Shanghai!

From our Trip to China May-June 2008, I am presenting a series of Blog Posts on specific, hopefully interesting, topics.

Our Fifth and final topic is Shanghai! I wish to show everyone around this wonderful city. But while looking through our photos, most are of its many parks. So this post will concentrate mainly on Shanghai parks. Once again, you can click on any image to view a larger version.


This is a small park not far from my in-law's home. There is a waterfall at one end, but it was not running at the time of this photo.


Here is a photo from another section of that same park. The parks in Shanghai, and possibly all over China, are always full of people of all ages - day and night, and most never close. We always felt safe and secure in these parks because of all the people around. Whereas here, people don't visit many parts and night, or they are closed. Because there are few, if anyone around, they feel unsafe. See the self-fulfilling prophecy?


Shanghai has a "People's Square", though much smaller than Beijing's tiananmenSquare, it is nonetheless very pretty.


Here is another shot of People's Square. Note the red-brick path in the sidewalk along the lower right.


The Red brick stripe is textured with bumps. I saw this all over Shanghai during each of our trips: on the sidewalk, in the subways, at the bus stations, etc. But I didn't have any idea what it was for. Then on this last trip I caught a public service announcement on the TV in the bus. It explained that you should keep this path clean and don't block it with bicycles or boxes as it was a path for the blind to easily follow with their canes. The texture and size changes when the path comes to a road or crossing. Along with this, paper money in China is different sizes for each denomination as well as having braille to denote its value.


This is just a nice shot of a local, or side, road in Shanghai. Not every street is busy, loud and congested with traffic. However, this photo is actually a few blocks down from where I took the first one. I had forgotten that taking pictures of government official's residences was not allowed. The guards saw me and marched across the street to talk to me. Very politely, they reminded me that I could not take pictures there and ask me to delete the photo. I held the camera so they could watch as I deleted it. They then thanked me and marched back to their post. The whole incident was a bit apprehensive at first, but I was impressed at how polite non-aggressive they were.


Here is the entrance to another park in Shanghai. It was built to honor those who gave their lives during World War II. However, in China it is not know as World War II. The Chinese were invaded by the Japanese and so only fought against them. So that war is known in China as "The War Against Japanese Aggression."


Here is a shot from inside that park down a long path leading to central, pyramid shaped, memorial building. Ping and her father are walking down the path.


There are many sculptures in this park memorializing not just the soldiers, but also the builders and farms who helped support the war effort. You can see in this photo just how large these sculptures are.


Here's another sculpture in the park.


This roughly translates to "Red heart, clean blood, for the all people."


This is Nanjing road - a popular and regionally famous shopping district in Shanghai. It covers about 10 blocks of shops. There is also two "trains" than ferry people from one end to the other. They are a lot like the trams you take from the parking lot to the entrance at Worlds of Fun or Disneyland.


Also while we were in Shanghai, we got tickets to a show called "History of China Through Dance." It depicted the different eras in China through period costumes and dance. Very beautiful. The show itself consisted of about 12 segments each being introduced verbally in Chinese and English. There was also a ticker-tape style billboard that explained each segment in Chinese, English and Japanese.


Shanghai is constantly in a state of construction and reconstruction. Our last photo is of a new apartment complex nearing completion on Ling Ling Rd. Basically that puts in right in the heart of the city - across the street from two large stadiums, one block from a major busing hub, a subway entrance just half a block away, a police station at the end of the block, and a major highway just down the street. Of the three buildings: Pink, Blue and Yellow, the blue is the most attractive. Looks like the perfect place to live.

We hope you enjoyed this little tour of China. We greatly enjoyed being there and look forward to when we return next year.

Beijing

From our Trip to China May-June 2008, I am presenting a series of Blog Posts on specific, hopefully interesting, topics.

Our Fourth topic is Beijing, or more specifically items of note in and around Beijing. Once again, you can click on any image to view a larger version. This is our next-to-last post on our trip to China.


We're starting off with Tiananmen Square. It is purportedly the largest public square in the world and sits across the road and just south of the Forbidden City and Emperor's Palace. It is also where the Mao Zedong Mausoleum is located that houses his entombed body. The building in the background is the central government building - similar to Parliament or Congress. The Monument is to the solders who fought for China's independence.


