Halloween travel day

What better way to spend Halloween than travelling? We got up somewhat early today and finished packing up before heading to the airport. We decided to take somewhat of a detour in order to experience what may be the fastest train in the world: Shanghai's MagLev!
The train levitates on the track, based on magnetic fields, cool!
It's actually pretty roomy too even if the journey is about 10 minutes
The only entertainment is watching the speed meter go up and up and up. The fastest I saw it go at is 301 km/h
When we got to the airport, my friend Haibao was waiting for me, all decked up in christmas gear. Even if we are 12 hours ahead, isn't it a bit early for christmas?
Flying on China Airlines was a really good experience. Check-in was a breeze and despite all our worries about overloaded luggage (we actually shipped one of the bag to our destination in Beijing to avoid surcharges) we came in under the maximum limit. Plus we got really good seat at the emergency exit. Check out all the leg room
The airport is a bit out of the way of the city but it's really well organised with a bus leaving every 15 minutes from the airport to the Bell Tower (~$5) which is in the centre of Xi'an's walled city.

The area around the airport is a mix of industrial and farms
And lots of construction. I'm starting to think the whole country is under construction!
Our hotel is right across the tower, check out the view from our room :)
This is the modest roomAnd the hotel from outside
We had a quiet dinner at a Hong Kong style restaurant where they were playing Mr Bean! Very delicious cream of corn
Followed by a duck bbq style
and a medley of seafood with tofu
And a coconut bubble milk
We walked around a bit outside and enjoyed the city a little bit. This city looks beautiful at night
And the Halloween spirit is in the air
Then, we turned in early for bed since we are going to Hua Shan tomorrow and have to get up early to catch the bus!

Suzhou and Zhouzhuang water town

For my last day in the Shanghai area, I had booked an organised tour of Suzhou and a nearby water town. I was reminded of why I don't usually go for the guided tours and why I prefer self guided tours. While it was nice to have an English speaking guide that would answer my questions and offer insights during the visits, it was definitively annoying to have to follow the group. I always like to look around the corner to see what is going on and if there is another corner in sight, I also like to look what's going on around that corner! Having a strict itinerary to follow and a set path was definitively tough for me. The guide made it clear that if I left the group, I was on my own and that there would be no meeting points or any such thing. While I did see some of the main attractions in the towns I visited, I feel that I would have like to distribute the time differently. There's a temple of mystery in Suzhou that sounds like a hoot to visit but my guide didn't even know where it was and wouldn't make changes to allow me to visit it.

The day started with a bus ride to Suzhou. There was lots of traffic on the highways around Shanghai
The area around Shanghai is definitively booming! There's also a lot of constructions, both roadworks
and buildings
Our first attraction once we got to Suzhou was the Garden for Lingering In which is beautiful. This garden took 3 generations to build to its current state and features some very beautiful views for, well, relaxing and lingering around :)
There is also some entertainment in the form of live performances of traditional music
Beautiful paths for leisurely walks
A nice water plan
And some beautifully landscaped grounds
The rock formations are very interesting. Hard to believe that it is all naturally carved out by the water
The guide pointed this one out as being very precious and unique. One of three pieces of its length with the much sought after holes and elongated form. The other two are in Hangzhou and Shanghai.
Everything is beautifully architected in the traditional Chinese style and carvings are everywhere
I liked the inspiring signs here and there around the garden

Next up was the only remains of the city wall and gate. We spent roughly 5 minutes there which was no way enough for me to satisfy my curiosity.

I still managed a few pictures :)
Next up was this attraction where we spent way too much time: the Silk factory. Upon arrival, we were shuttled to an eating area where a below average meal (that we couldn't even choose, it was a set menu!) was served. We then visited the museum and I learned way more than I ever cared to about how silk is made.

From the larvae to the worms to the cocoon.
All the way to extracting the silk from the cocoons and making it into carpets or other garments.
There was even a demonstration of stretching to make silk comforters.
We were then led like sheeps to the hungry wolves with 25 minutes of shopping time in the souvenir shop. I couldn't leave the compound since it was accesible only from the tour bus as far as I could figure out. Good thing I had a book to read :)

The next leg of the trip was going to the water town.
This was definitively my favorite part of the day and where I felt the most rushed. I could have spent an entire day wandering the beautiful streets around the village
And admiring the beautiful waterways that criss cross the town
I took a million pictures here but nothing really gives justice to the peaceful and out of time feel of the village where boats are floating at a relaxed pace between the buildings.
And that is the very next thing our guide led us to!
Our friendly rower even sang us some traditional songs after a bit of encouragement in the form of a small tip. I was thankful he was a better rower than singer otherwise we may have ended up swimming the rest of the journey ;)
The boat ride did offer us a different view of this beautiful and peaceful haven
After the peaceful boat ride, we were rushed to the exit gate where we were given a whole 5 minutes to explore the market (no commissions here for the guide I guess so there's no point in spending too much time!)
I found this delicious looking treat that no one could describe the content, not even the guide!
Turns out it's kinda of a cross between corn chips and donuts. Sweet yet a bit salty. I love it.

