Shanghai

  Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Thursday, July 3, 2008

I arrived in Shanghai between 2 and 3PM.  I took a taxi that movedl ike a snal through the congested roads and reached my hotel an hour later.  Like most hotels I booked on this trip, it was inexpensive and therefore not the greatest but the location was idea.  My hotel is located on Nanjing Road which is a long and wide pedestrian road with numerous shops and restaurants.  In addition, it is this road that leads to the famous Bund.

I spent the next 5 hours walking along Nanjing and overall I was quite disappointed with Shanghai.  Every step I took I was approached by someone asking if I wanted to buy purses, bags, massage, hot lady sauna, shoes, watches, and much more.  It became irritable fast.

Nanjing Road

Nanjing Road 2

Nanjing Road 3

Nanjing Road 4

I walked down to the Bund.  Here I could walk along the river and I had a great view to the other side to see the buildings and skyscrapers and the famous Oriental Pearl TV Tower.  Later I went for a buffet dinner in a hotel.  When I finished dinner it was dark so I decided to brave the vendors and walk back to the Bund and take in the view now all lit up. 

Shanghai buildings 2

The Bund 1

The Bund 2

Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai

Oriental Pearl Tower

The Bund 4

The Bund 5

The Bund 6

The Bund 8

The Bund 9

Shanghai buildings 1

The Bund at night

The Bund at night 3

The Bund at night 4

psing at The Bund

The Bund at night 9

The Bund at night 91

At 8:30AM I left my hotel and took a 40 minute walk to meet up with my Shaghai city tour.  I met a woman named Catherine from Australia on my tour today.  She has been traveling on her own all over the world for the last 6 months.  She was a lot of fun to talk to on the tour.

walking in Shanghai 1

boy in Shanghai

sites in Shanghai 1

Our first stop was the Yu Yuan Garden.  This garden was about 450 years old and had lovely views of ponds and large decorative rocks.

Yu Garden 1

Yu Garden 2

Yu Garden 3

Yu Garden 4

Yu Garden 5

Yu Garden 6

Yu Garden 8

Yu Garden 9

Yu Garden, Shanghai

Yu Garden 7

Yu Garden, Shanghai 1

Yu Garden, Shanghai 2

Yu Garden, Shanghai 4

Yu Garden, Shanghai 5

Yu Garden, Shanghai 6

Yu Garden, Shanghai 7

Yu Garden, Shanghai 8

Next we drove to the Bund which I had visited last night.  I had another nice view though.

tour to The Bund

On the Bund we visited a tea house and tried a variety of different teas.  In the end I not only bought tea byut also a beautiful Chinese tea set.

tea house 1

Later in the day we visited the Shanghai Museum.  Unfortunately, the guide did not give me too much time but I enjoyed what I saw.  They had a fabulous display of Chinese coins in each and every dynasty.  There was even a collection of coins used on the Silk Road.  On the bottom floor I viewed some bronze works done during the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

Shanghai Museum

Shanghai Museum 1

Shanghai Museum 7

Shanghai Museum 90

Shanghai Museum 91

Shanghai Museum 92

Next we stopped at Xintiandi which is a bar and restaurant area.

Xintiandi 1

Xintiandi 2

Our last stop of the day was at the Jade Buddha Temple.  Guess what I saw?  That is correct...a large Jade Buddha.  In 1882, an old temple was built to keep two jade Buddha statues which had been brought from Burma by a monk named Huigen. The temple was destroyed during the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty. Fortunately the jade Buddha statues were saved and a new temple was built on the present site in 1928. It was named the Jade Buddha Temple.

Jade Buddha Temple

Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai 96

Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai 95

Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai 92

Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai 90

Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai 1

Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai 94

Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai 91

Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai 9

Jade Buddha Temple 7

Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai

Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai

Jade Buddha Temple 2

Jade Buddha Temple 1

Jade Buddha Temple 3

When the tour was over, the guide took Catherine, and myself to a secret illegal warehouse.  We walked in and it was pitch black but they turned on the lights and there were knockoffs of  all kinds of deisgner purses and watches and so much more!












Today I took a tour to the city of Suzhou.  It was about a 90 minute drive to get there.  Unlike Shanghai, this is an ancient city with about 2500 years of history.  My friend Catherine from Australia joined me on the tour today so it was fun to have a familiar face.

Suzhou bridge

Suzhou bridge 2

The first stop was Tiger Hill where we viewed an old pagoda.  Like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this pagoda was leaning too.  It had seven levels which is a lucky Buddhist number.

Tiger Hill 2

Tiger Hill 5

Tiger Hill 6

Tiger Hill 8

posing in Suzhou

Tiger Hill

Tiger Hill 1

Tiger Hill 3

Tiger Hill 90

Tiger Hill 91

Next we went to the Lingering Garden and Mountain Villa which was about 550 years old and one of the most famous gardens in China.

Lingering Garden and Mountain Villa

Lingering Garden and Mountain Villa 1

Lingering Garden and Mountain Villa 4

Lingering Garden and Mountain Villa 5

Lingering Garden and Mountain Villa 8

Lingering Garden and Mountain Villa, Suzhou

After lunch we visited Han Shan Temple.  Cold Mountain Temple, also called Hanshan Si in Pinyin, is situated five kilometers (about three miles) from Fengqiao Old Town in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. It is said that in the Tang Dynasty, a famous monk Han Shan came to take charge of the temple, hence its name. Building originally commenced during the Liang Dynasty (502-557), and was repaired again in the following dynasties. Now, covering an area of about 10,600 square meters (about three acres), it presents the architectural style of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It includes the Grand Prayer Hall, Sutra-Collection Building, Bell Tower, Fengjiang Pavilion and Tablets Corridor, etc. In 1995, a five-storey Buddhism pagoda as high as 42 meters (about 138 feet) was erected called Puming Pagoda, which then became the symbolic building of the temple. There are many more historical relics in the temple, such as the statue of Han Shan, the stone tablet inscription of the poem A Night Mooring near Maple Bridge and some other tablet inscriptions written by famous intellectuals of ancient China.

Han Shan Temple

Han Shan Temple 5

Han Shan Temple 7

Han Shan Temple 1

Han Shan Temple 4

Han Shan Temple 6

Han Shan Temple 9

Han Shan Temple 90

In the evening I arrived back at my hotel at 6PM.  I took the long walk down Nanjing to the Bund.  From there I took a ferry boat across the river to see the other side.  I then walked to Jin Mao building which is 88 stories tall.  I took an elevator to the top for impressive views of lit up Shanghai.

Shanghai skyline

Jin Mao Tower 1

Jin Mao Tower

Pearl Tower

Shanghai skyline 2

Shanghai skyline 5

Shanghai skyline 9

view of Shanghai from Jin Mao Tower

view of Pearl Tower from Jin Mao Tower

Shanghai skyline 8

view of Shanghai from Jin Mao Tower 1

view of Shanghai from Jin Mao Tower 4

The view of Shanghai from Jin Mao Tower

view of Shanghai from Jin Mao Tower 8

looking down 88 stories of Jin Mao Tower

looking down 88 stories of Jin Mao Tower 1