View Larger Map
Just how large is the square? The Google map above shows that Tiananmen Square is approx. 2,500 feet long (North to South) and about 1,000 feet wide (East to West). On our tour we walked its entire length plus the entire length of the Forbidden City. That totaled over 6,000 feet. You can scroll the map down to see the Forbidden City as well, and zoom in and out.


Above is the main entrance to the Forbidden City. Previously, you could drive up and drop off people right in front to tour the city, but now with increased security, that is no longer possible. You must park farther away and walk to the entrance. We needed to walk under the roadway to get there. There are five entrance arches, the one in the middle is for the Emperor only, the next closest on each side for military leaders and local government leaders and counsel. The outermost two are for invited guests and servants.


In order to get a sense of the size of the Forbidden City, above is a short video showing only one of its five sections. You can refer back to the Google Map above to see how large each section is (scroll North up to the Forbidden City). Its called the Forbidden City because common people were not allowed to enter. Only by special invitation were ordinary people allowed inside. For almost 500 years it was the Emperor's home and the seat of China's government. As our tour guide told us, it contained 9,999 rooms. Heaven was to have 10,000 rooms and the Emperor was the son of Heaven, so therefore could not have as many rooms. Nine is an important number in Chinese tradition and myth. It is the largest number before adding another digit. It was therefore considered 'infinite' and very lucky. For instance, it was customary for a bride's dowry money to be $999 or $9,999 or $99,999 as this was considered lucky and a more respectful amount than $1,000 or $10,000 or even $100,000. More on the number nine later. Note the color of the roofs.


Here is a closeup of one of the roof decorations - note the nine figures...


Next up is the Temple to the Heavens. Also located within Beijing, this is where the Emperor would go to pray to the Gods and to Buddha. There are a series of steps up to the temple, three in all, and each set consists of Nine stairs. Nine was not used everywhere in China, just in auspicious and holy places. Again, as Nine was considered infinite, a series of nine steps up to the temple was appropriate. Note the color of the roof.


Yes, see, we really were there! The smooth slightly rounded path on which we are standing was the path for the Emperor only on his way to the Temple.


On our tour, we actually visited the Temple to the Heavens in reverse - came in from the exit and exited via the entrance. Above is the main entrance to the Temple. Note the color of the roof.


Here, just outside the entrance is the Emperor's changing room. Here is would wash, change cloths and prepare himself to pray in the temple. Note the color of the roof.

As stated earlier, there is a lot of hidden meanings, superstitions and tradition in the Chinese culture. I'm learning more and more each time I go. The number Nine, separate entrances for specific classes of people, and here, the color of the roofs.

In Imperial China, the class, or importance of the groups of people were denoted by the roof color of their houses and buildings. You could not deviate from this mandate, or face execution. Gold roofs were for the Emperor only, Blue (as in the sky and heavens) were for holy places of worship. Green was for the military (and is carried over today in their uniforms). Lastly, gray was for the commoners.


Our last stop is the Great Wall. I can't tell you exactly where we were outside of Beijing, just that is was about an hours drive north. Again, it was rather smoggy that day, so not any good long-range photos. But I think you can get a sense of the size and breadth of it all.


This is not a camera trick or optical illusion. This section, like most sections of the Great Wall, are very steep. This incline was about 35 degrees and much of it was without steps. Ping and I made it about halfway up before admitting defeat and turning around. Built on the peaks of mountains and hills, the Great Wall wanders across China for over 4,000 miles. Much of it is in poor shape, but restoration efforts have already begun. We visited one of the more pristine sections.

The Great Wall is really many many little walls built over a period of two thousand years to keep the Mongolians out of China. It was first built during the Ching Dynasty (the first Emperor of China) and was a connection of many smaller walls. It again rebuilt and reconnected 500 years ago during the Ming(?) dynasty where more stone, mortar was used as well as lookout towers and signal towers where added. It is estimated that over the 2000 years of construction and reconstruction, as many its workers died as there are stones in the entire wall itself. Count it out, its in the millions.

