We just returned from a four-day stay in Shanghai, which is now our favorite city in China. This entry will be crafted around the itinerary that Tour—Beijing developed for us with notes in parentheses added by me. With more than three full days to explore the city and its surroundings, we saw almost everything that our port destination lecturer Debbie told us about in her presentation. We feel fortunate that Roberta and Dennis Beckman joined us for this wonderful experience.
Saturday, March 17
Upon your arrival in Shanghai, our tour guide and driver will pick you up at 9 a.m. and transfer you back to hotel, the Crown Plaza in the Old French Concession in Xuhui District. (Our tour guide Allen had majored in English Tourism at a university. She has an outstanding command of the English language and an impressive vocabulary. The only word we had trouble understanding was building, which she pronounced like it was "beauty." We are not sure that our driver Michael understood English but he did understand the traffic patterns of Shanghai, the largest city in China, its political center that is only not quite 700 years old. Allen informed us not to give any money to beggars because as Dennis put it, "If you give money to one legless man, every legless man will come running after you." Allen also told us not to make eye contact with vendors because they will follow us.)
The French Concession was established on 6 April 1849. Finally come to Xintiandi. Xin Tian Di will be something like Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong and Clarke Quay in Singapore. The past and the present and the East and West makes Xintiandi very charmful, making it into the most ideal site for visitors home and abroad to have a good view of the history, culture, and modern lifestyle of Shanghai.
Then take you to visit the Longtangs in Jingan District. Longtangs in Shanghai are just like Hutongs in Beijing, the lanes lined with houses where people have more chances to communicate with each other.
After lunch, first visit the Jade Buddha Temple. Jade Buddha Temple, is the most famous Buddhist temple in Shanghai. The temple was established in 1918 with the style of the Song Dynasty. It is an active temple with over 70 monks. The outside of the temple is recognized by the bright yellow walls. (Only two places can use this color, the palace and the Jade Buddha Temple. Outside are four Buddhas, the King of the East who is happy and playing music; the King of the South, who observes the whole world with his eyes and uses the sword to kill the bad people; the King of the West who controls the dragon and uses it to drown the country's enemies; and the King of the North who is the Heavenly Buddha. The gold Buddha in front in the big boss of all the Buddhas.
The three statues in the front are the same but have different titles and represent the founder of Buddhism. The middle statue was loved by all and only saw happy families. Then he left the palace and saw that some people did not have as much as he did. His father secretly sent five generals to protect him. The monkey delivered a peach while the deer delivered water so he survived. At age 35, he was enlightened and saw the way to help all people, which was Buddhism. The Buddha on the right is the medicine Buddha who can cure all diseases while the Buddha on the left is in charge of the Western Paradise.
The three Buddhas represent the Present, the Past and the Future. The two white jade Buddha statues inside are from Burma, the sitting one is the largest while the reclining one is dying but looks carefree because he believes his disciples will come to know his beliefs. The statues are beautiful for two reasons, one because the jade has no flaws and two because of the carving skills. The jade is embedded with jewels donated by the believers in Burma. We should not point at the Buddha and need to step over the threshold to avoid bad luck. While we could not photograph the reclining Buddha, we could photograph the large replica in the gift shop.)
Then drive to People's Square, covering 140,000 square meters, to visit Shanghai Museum. The museum has the selection of over 112,000 Chinese cultural relics from the Old Stone Age to modern times. Then you are arranged to enter the Shanghai City Planning Exhibition Hall. The Exhibition Hall is a six-story building, displaying Shanghai's urban planning and development. Then walk to the Nanjing Pedestrian Road. It is regarded as the first commercial street in Shanghai. It was first built in 1851. Now Nanjing Road has turned into the number one site for shopping in the city. (Crowded is the only way to describe this area. Dennis brought Roberta a black pearl pendant similar to the one that she had admired in Tahiti where they had honeymooned 28 years earlier.)
After dinner, take one hour night cruising on Huang Pu River. After the tour, transfer you back to hotel. (The buildings along both sides of the river are all lighted at night making for a beautiful sight. Allen told us that "by day, Shanghai is a handsome man. By night, it is an elegant lady." A very well phrased description!)
Sunday, March 18
Start today's tour in the new development zone in Pudong -Lujiazui, which is teemed with the futuristic, avant-garde buildings - Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Building, Bank of China Tower. Taking the elevator to the 88-story Observation Deck of Jinmao Tower to have a bird's eye view of Huangpu River. (The sun had yet to shine upon us in Shanghai. The fog permitted no view of the city. Allen described the Jinmao Tower as a "gigantic majestic high-rise tower kile a bamboo shoot in the spring. From ground level, we could not see the top of the building.)
