Sunday 28/9/08 - Monday 29/9/08
I checked out at midday and took a taxi to the airport. As I was leaving the city, I looked back and could see the Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Centre absolutely towering over everything else - they were both so much higher than their surroundings.
The plane trips were uneventful - thankfully, no repeat sickbag performances. But the Singapore-Sydney leg was just as bumpy as the same leg at the start of the trip.
Arrived at Sydney and was surprised to see Caitlin next to Narelle waiting for me - I didn't know she was visiting from Adelaide. Unfortunately they wouldn't let me back inside the Customs area to escape.
This was one of the best holidays I've ever taken, but it would have been nice to have someone with me to share the memories. I'll have to organise another Asian journey with family members next time.
Shanghai
Saturday 27/9/08
My last full day in China. It's hard to believe that I first booked this tour almost 18 months ago. The two weeks haven't gone quickly at all, I suppose because there's been so, so much to see and absorb.
Today I strolled around Shanghai, not venturing too far as I'm fairly tired and I'm sick and tired of taking photos! This certainly is a town of, um, aromas...some pleasant, some rather earthy.
The traffic here is more constant and chaotic here than anything I have ever experienced. When you cross the road, even when you have a green light, you have to constantly scan 360 degrees all the way across - there is the ever-present risk of being hit by anything possessing wheels. And the footpaths are no safer.
I had to laugh when I saw the scene below. The policeman was giving hell to the driver in the car because he had become stuck in the middle of the intersection, but the cop seemed oblivious to the utter insanity going on round him, with cyclists and pedestrians going in all directions...
Maybe there's a shortage of electricity linesmen...
I took the Bund Tourist Tunnel to travel over to the the Pudong side of the river. This is a tunnel that passes under the river - you get into an enclosed car that travels through a series of "special effects" lighting displays. I think they must have bought every excess fluoro tube in China to build it - pretty lame and tacky, and I'm sure the epiletics love it.
When I bought my ticket I had the option to see the China Sex Culture Exhibition for a small additional charge. With a population of 1.5 billion, I didn't think I'd have the time to have a look.
The Pudong side is full of modern buildings...
The Jin Mao Tower (front) is probably the most beautiful modern building I have ever seen - matched only by KL's Petronas Towers. It has a truely elegant, Asian feel to it. The building behind it is the 101 storey Shanghai World Financial Centre, the 2nd highest building on earth. It is seriously big.
I'm so glad the best sign of the trip waited for my last day...
My last full day in China. It's hard to believe that I first booked this tour almost 18 months ago. The two weeks haven't gone quickly at all, I suppose because there's been so, so much to see and absorb.
Today I strolled around Shanghai, not venturing too far as I'm fairly tired and I'm sick and tired of taking photos! This certainly is a town of, um, aromas...some pleasant, some rather earthy.
The traffic here is more constant and chaotic here than anything I have ever experienced. When you cross the road, even when you have a green light, you have to constantly scan 360 degrees all the way across - there is the ever-present risk of being hit by anything possessing wheels. And the footpaths are no safer.
I had to laugh when I saw the scene below. The policeman was giving hell to the driver in the car because he had become stuck in the middle of the intersection, but the cop seemed oblivious to the utter insanity going on round him, with cyclists and pedestrians going in all directions...
Maybe there's a shortage of electricity linesmen...
I took the Bund Tourist Tunnel to travel over to the the Pudong side of the river. This is a tunnel that passes under the river - you get into an enclosed car that travels through a series of "special effects" lighting displays. I think they must have bought every excess fluoro tube in China to build it - pretty lame and tacky, and I'm sure the epiletics love it.
When I bought my ticket I had the option to see the China Sex Culture Exhibition for a small additional charge. With a population of 1.5 billion, I didn't think I'd have the time to have a look.
The Pudong side is full of modern buildings...
The Jin Mao Tower (front) is probably the most beautiful modern building I have ever seen - matched only by KL's Petronas Towers. It has a truely elegant, Asian feel to it. The building behind it is the 101 storey Shanghai World Financial Centre, the 2nd highest building on earth. It is seriously big.I'm so glad the best sign of the trip waited for my last day...
Shanghai
Friday 26/9/08
Today we drove a couple of hours out of the big town to the water village of Xitang. There is a canal system in the area with many villages still following a traditional way of life. It was interesting to wander through the laneways, looking into the old shops and houses. Unfortunately, our visit coincided with what appeared to be a Where's Wally convention (actually the local Pizza Hut employees on a corporate day out).