We visited many other places as well, including the Summer Palace, a Cloisonne manufacturing shop, a Silk shop and a Jade and Perl jewelry store and manufacturer. But I can't show it all - you'll need to go see it for yourself!


And finally, here are our two tour guides in Beijing. Ching Li in the middle and Mr. Leo on the right. We hired a private tour this time so that we would not be rushed by a large group, could take our time and see what we wanted and skip what we wished. It worked out very well. Although it was considerably more expensive, also with having and English speaking guide, it was well worth it. They picked the four of us up at the train station when we arrived in Beijing and took us to our hotel. For each of the three days, they picked us up at the hotel in the morning, took us out on tour, gave us an excellent cross-section of restaurants to have lunch at (from Beijing Duck to local native establishments) and dropped us off at the hotel each night. When it was all over, they took us to the Airport as well. We have their business card if anyone finds themselves going to Beijing and wanting a first-class private tour.

On Food and Cooking

From our Trip to China May-June 2008, I am presenting a series of Blog Posts on specific, hopefully interesting, topics.

Our Third topic is on Food and Cooking. I'm sure we are all familiar with Chinese food in restaurants. Through this tour I want to show a little bit about what Chinese Food really is like as well as where its bought and how it is prepared. Once again, you can click on any image to view a larger version.


Every morning Ping's dad, Bao Yuan, walks about 1 mile to the local food market. Above is the fresh vegetable section of the market - more different types of fruits and vegetables than I've ever seen in the local mega-market.


Here is the Fungus section. Lots of different mushroom types to choose from. There is even one type, called Caterpillar fungus (not for the squeamish), that costs thousands of dollars for a few grams and has almost mystical curative properties. You can find it in some of the larger Chinese medicine stores.


Here we have cooking wine in traditional pots. I found this interesting, of course, because the wine is stored in clay pots instead of glass bottles we are familiar with.


Here is the Tofu section. As you all know, Tofu is made from Soy Bean Curd. Tofu is an essential part of Chinese diet and the variates are astounding when compared to the boxed 'soft' and 'firm' selection we only see here. There is fermented tofu, sheet tofu, rope tofu, sponge tofu, brown tofu, string tofu, etc.

There is a fresh meat section and a fresh/live fish section as well as live chickens and fresh eggs. But I wont show those photos here - it kinda upset some from my emails before.

And, yes, there are western style grocery stores all over China's major cities, and their popularity is growing. However I personally find having fresh food laid out every morning to be far more appealing than frozen, plastic wrapped, processed week-old 'product'.


Ping's parents are also lucky enough to have street vendors ride up and down their apartment complex selling fresh produce and, occasionally, live chickens. Unfortunately, when this vendor spied me, the prices doubled - so we didn't by any watermelons that day.


Ovens are still very rare in China, and with it so are baked goods. We are seeing more and more of these "Christine" desert stores pop up in Shanghai. There deserts are good - mine are better. The local "Mr Donut" shop was very disappointing.


Here might be your typical breakfast. However, I like the fried bread, and so ordered that special. Soup is the standard breakfast food along with perhaps steamed bread - called Manto.


Ping's parents prepared lunch for us and my parents one day. This would be considered a typical lunch meal for guests. The difference here and what a family would normally have are: no plates, just bowls. Less variety and less meat. I find the idea of eating out of a bowl appealing. While I was there, I found that when I finished a bowl of food (or two) that I was full. But I knew I had eaten less than a full plate of food. I think there is a visual/psychological influence going on there. One thing I should also mention. Lunch is the main meal of the day, not dinner. And its not uncommon to drink beer or liquor during lunch - especially when entertaining guests.


This shocked and appalled me. Having the most unhealthy of western food culture invade a country where obesity is almost non-existent is bad enough, but to have as a "Delivery Service" was just insane! Personally, I think McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell, etc. should be driven out of China - really.


If you want to go Upscale in Dining, the sky is the limit. Here is a view from the Harvest Festival restaurant in Shanghai. Every dish they make is laid our across this huge table so you can see everything and choose exactly what you want.


There were even intact, cooked, de-feathered chickens and ducks posed and garnish for your enjoyment (not pictured - but can provide if interested). Opposite from this photo where the chefs behind glass walls preparing the food in full view of everyone.
It was then I was asked to not take any more pictures. Oh well.


