"

Good question. While us Canadians, accostomed to shiny objects, crave exposure to a past we've never had, the Chinese seem to prefer the modernity that reflects their recent success, opting instead for the glimmering cities of Shanghai or Hong Kong.

... tourists, so we returned the favor and pulled them into our pictures too! The entire place was great, and many of us said it was our favorite destination so far.

However, that sentiment changed pretty quickly as we took to a "Chinese gondola" for a tour of the Grand Canal. The century old homes that lined the canal were really interesting. Before the light faded, we hopped off of the boat and wound our way through a neighborhood ...

... some drinks to buy (not free). One problem is that you can't fit big size luggage at the upper shelf unless you put it next to the main door. I squeezed mine under seat and lucky me it fit fine.

I hopped in the train at 8:38am and after 10 minutes I was on way to Suzhou. Suzhou is the second stop and it takes almost 40 minutes. On the way, you can see many corn farms and European style houses and sometime see nothing!


When I arrived at Suzhou, I ...

... many who have families and children of their own. I have immense room for improvement in my Chinese, that is all that I can say. It is by far better to be at the bottom of the pit and have room to strive upward, no? My professors (laoshi) are energetic and entertaining. The Chinese like to teach with a "rapid fire" method --> if you can't catch the bullet train, then you're in the dust, basically. It is incredibly over my head, as many of the students ...

We flew into Shanghai on Sun afternoon and went for a river along the Huangpo River. Beautiful views along the eastern side, the Pudong area which has the Pearl TV Tower (the largest structure in China) and the Jin Mao Building (the largest building in China). The western side had great views of the Bund, an area whose architecture reflects the early 20th century influence of English architecture. By now I was sick and tired, I mean sick and tired of our set ...

... we could see the incredible urban sprawl before us. The older three-story buildings were nestled at the bottom of literally hundreds of high-rise apartment and commercial buildings. We eventually came to recognize the jet-engine-like control panel that every hotel room in China seems to sport, but that night it took us several tries to turn off the lights and figure out how to make things stop blinking and beeping. My husband, Lloyd, is an early riser and he was up and out for ...

... building we stopped off at the world's tallest bar, Cloud Nine Bar. The attendant brought Nick some trousers, who was wearing his customary garb of shorts and T-shirt. The bar was stylish, an executive pad in the sky, and we liked the sort of people around us. Later that evening back on the Nanjing Road, Philip and I visited a net cafe. Whilst settling the bill we found ourselves embroiled in a ruckus, a Matzah pudding, rumble in the (urban) jungle. The little Chinese cashier ...

... in Mandarin "Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah". "Wo Bu Dong", I don't understand. "Blah Blah Blah Blah" "Wo Bu Dong". He then pointed to my phrase book and indicated that I should look in there to find out what he said, he thought that the book was magic or something, he had a big smile and kept pointing at my book. I had to confiscate it from his gaze after he had to brake suddenly in order to avoid the car that had 'taken way' into our lane while he looked at the book of ...