On The Move To China - Day 6

We headed out of Shanghai today to visit a water town, Zhujiajiao. It is an old town that thrived economically due to the water. The town was built on the river with canals running through the town. Five or so years ago, this was a sleepy town filled with normal people living life – but in order to attract tourist, the government funded the renovation of the town. The canals and water were cleaned up. The stores right on the canals renovated to house stores and restaurants. Believe me; it is still rough around the edges, but ever so charming. The town was filled with old arched bridges connecting the streets over the canal, whitewashed restaurants with tables overlooking the water, canal boats rowing passengers, and vendors calling out to you from the many stores. We shopped. We gawked at the food vendors. At the end, we pushed our way through the growing crowds.

We then made our way to Qibao Town, another water town, but a completely different flavor from Zhujiajiao. It was in the old city nearer to our hotel. Again, the charm of the arched bridges, food vendors and people hanging out having a darn good time made the water town charming. We saw some interesting food – not quite daring enough to try the indescribably snacks.

After a quick rest at the hotel, we headed to the Huangpu River for a night cruise. We loved the lights! The buildings were amazing at night in the dark. Lights flashing, buildings changing colors, digital advertising on the side of the buildings – it was like watching a giant big screen on the side of a skyscraper – and the contrast between the new and the old buildings. There were a few too many male tourists on board who had never seen a Caucasian woman up close – Linda became a picture magnet. Thank goodness when it was my turn to be harassed, our guide was close to tell them to get lost!

I hate to admit this, but the driver dropped us off at McDonalds for dinner. We were excited to have McDonalds – 2 fish sandwiches, 1 cheese burger, 1 small fry, and 2 diet cokes set us back a total of $7.00. It was a nice break from our traditional Chinese food.

A few pictures of the food we passed by during the day:

On THe Move To China - Day 5

How much can two women see in one day? It was our tour guides responsibility to make sure we saw everything in Shanghai – he succeeded. Remember, he is a male – and he doesn’t shop!!

We started the day In Yu Garden, which is walking distance from our hotel. Yu Garden is a beautiful house and garden, some parts preserved and some renovated from many many years ago. The buildings were beautiful and the garden even better. The amazing part – this little patch of heaven is surrounded by skyscrapers, roads and shops. From our hotel window you can see a little patch of green nestled in the concrete and wooden roofs. We left the hotel and went through the Yuyuan Market – not much stopping along the way, but the site of daily life was interesting – the people, food stalls, restaurants, and shops. The buildings were constructed in the “old style” but the modern lifestyle was all around us.

Our next stop was the Jade Buddha Temple. Wow. I loved walking around the corner to see all the incense burners and the people praying. It felt like home to me. This was Linda’s first experience. The temple is named Jade Buddha Temple because housed deep inside the complex is a jade Buddha brought here from Burma by a monk – many believe it is the beginning of Buddhism in China. Other buildings housed several golden Buddha’s and monks. The original temple was built in 1882 but was destroyed and rebuilt in 1928 – thank goodness the jade Buddha was not damaged!

We went to the Bund for a stroll along the rivers edge, the famous waterfront. The Bund is an area that looks European, which was built over 100 years ago and regarded at the symbol of Shanghai for hundreds of years. It was a welcome port for the visitors arriving by boat to visit Shanghai. We are staying in the “old city” and while standing on the bund, we looked across the river to Pudong – which is the new part of Shanghai. It was not developed 20 years ago and now it is covered in skyscrapers. I have to say it is a beautiful skyline.

An unexpected and my favorite stop of the day was the Confucian Temple (the Wen Miao Temple) located in the old city. The original temple was dedicated in 1296 but was moved several times before its current site in 1855. The current buildings were renovated in 1999 to celebrate the 2,550th birthday of Confucius. We toured the grounds – it was so quiet and serine. It was Sunday, so they were having a book swap in the entrance area of the temple.

Our next stop was Peoples Square. A former horse racing track, it is now the site of the municipal government, exhibition halls, theater, and. you guessed it – shopping! Shopping and HOARDS of people. We stopped in at one local food market – filled with people – locals and domestic tourist. It was fun to see a “local” upscale food store. The rest of our time, we just walked around – just a couple of salmon trying to swim upstream!

We left the Peoples Square and headed to the Old City. We stopped at the Dongtai Antiques Market – not sure how many were really antiques – we did enjoy watching the men play cards on the corner. Once we finished in the antiques market we went to Shanghai Old Street. What a hustling area. The area was small in comparison to Peoples Square but the streets were tiny but shop after shop along the road was filled with vendors cooking and selling afternoon snacks. The streets were full of local shoppers buying their goods for the night’s dinner. We loved the area, the faces of the people and the view of everyday life. The tiny side streets were filled with door ways to the locals houses – of course, there was no in door plumbing, so one the corner of most blocks were the public toilets and wash houses.

