ChinaTeacher

It was such a beautiful and sunny day today that I simply HAD to take my camera and head down to West Lake in Hangzhou!  Check out the ‘blue sky’ in my pictures – hardly any pollution today – yahoo! 

I was surprised to see so many people around on a Tuesday.  I have no classes on Tuesdays, but surely not everyone down at West Lake today could be retirees, housewives and the independently wealthy, could they?! 

Actually, it is best to stay away from West Lake on weekends.  Hordes of people choose this destination to ‘relax’, away from the stresses of daily life.  But how does one relax when the lake can barely be seen through the masses of bodies?  But, I digress. 

No worries for me today – it’s only Tuesday.  I did meet a number of wonderful people today.  One young ‘western’ couple arrived just 3 days ago via Beijing – turns out they are in Hangzhou to spend a month training at one of our local Chinese Medicine hospitals.  They had a free morning today, so decided not to waste it and wandered around the lake, trying to ‘take it all in’.  I told them they had arrived in Hangzhou at a great time: The weather is expected to be absolutely glorious for the next few days – lots of sunshine and blue skies! 

Later on I met an American and his wife (he from San Francisco and she from Shanghai).  They were visiting relatives and decided to take a little ‘sidetrip’ to Hangzhou; they were very glad they did!  Yes, today was definitely a great day to see my city in China. 

Check out the photos – the link can be found to the right of this page.

Well, I finally got a chance to spend a couple of days in Shanghai last weekend.  I haven’t visited since the Spring which is surprising.  I mean, it’s only 1.5 hours by train away.  To be honest, I don’t often go to Shanghai because I don’t really like it very much.  Shanghai is too big, too noisy, has too many buildings, too many people, it saps my energy – I could go on….!

But this time was much better.  This time I decided to explore just one area of the city, rather than try to make it to several destinations in one go.  In fact, I found everything I needed to buy that very first morning, which meant I could then spend more time exploring without having a schedule and a time limit – yahoo!

I did take another stroll along the Bund – there is something very special about this place.  You can’t help but notice the historical buildings all around you, and futuristic Pudong just across the river.  But this time I noticed that Pudong is losing its surreal aura – the last couple of years have brought tremendous development to that part of Shanghai, so it doesn’t look so outlandish any more.  There are tons of apartment buildings, plazas and department stores encroaching on the skyline over there.  It’s too bad – I kind of preferred its surreal quality to what it looks like now.  Oh well, that’s progress I guess.

My hotel accommodations were quite excellent.  A friend’s recommendation got me a small private room with bath for only 240 RMB, which is CHEAP for downtown central Shanghai!  Actually, that’s the most I have paid for a hotel ($35) since I left Canada three years ago!  Most economically priced Shanghai hotels charge about 350-450 RMB per night – ouch!  But then again, this IS Shanghai!  The Hotel is called 24K International – it has several locations in Shanghai.

I found a wonderful surprise when I looked out my hotel window (yes it even had a window!).  Directly behind my hotel sit approximately 6 rows of ancient family homes which are undoubtedly several hundred years old!  It was a wonderful sight.  Apart from these Chinese houses, the entire block is surrounded by towering hi-rises.  You can’t even see them from the street unless you know exactly what to look for.  Obviously the landowner is waiting to make a big score down the road, and he certainly will!  

So, I took the opportunity early the next morning to wander down the narrow alleyways between those buildings in hopes of catching a glimpse of ‘old China’.  It took me a while to figure out which doorway led into that haven of alleyways, but I eventually found it!  Unfortunately, the neighbourhood dogs found me very quickly and started barking up a frenzy.  My tour was cut short and I hightailed it out of there.  Great security system they have!

For those of you in the United States, I would like you to know that there is a COLD STONE CREAMERY ice cream shop in Shanghai!  First, you choose your flavour of ice cream and condiments (fudge sauce, chocolate chips, black cherries for me) and then they spread it all out together on a frozen slab of marble to mix the flavours, before placing it in a bowl for you – yummy!!!

I took one of the new CRH Bullet Trains back to Hangzhou.  Japanese technology has made it to China!  These trains started up earlier this year and feature WIFI, and electric outlets which are a hit with businesspeople and students alike.  They’re comfortable, clean and FAST!  Only one hour and fifteen minutes to Hangzhou.  I’ll have to make sure I don’t let so much time pass by before I make a return visit to Shanghai!