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Civilisation at last
Entry 22 of 110 | show all | print this entry |
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We arrived in Shanghai at about 11am and checked into our hostel. We had a shower for the first time in 3 days (no showers in Huangshan) and then took the metro to Nanjing Road, the famous shopping street. There were people and shops everywhere. David was feeling extra hungry after finally recovering from food poisoning, so we went to an ice cream shop and indulged. We continued down the street marvelling at all the boutiques until we reached the Bund. This is a promenade along the river. By this time it was dark so we saw the famous Shanghai skyline all lit up with TV screens and neon lights. There were even boats with TV screens on them floating past. It looked very futuristic, especially with all the lights reflected in the river. We walked the length of the Bund with a full moon shining above us and then turned back. We had Italian for dinner but they put peas on my pizza (disaster!). We walked back down Nanjing road to see all the neons and then went to bed.
The next day shall henceforth officially be known as David Day. Everything we did was for David. We had a free breakfast at the hostel which included delicious steamed bbq pork buns (I had 4!) and cereal with milk! The Chinese don't use milk much so we had not had any since leaving Russia. We ate far too much then took the metro across the city to the Maglev terminal. For anyone who doesn't know the maglev is the world's first commercial magnetic levitating train that can travel up to 430km/h. It takes people to the airport. We didn't need to go to the airport but David was so excited about going on the Maglev that we went anyway. The view out of the window became a blur as the speedometer in the carriage hit 431km/h. We banked steeply every time we went round a corner. David was very excited by it all. At the airport we had some pizza and then took the Maglev back to town, with David posing for photos with the train. We had Subway for lunch (see the photos to see just how excited David got when he saw Subway in China) and then went to the posh expensive area with the bars and restaurants to find the international cinema. David had been desperate to see Quantum of Solace for ages so we paid extortionate rates to see the English version. It was quite good but we felt it had been edited for Chinese audiences. After this we had Cantonese food for dinner where we had fried noodles in soy sauce and special fried rice with beef in oyster sauce - the first time we had come across the type of Chinese food we recognised instead of fried moss or such things. I think David enjoyed David Day :o)
The next day we ate more steamed pork buns and then took the bus to Suzhou. We arrived in the middle of the afternoon due to a long story about going to the wrong bus station and having to travel across the city twice. In Suzhou we went to see the Humble Administrator's Garden, which David wanted to see after seeing it on Monty Don's 80 Gardens Around the World. The garden contained many pavilions and lakes connected by bridges. There were some massive goldfish in the ponds and a garden of bonsai trees. The leaves were all golden due to it being autumn and it was nice to be out of the city. We had some ice cream while sitting by the lake and then took the bus back to Shanghai.
After dinner I put on a sparkly pair of shoes that I bought the previous day for 2 pounds and a skirt for the first time in 2 months. David put on a shirt and then we went out to the Jinmao tower. This tower contains the Hyatt Hotel and is very posh (hence the dressing up). It also has a bar on the 87th floor which gives you a good view over the city. We took 3 different lifts (with lift attendants!) to Cloud 9 bar where we had a glass of wine each for an extortionate price. It was quite a relaxed bar and we could see the lights of the city below through the mist. We saw a menu withy cheesecake on it so we ordered baked cheesecake with tirimasu ice cream and cherry compote which was delicious, especially the ice cream. We sat there for a while looking at the view. We could just make out the lights of the Pearl TV tower. We walked around the bar (it has 360 degree glass windows) to see the view from all sides and then headed back, finally getting to sleep at 2am (late for us).
The next day we were sleepy due to our late night but we got up for lunch (!) where we sat eating wraps while watching a green and orange parrot fluttering about outside. We then walked to Yuyuan garden to see the traditional teahouse in the middle of a lake that apparently the Queen had been to. We were horrified to find that the lake had turned into many branches of McDonald's and Starbucks and there were so many tourists that it was not the relaxed traditional teahouse we had imagined. We took some photos and then left because we had to catch our overnight train to Xiamen.
Latest Comments (2)
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Heinz Schofeld likes blue (reply)
Dec 3, 2008 19:17 EST by heinz_schofeld
That sounds most pleasing! I also have a Maglev system running around my towers and many spires in my castles. I have several. The potting sheds have not yet been incorporated into the Maglev network. I believe I shall do this on Wednesday. It will be painted blue. I like blue.
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wow (reply)
Dec 3, 2008 01:05 EST by stellasun
you have travelled a lot in China~
i want to travel so much too!
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