Today is the last day of our photographic tour, so we visited the Cloud 9 bar on the 87th floor of the Jin Mao Tower, the world's 5th tallest building. Stunning views.
Jin Mao Tower(left) and Shanghai World Financial Centre (right), which is the world's 2nd tallest building.
We had a lovely final dinner where Jason and Ewen gave each of us a lovely scroll with a Chinese painting calligraphy - a lovely gesture that touched us all. Then we had the obligatory final group photos.
It's hard to believe I gave these two guys my money and entrusted my well being with them...
It was sad to say goodbye to a wonderful group of people. We all got on so well, and together had a great time and a whole lot of fun. Aussies, Canadians and Americans - a great mix of similar, but different, backgrounds made for interesting conversations and viewpoints. If any of you guys read this - Dave, Helen, Natalie, Ewen, Kaye, Barbara, Lorraine, Jason, Dean - thanks a bunch for a wonderful 2 weeks.
Today we drove a couple of hours out of the big town to the water village of Xitang. There is a canal system in the area with many villages still following a traditional way of life. It was interesting to wander through the laneways, looking into the old shops and houses. Unfortunately, our visit coincided with what appeared to be a Where's Wally convention (actually the local Pizza Hut employees on a corporate day out).
Today is the last day of our photographic tour, so we visited the Cloud 9 bar on the 87th floor of the Jin Mao Tower, the world's 5th tallest building. Stunning views.
Jin Mao Tower(left) and Shanghai World Financial Centre (right), which is the world's 2nd tallest building.
We had a lovely final dinner where Jason and Ewen gave each of us a lovely scroll with a Chinese painting calligraphy - a lovely gesture that touched us all. Then we had the obligatory final group photos.
It's hard to believe I gave these two guys my money and entrusted my well being with them...
It was sad to say goodbye to a wonderful group of people. We all got on so well, and together had a great time and a whole lot of fun. Aussies, Canadians and Americans - a great mix of similar, but different, backgrounds made for interesting conversations and viewpoints. If any of you guys read this - Dave, Helen, Natalie, Ewen, Kaye, Barbara, Lorraine, Jason, Dean - thanks a bunch for a wonderful 2 weeks.
Shanghai
Thursday 25/9/08
Today we left Yangshuo - and the world's best apple crumble - and took a flight to Shanghai. The drive from the airport to our hotel allowed us to see how big this city really is. It's enormous, and has a very different feel to it compared to Beijing. As we neared the centre, the buildings steadily became more modern and much taller, and it seems to somehow be less classically Chinese than Beijing - no doubt because of its cosmopolitan history with contacts with the Europeans.
In the afternoon, some of us went with Ewen to a building with 2 floors of purely photographic gear, where I resisted temptation to buy more hardware and only purchased a lovely book of B&W images of western China - only $26, worth at least twice that at home. Getting to here involved plunging into the Shanghai subway system - again, wonderfully efficient an cheap, and incredibly crowded.
After dinner we wandered down Nanjing Rd, the main shopping street, to The Bund - the riverside strip that has a number of buildings of different styles of architecture. Across the river is the fantastically modern Pudong district - gleaming towers and buildings that contrast with traditional Chinese cityscapes. I only grabbed a few shots, as I know I'll be back over the next few days.
The Pudong district. No wonder China builds a new power station every 2 days!
Pearl TV Tower. The world's highest monument to kitsch.
Today we left Yangshuo - and the world's best apple crumble - and took a flight to Shanghai. The drive from the airport to our hotel allowed us to see how big this city really is. It's enormous, and has a very different feel to it compared to Beijing. As we neared the centre, the buildings steadily became more modern and much taller, and it seems to somehow be less classically Chinese than Beijing - no doubt because of its cosmopolitan history with contacts with the Europeans.
In the afternoon, some of us went with Ewen to a building with 2 floors of purely photographic gear, where I resisted temptation to buy more hardware and only purchased a lovely book of B&W images of western China - only $26, worth at least twice that at home. Getting to here involved plunging into the Shanghai subway system - again, wonderfully efficient an cheap, and incredibly crowded.
After dinner we wandered down Nanjing Rd, the main shopping street, to The Bund - the riverside strip that has a number of buildings of different styles of architecture. Across the river is the fantastically modern Pudong district - gleaming towers and buildings that contrast with traditional Chinese cityscapes. I only grabbed a few shots, as I know I'll be back over the next few days.