In contrast, we headed to The French Concession – the area where the rich Chinese and Expats live. Swank shops, amazing restaurants and no public toilets on the corner. We were in awe after the old town. Like all major cities around the globe – Starbucks was on the corner!

We were tired and hungry by time we reached the hotel. It was dark and we just couldn’t face anymore shopping. So after dinner we played cards to keep ourselves awake. We were so happy to hit the pillow at 9:30 pm – the time change is not fun!


Our new guides in Shanghai - Nick and Tru

On The Move To China - Day 4

We were up and checked out of the hotel early to go shopping before heading to Shanghai. Yes shopping! This time it was to the Silk Markets. The Silk Markets are famous place for bargain shopping. What use to be an open air market in days gone by is now a 6-floor shopping mall. We were given great tips from the flight attendants – divide the shop owners opening price by 4! We bargained until we were blue in the face. Our tour guide was impressed with our skills – especially Linda. She even bought something because we negotiated the price down so low!

After another nice Chinese lunch we headed to the airport. The weather was a bit cooler but the city was covered in smog – yuck. When we arrived at the airport, our guide informed us that we would have to pay for each kilo over 20 kilos. Well, my suitcase weighted that before I left the states. So, we found a storage rental, took most of our shopping purchases and put them in an extra duffle I hauled from the states. We were quite a picture –suitcases open, scrambling around, pushing, shoving and zipping! We arrived at the counter at 1:15 and found out that there was a mistake with our flight time. The day before our 2:30 flight was cancelled and we were rescheduled to leave at 3:00, when we arrived we were old our flight left at 2:00! To make a long story short – we made it – but not without lots of negotiating on the part of our tour guide.


We arrived in Shanghai in awe. It is a city of high rises and sky scrapers – it goes on for miles and miles. In fact, we have not seen the end of it – we are staying in the middle of the city and in every direction all we see are sky scrapers. Linda has stated Shanghai makes New York City look tiny. Our room is amazing. We are on the 18th floor with one wall all windows. The view is spectacular overlooking the Yuyuan area, the old city area and markets.

We spent the evening on our own walking around – but we became tired REALLY quickly of the non stop harassment by the vendors. We called it a night and headed back to the sanctuary of our home away from home.

On The Move To China - Day 3

After an interesting morning (up at 3:30, locked out of the bathroom, a visit by the hotel engineer, a stint of reading and a short nap) we were up and out of the room by 9:00 heading to another fun filled day in Beijing. We headed out of the city toward the Great Wall, with several stops on the way.

We arrived first at the Jade Factory – government run of course. We really had a great time seeing all the beautiful pieces and bartering to get the items we wanted at a reasonable price.

Next we were off to the Ming Tombs area. We had a fun walk on the Scared Road, this is part of the road that led from the Forbidden City to the Tombs for the thirteen emperors of the Ming dynasty that were buried in this valley. The animals offered protection for the emperors into the “new world” and we had a great time posing with the statues along the way.

Once again we found ourselves at another factory showroom and store. This time it was the Cloisonne factory. After a yummy lunch we hit the floor shopping. We were surprised by the price of the items – but found a few things for holiday gifts we couldn't’t live without! At this factory shop there was no bargaining for lower prices and we were followed around by a sales clerks the whole time we were shopping. We had to become very skilled at looking at merchandise without stopping or looking interested!

Finally, we made it to the Great Wall. We went to the Juyongguan Path entrance. Boy was it a climb – it was SOOOOOO steep. The stairs varied in heighth and depth. My legs were shaking by time I walked up the hundreds of steps. But the work was worth the climb. We passed many people, old and young, those hiking up as though it were a walk in the park and those that were huffing, puffing and sweating, those who were walking in high heeled boots and we passed and were passed by people speaking many different languages. By time we arrived at the bottom, my legs were fatigued and I could hardly walk, Linda was in great shape and did fine!! It was a beautiful warm day – we couldn't’t have asked for more.

We headed back into Beijing for a ride in a rickshaw around the historic Hutong. Hutong is blocks and blocks of narrow alleys and cramped courtyard dwellings that exemplify the “real” people of Beijing. The houses are attached a block at a time. We went to one of the neighbors residents – meeting a family in this unique courtyard dwelling. We felt bad for them, the place was really run down and old but thought it would be great to renovate one of the courtyard homes. We asked our tour guide, Lynn, how much it would cost to buy one - $500,000 – and this is without bathrooms because none of the houses have plumbing for bathrooms. They have to use the blocks public bathroom facilities. During our ride we found several houses that had been bought and were being renovated.

After a dumpling dinner we headed back to the hotel trying to stay awake for a couple more hours. At 9:00 the bed called to us! We are off to Shanghai tomorrow!