Back in our private dinning room, Ping's sister, Feng, and her husbad, Sho Jing, treated us to an incredible feast from the Harvest Festival restaurant. Watch the video above to see what all we had.

Zhouzhuang

From our Trip to China May-June 2008, I am presenting a series of Blog Posts on specific, hopefully interesting, topics.

Our second topic is Zhouzhuang, pronounced Zow-Zong. It is China's largest water town. Note that you can know click on the photos to view larger versions.


From the pass we purchased: Zhouzhuang originally built in 1086, is just like a shining pearl among Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou. It is surrounded by water and boats are needed even for short trips. All streets in the town are built along the river and bridges and streets are connected with each other. As the famous historic and cultural town of China, Zhouzhuang is on the Reserve List for the World Culture Heritage and conferred the Dubai International Best Practice to Improve Living Environment of the United Nations.


View Larger Map
Wikipedia states Zhouzhuang is 30 miles south-east of Suzhou, The above map should give you an idea where it is in relation to Shanghai.


What made this place even more interesting was that it was a town inside a town - much like Beijing's Hutongs. We were made to buy tickets and have our pictures printed on them. This was not for security purposes, but I suppose to add to the Tourist effect by giving you an extra memento of being there.


As you can see, lots of people and lots of boats. The town was very well preserved, but very crowded and filled with shops selling all kinds of trinkets.


The tour we were on took us through the restored local residents around the river. Above is a 'sitting room' where the husband and wife of the house would welcome guests and perhaps discuss business.


This was particularly interesting. It actually a large 1" thick slab of stone (marble?) While it looks like a typical old-style Chinese painting, its actually all natural colors and textures in the stone.


Here is a nice quiet, beautiful garden out back of one of the homes.


It would not have been right to visit a River Town and not get on the river. So we took a short trip around the town on one of the covered boats. Pleasant and relaxing.


Wren San, Wren Hi (People Mountain, People Sea). Essentially this means more people than the Mountain, more people than the Sea. It got quite crowded until mid-day, then people starting leaving. We think that all the tour groups descend on Zhouzhuang in the morning and then move on in the afternoon. We had to move on as well as it started raining.

Pudong

From our Trip to China May-June 2008, I will present a series of Blog Posts on specific, hopefully interesting, topics.

The first topic is Pudong, a district of Shanghai.

Here is a short video scanning up the Eastern Pearl TV Tower in Pudong



This should give you a sense of size of that tower. It is one of the tallest in the world. If you have the audio on, you can hear the America music playing in the background. We heard American music all over China - apparently it is very popular, especially the old stuff.

We went up into the tower and took some photos out the windows on the "Space Module" - the highest point you can go.


The photo shows 350 meters, or 1,148 feet! It was a bit overcast that day, so photos out the windows did not come out very good.


Here is the Jing Mao Tower (in the front) and the Shanghai World Financial Center (behind and still under construction). The Shanghai World Financial Center is currently the tallest building in the world at 492 meters or 1,614 feet. It was to be completed in April, 2008, and we were hoping on going up into it to the observation walk along its trapezoidal hole, but could not as it was still under construction.


Here is another photo of all the construction going on in Pudong and around the Eastern Pearl TV Tower.


Finally, one last photo looking down showing the Huang Pu River. This is the international shipping route for all things coming in and out of Shanghai (and much of China), and so is very busy day and night.


Once we came back down and outside, we were met by throngs of people wrapped up in Olympic Fever! (My wife Ping is in the black shirt in the middle) Thousands of people had descended on the streets around the tower as the Olympic Torch was to come down this street at any time. It was hot, tons of people, we didn't know when the torch was to arrive and we had many other sites to see that day, so we did not stick around.


A few days later we went to the river front on the Shanghai side see downtown (and Pudong) all lit up. You can see the French influence of the architecture in the buildings on the Shanghai side. Across the river is Pudong and all its modern building lit very brightly. The music in the background is from local musicians and from recordings playing from street vendors selling everything from food to pearls to jade to toys.


Our final shot is that of Pudong with the Eastern Pearl standing proud.