The Pudong district. No wonder China builds a new power station every 2 days!
Pearl TV Tower. The world's highest monument to kitsch.
Yangshuo
Wednesday 24/9/08
A few changes to the original schedule for today. Because it's been so stinking hot and humid, we all decided not to go for the planned bike ride this morning. Also, due to the winds that blew up overnight (apparently there's a typhoon near Taiwan which is affecting the weather), the hot air balloon trip that some of the group was going to take was cancelled. So instead we went to a calligraphy class. Who could imagine that painting "simple" strokes could be so difficult and frustrating? But it was a lot of fun, and I now know how to write the numbers 1 and 2 in Chinese, as long as I have a paintbrush in my hand. Give me a keyboard any day.
A few changes to the original schedule for today. Because it's been so stinking hot and humid, we all decided not to go for the planned bike ride this morning. Also, due to the winds that blew up overnight (apparently there's a typhoon near Taiwan which is affecting the weather), the hot air balloon trip that some of the group was going to take was cancelled. So instead we went to a calligraphy class. Who could imagine that painting "simple" strokes could be so difficult and frustrating? But it was a lot of fun, and I now know how to write the numbers 1 and 2 in Chinese, as long as I have a paintbrush in my hand. Give me a keyboard any day.
Yangshuo
Tuesday 23/9/08
I'm getting used to these damn early starts - I guess it's the photogrpher's curse, as the best shots are most often taken in the "golden hours", 1 hour after dawn and 1 hour before sunset. We tramped onto the bus and made our way through a very quiet Yangshuo to the village of Xingping. This is a scenic spot on the River Li - in fact, it's so scenic that it's depicted on the rear of the 20 yuan banknote (good old Chairman Mao is on the front of every note). Despite the mozzies as we neared the river, it was indeed a marvelous place, with incredible views of the karst formations in the early morning light.
We trotted over to the village for breakfast, and then we made our way to the markets. Wow, what an overwhelming barrage on the senses. Probably thousands of people buying and selling goods - all types of food and produce, textiles, farm implements, haircuts, outdoor dentist, and lots more - a rural Chinese megamall.
After lunch, we caught a bus to one of the small villages for another wander, getting a taste of the real rural life.
Our last adventure for the day was to attend cooking school. Pam is an Aussie who's set up a cooking school just outside town, and it's a popular attraction. Each of us were set up with a stove, wok, utensils and ingredients, and following our instructor Kelly's lead we prepared - and then consumed - egg wrapped dumplings, eggplant Yangshuo style, stir fried pork with vegetables and oyster sauce, and a couple of other dishes. I managed to avoid both burning the place down and poisoning myself - in fact, it was easy and delicious, although a bit hectic trying to remember all the instructions.
All in all, a wonderful, fascinating and varied day, ended by another visit to Drifters for apple crumble and ice cream.
I'm getting used to these damn early starts - I guess it's the photogrpher's curse, as the best shots are most often taken in the "golden hours", 1 hour after dawn and 1 hour before sunset. We tramped onto the bus and made our way through a very quiet Yangshuo to the village of Xingping. This is a scenic spot on the River Li - in fact, it's so scenic that it's depicted on the rear of the 20 yuan banknote (good old Chairman Mao is on the front of every note). Despite the mozzies as we neared the river, it was indeed a marvelous place, with incredible views of the karst formations in the early morning light.
We trotted over to the village for breakfast, and then we made our way to the markets. Wow, what an overwhelming barrage on the senses. Probably thousands of people buying and selling goods - all types of food and produce, textiles, farm implements, haircuts, outdoor dentist, and lots more - a rural Chinese megamall.
After lunch, we caught a bus to one of the small villages for another wander, getting a taste of the real rural life.
Our last adventure for the day was to attend cooking school. Pam is an Aussie who's set up a cooking school just outside town, and it's a popular attraction. Each of us were set up with a stove, wok, utensils and ingredients, and following our instructor Kelly's lead we prepared - and then consumed - egg wrapped dumplings, eggplant Yangshuo style, stir fried pork with vegetables and oyster sauce, and a couple of other dishes. I managed to avoid both burning the place down and poisoning myself - in fact, it was easy and delicious, although a bit hectic trying to remember all the instructions.
All in all, a wonderful, fascinating and varied day, ended by another visit to Drifters for apple crumble and ice cream.
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