A couple more pictures from the Great Wall

On The Move To China - Day 2

I am on the move to China with the girlfriend Linda. First stop – Beijing. With a guide and driver at our disposal, we hit the road bright and early today! The skies were blue, not a cloud in the sky, it was beautiful day for sightseeing, eating and shopping!

Our first stop was Tiananmen Square where we heard the tales of years gone by. From the birth of communism to the 1989 massacre, Tiananmen Square is rich in history. We by passed the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong after seeing the long line of tourist waiting in line. The square was filled with people, birds, police mini-vans, big screen TV's and did I mention people! There were tourist from all over China and and they seemed to be heading in the same direction a us - to the Forbidden City.



The Forbidden City was huge! It is the largest and best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. The Forbidden City was off-limits to commoners for more than 500 years and those who worked there were rarely permitted to leave the walled city. Look on-line to research this if you are interested – with 980 buildings and 9,000 rooms there is too much to write about! I will say . . .my favorite building was “The Hall of Preserved Harmony”.

After walking for 3 hours in the Forbidden City, we headed to lunch before touring the Summer Palace, a summer retreat for emperors of the Qing dynasty. Kunming Lake is the focal point of the gardens at the Palace. Emperors of old usually travelled by boat from the Forbidden City to the Palace– what a lovely ride it would have been. The 17 arched bridge was amazing spanning over the lake to a small island. The Lake area was huge and we toured only a small portion. It would take a couple days to enjoy the whole area.

Our last stop of the day before heading to shop was the Temple of Heaven. The temple sits on a hill in the city enjoying great views of the city. The hall has burned to the ground several times since it was first constructed. It is ironic that this is where the Emperor came to pray for rain, good weather, good harvest, etc. and it was destroyed every time due to lightening!

We did stop at the Hutong shopping mall before heading to dinner. Can’t tell you what I bought – Sir might be reading this!

I traveled here with Sir in the late 90’s and it has changed! Gone are the masses of bicycle riders – cars, buses and a subway system has changed this. Also, many of the buildings we went to today were renovated for the 2008 Olympics – the color was amazing – unfortunately, Sir and I did not see this before.


Our guide, Lynn and the front of the Forbidden City

Walking To The Beat Of The Fall

It is beautiful right now! The yellow, red and orange leaves are beautiful against the backdrop of the sky and the everygreens. Every where I look the scenery takes my breath away. Daughter 2 is probably getting tired of me continually stating "Look at that tree!" or "Do you see the sky tonight!"

I have been out and walking this fall. I have visited the Botanical Gardens - each time a new experience! I walked in a 5K over the week-end. It was great to get out and push myself - walking in the nippy weather with the leaves falling off the trees - felt like I was in a fall snowglobe. A recent trip to the near by savanah was breathtaking. My heart soars just walking around town seeing all the fall displays. Of course, I am grateful for all my walking buddies in my life. I feels exhilitrated after our dose of nature.

I suggest it for everyone - walk! Get out there. Find new paths. Explore your area. Experience nature at its finest.

On the Move To The UK

I couldn't believe my passport! Three years and no trips to the UK . I decided I had ignored my previous home long enough and hitched a ride with Sir on a week-end trip to jolly ol' London. It is amazing to me how three years can go by so quickly - yet stepping off the plane and heading to customs felt like it was just last week I there having a tea at an outdoor cafe with Daughter 1.

Nothing had changed going through customs at Heathrow. The traffic on the streets remained crowded, loud and chaotic. The weather didn't disappoint me - one minute sunny and bright, the next cloudy with rain. The mixture of color and languages sharing the streets remained unchanged. Three years has passed me by and my Londontown was the same. Walking through the streets brought back so many memories my head was spinning. I am sure Sir was tired of me stating over and over . . ."do you remember when..."

How did I spend my 24 hours in town? Due to a tube closing (rail work) we couldn't venture to our old stomping grounds - so I chose - the tourist thing: walking for miles from Leicester Square to Trafalgar Square to Covent Garden to Regent Street to Embankment and finally back to the tube. I was not disappointed. The crowds of people gathered at Trafalgar Square waiting patiently to have their photos taken while on top of the giant black lions existed then and still remains a beloved activity today. The smells that drifted from China Town years ago remains exactly the same - it warmed my heart and soul. The music, street entertainers and clanking of dishes at the outdoor cafes took me back to the days when I had a stroller pushing my way through the crowded streets of Covent Gardens. I enjoy feasting on my favorite curry at one of our favorite hang outs - Wagamama's - while waving to my favorite restaurant - Belgo's - I will have to visit it next trip!

What changed? Shopping. We headed to our favorite shops on a mission .... and they were closed. Poof. Maybe my pocketbook is happy but I was down right disappointed!

After a great evening dining with friends, staying up way to late, getting to bed in the wee hours of the morning . . . I packed my bags and headed home grateful for the time spent with Sir, my walk around London, my evening with friends and 16 hours on the plane without telephone or a computer!

I won't wait for three years to pass again!