Even with the 2 hours we spent in traffic, I was back in town for dinner which I had with Alex in a pleasant Tony G chain in the French Concession.

Back to Pudong

For my last full day in Shanghai, I decided to go back to the place where I fell in love with the city, before I started having problems with the polluted air or poisoned water. The shiny skyscrapers took my breath away the moment I glanced at them and even today, after seeing them quite a few times, I was still amazed by how much of a human achievement it is to have built up all these buildings in so short a time.

Due to a problem communicating with the taxi driver, I ended up at the Science Museum proper instead of the subway station of the same name. No problem, I figured, I've been using the station for close to 3 weeks, might as well check out the museum on this last excursion. The museum itself seemed a bit childish so I didn't see the exhibits but I was looked around and took a few snapshots.
The bubble is really cool and very Shanghai.
And it looks equally good from the inside
The museum also has a cool looking Imax theater
When I got to downtown Pudong, my only real choice was which of the two towers (World Financial Center or Jin Mao) to visit to get another view of the skyline. I settled for the tallest one, the World Financial Center (to the left)
Even though you can see the towers from practically anywhere downtown, it was quite difficult to actually get to them because of all the construction. At least I was on foot and quite a deal more mobile than these poor folks stuck in these metal boxes on wheels
Across the street from the two towers is one of the newest Shanghai buildings that will surely up the ante, it looks taller and even more daring on the poster on the construction fence
When I got to Jin Mao tower, I was taken back by the sheer size of it. It's one thing to see it kilometers away but to stand at the base and look up is very impressive. I can't believe someone climbed it!!
This giant magnet beside the World Financial Center is meant to symbolize the attraction of Pudong for commerce and businesses
There was also a fair going on to celebrate the first anniversary of the tower with an international bazaar that was just a few items from some country in those small stalls. No products from North America, a bit dissapointing.
In Shanghai-style, the wait area and lift to the observation deck is very science-fiction like

Even the uniform look like it belongs on Star Trek
The price of admission was well worth if, even if it's just to see the Jin Mao tower up close. What a mammoth of steel and concrete!
There was also a nice view of the park next door
The Oriental TV tower was also visible despite the haze
And I saw some structures that were not visible from the TV Tower. Those condos are exactly what we need in Ottawa!
Those buildings looked like lego blocks!
And those guys had to work at 450m in the air. OUCH!
I felt on top of the world, I'm really glad I decided to visit the area a second time!
When I was done at the observation deck, I walked to the riverside to see the Puxi side once more. It wasn't even 5 o'clock yet but it looked like sunset because of all the Haze (a Shanghai fixture it would seem)
I saw this tiny McDonald's that serves only ice cream
And found a nice garden to relax in and do some people watching while I waited for Alex's work shift to end
I also walked around a bit on the beautiful paths
And finally got some delicious Cantonese dinner once Alex made it to downtown. I was so hungry I didn't even get a picture of the delicious fishy corn soup. We then had Eggplant with pork (yummy and spicy!)
With some fish balls with crunchy sesame sticks
Shrimp dumplings
And the best steamed bbq pork buns I've ever had. Sorry Min, yours are now number 2!!
The traditional finishing touch of watermelon was nice
We then walked around a bit on what has to be the most romantic walk in Shaghai at the riverside to enjoy the night time Puxi skyline
And I couldn't resist taking more pictures of this iconic view. I must have this exact picture a million time already but I love it!
After that, we went to a cute little place called Half where the Shanghai LGBT group had its monthly meetup. We played some wii with friendly strangers and enjoyed some drinks while playing four in a row. Games are a big part of the bar scene it seems here and they make a really good ice breaker to start a conversation. We could learn a thing or two from the Chinese!

Not to panic if I am a bit quiet over the coming days. Busy days and travelling between cities means that I may not have time or the technical means to update these pages right away but I will make every effort possible.