The Bund (Waitan) is one of the most noted architectural symbols of Shanghai. Then move on to Shanghai Bazaar and Yu Yuan Garden. Yuyuan is the most famous garden in Shanghai. It is located in the heart of Shanghai's Old City (Shanghai bazaar), one of the few existent old tourist places in Shanghai. (In China, one needs four things to have a garden—water, stone, plants and buildings. The inspiration stone for the owner had been a wedding gift and is considered one of the most beautiful stones in all of China.) Shanghai bazaar is teemed with a great number of small streets and lanes where vendors sell their products and food stuffs to the tourists and local people. (Overcrowded on a Sunday afternoon.)
After dinner, you are arranged to watch Acrobatic Show. The Acrobatics at Shanghai are not to be missed. They are held each night and last for about 2 hours. The Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe, established in 1951 is one of the best in China. It frequently tours internationally and perform routinely at Shanghai and other cities in China. (China has definitely saved its best athletes for this show. Children are screened at a young age to learn if they are flexible. These acrobats seemed as if they had no bones in their body. At the end of the show, the motorcycle drivers spun around in a sphere. Until the end of last year, there were five motorcycles and drivers. This year, the show added three more.) End of the service tonight, transferred back to your hotel in Shanghai around 9:30pm.
Monday, March 19
Pick up from our your hotel in Shanghai around 8:30 a.m. Drive about 1.5 hour and get to the water town of Zhouzhuang. You will board a Chinese style gondola to cruise the waterways of the city. (The town had about 5,000 residents years ago but now has only about 3,000 because many young people have moved to the cities to make more money. I keep wondering what this area would look like in the spring when everything is in blossom. Today's weather is cold and cloudy with a high temperature of 9 degrees C. Spring officially arrives in Shanghai after five days with temperatures above 10 degrees C. It's going to be a late spring!
After lunch, visit Suzhou, known historical and cultural city, as well as a key scenic tourist one. (Known as the Garden City with more than 200 gardens, 60 of which are protected by the government, Suzhou is known for its private gardens that belong to one family. The other two types of gardens are the Imperial Gardens for royalty only and the Buddhism Gardens that are behind temples.) First visit Net Master Garden, the best and most celebrated as a model Ming Dynasty Garden in all of Suzhou. The Garden of the Master of the Nets is really a masterpiece. The good use of space is the most effective thing about this garden. Rock arrangements and beautiful fish pools match each other as do the house and garden parts. The garden also holds many structures of using lattice windows to frame views of flowers or bamboo. Then move on to the Ancient City Gate and Grand Canal. The Panmen City Gate is the oldest city gate in existence in Suzhou city. It used to be one of the eight city gates during the Spring & Autumn Annals (770-476 BC) when Suzhou was the capital of the Wu Kingdom. The Grand Canal is one of the greatest ancient projects in China and is the longest man-made canal in world.
After the tour in Zhouzhuang and Suzhou, transferred back to your midtown hotel in Shanghai. Dinner on your own. (We ate at a Western-style restaurant across the road from our hotel. While all the Asian food we had in China was delicious, it was nice to eat Western food again.)
Tuesday, 20th March
In the morning, our tour guide and driver will pick you up from hotel and transfer you to the airport, end of your tour in Shanghai. (We altered the itinerary for the morning. Allen and Michael picked us up at the hotel after we checked out at 9 a.m. Then we drove 1/2 hour to the went to the Old City where we said good-bye to our wonderful guide and driver. Then we took the Maglev (short for Magnetic Levitation) for a seven-minute trip that covered 30 kilometers at 340 kilometers per hour. What a ride! The rest of the day was like any travel day on an airplane that for the 2-hour and 45-minute flight to Hong Kong. A taxi-ride later that took us from Lantau Island through Kowloon to Hong Kong Island, we arrived at the ship after 4 p.m. While we decided to stay on board for the evening, Roberta and Dennis took the tram ride to the summit of Victoria Peak to view the city at night.)
The next day we took the ship's shuttle to Central Pier where we purchased tickets from Big Bus Tours for the three routes of the hop-on, hop-off bus that included trips on the Star Ferry to and from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. Unfortunately, this was not a great idea because of the traffic in the Hong Kong area and the infrequency of the buses. We spent more time waiting at stop lights than we did touring Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The only time we got off the bus was to see the Tin Hau Temple and the Jade Market. At 2:30 p.m., we got off the bus at the Peninsula Hotel. After receiving different directions from several vendors, we walked along the Avenue of Stars and took photographs at the statue of Bruce Lee. Then we took the Star Ferry to the shuttle to the ship. The best thing about the day was the champagne sailaway. Donned in hoodies, we toasted our three incredible days in Shanghai and our trip around the city with 8,000 skyscrapers. New York City has fewer than 4,000.)
IMPORTANT NOTE: We will be off the Pacific Princess from March 26 to 29 as we tour Angkor Wat. Arranging this private tour while we were on the ship also took time that I could have been working on the blog. So please do not expect to hear from us until early April. Thank you for your consideration.
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