Another full day in China. We are in Hangzhou now - we left Suzhou by bus this afternoon after a full day.
After a decent buffet breakfast this morning (although I couldn't believe Aunty Mary Lou willing took noodles from the buffet!) we walked the hotel grounds. We were told there was a garden that our hotel key would grant us access to. A secret garden? We're in! They were amazing. Pagodas, koi, people doing tai chi, a group of seniors singing, caves with waterfalls, bridges and roses in bloom. Very different from our walks in Edmonton. It's nice to see so much green! Our walk in the garden was so peaceful and definitely one of the trip highlights so far. We learned that Chinese retire in their late 50's and because they are so young they like to stay active. If they have grandchildren, they will help to care for the children. You will also find them in the public parks ballroom dancing, singing, doing tai chi, stretching with fans (this might be some form of tai chi- I don't know), or like we saw this morning, busting a move to some modern music. It's awesome to see. We checked out of the gorgeous Suzhou Pan Pacific and headed to Master of Nets Garden. The walk to the garden took us through a side street area which was fascinating. The garden was lovely and interesting. We saw intricately carved ginkgo furniture, carved stone entrances, a tiger's burial site, a 500 year old pomegranate bonsai tree and another tree that was 900 years old. Truthfully the 900 year old tree didn't look like there was a lot of life left in it. I must admit I didn't know much about silk before this trip, but a visit to the silk factory cured that. Suzhou is known for their silk production. Silk worms need to eat mulberry tree leaves and mulberry trees grow in Suzhou. We learned about the life cycle of the silk worm and how the cocoons are turned in to silk. The pupae become some sort of Chinese Viagra. We also learned about how the double cocoons can't be used for silk making so instead of wasting them, they are used to make silk duvets. James even got to try pulling the silk for the duvets. The silk in Suzhou is high quality and so soft. We bought a duvet (not the one that James stretched) and it is being shipped home. It'll be a surprised when it arrives in a couple months. After lunch we had a boat ride along the grand canal. This is the old town area. Until about 15 years ago people used to throw everything in the river and do their laundry in it. It was interesting to see the houses on the water. They claim Suzhou is the Venice of the East. Apparently along the canal is where young love hangs out. And we bought some Tiger Balm on the boat. Odd? Hangzhou is considered a medium sized city at a population of 7 million. Our hotel in Hangzhou is nice but only a 4 star. We prefer the 5 star we were in yesterday. We are right next door to a WalMart Supercentre. Very different than home. They sell chicken feet.
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I'll start with the laws. There seems to be a law for everything here. Did you know it's illegal to swim in a public pool without a bathing cap? It is. The people here are very smart and they usually find loop holes in the laws so the government makes another law. I'm not sure if there is a loop hole in the bathing cap law - we didn't go swimming.
This morning we started off high above the city. We rode the Jin Mao Tower elevator up 88 stories to see the stunning views of the city. We visited a silk rug factory which was interesting. It's an intricate art form and expensive to buy. Some of the carpets take 13 months to weave. We poked around the Shanghai museum - lots of interesting old masks, ceramics, bronze pieces, furniture, etc. For our last bit of time in Shanghai, we made a brief stop at Nanjing Road. It is a very cool shopping area with lots of people to watch. I wish we could have stayed longer. We did find a Starbucks and got a Shanghai mug. We are now in Suzhou at the most amazing hotel - Suzhou Pan Pacific. I'll have to explore in the morning before we check out. Tonight we went out for a bit and stumbled on a couple great bakeries and the oddest hair contraption we've ever seen. It looked like a torture device from the Middle Ages. We learned that Suzhou girls have the reputation of being the prettiest so they must take their beauty parlour time seriously! Actually we found out one reason they have the reputation is because they put sugar in meat when they cook it and thus are considered sweet. I won't get started on the food yet. I'll save that for another day. We've done a lot since we left Vancouver - except get much sleep. It's all good though - there's so much to see here!
After an uneventful flight we were met at the airport by our Chinapac guides and whisked away to dinner. We hadn't slept in over 24 hours so dinner wasn't high on our list of priorities. It was good to stay awake plus James and uncle Daryl had birthday cake. They were kind of shorted - with the time change they only got a partial birthday. Today we walked the Bund, visited the Yuan gardens, had dim sum lunch, rode the Maglev train (floats above the tracks and goes 300+ km/ hour), had dinner and went to an acrobat show. Shanghai has some stunning architecture and the buildings are lit up at night. The government pays for them to be lit from 7 - 10 pm. There are a lot of people (30 million) and a lot of apartments. And laundry drying on the balconies. I've learned that I like lotus root, squat toilets aren't so bad and uncle Rick can run fast holding two beer with traffic nipping at his heals. We made it to Vancouver. The family is all here and comparing suitcase weight. The winner is Aunty Deb at 20 pounds. Aunty Pat claims the granola bars she brought to sustain us in China are weighing her down. Had a wonderful Easter dinner at Garth & Anita's. Just before we left for dinner, the police were here questioning Aunty Pat. She accidentally called 911 and they take that pretty seriously. Hopefully that's our last encounter with police this trip. I'm not curious to witness the inner workings of the Chinese justice system. The hotel is close to the airport and I can hear the planes taking off. That will be us in a few hours. I love my mom and she will be the first to admit she does not take good photos. But she was close by and I wanted a photo with one of the famous Barbary Apes of Gibraltar. This picture makes me smile because: 1. It reminds me of the amazing 22-day cruise we took with my parents in May 2012. 2. The tram ride up to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar was breath taking (even though the line was long). The Barbary Apes of Gibraltar are fascinating. 3. It's a classic mom photo. A keeper. Here are some more sights from our short time in Gibraltar. |
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