Wrapping it up in Shanghai

After a long trip through mainland China and a brief visit to Hong Kong with Intrepid Travel, Mark and I decided to hit up Shanghai on our own before heading back to Japan.  We booked our hotel in the famous Bund district of Shanghai and found out upon arrival that our hotel was one of the most famous in the world.  The Astor House Hotel has been such since around 1858.  It is right on the Huangpu River and across the famous Garden Bridge.  

The rooms and decor were beautiful...which makes up for the fact that many say they are also haunted. It was interesting to stay in such a western type hotel with a long history in the middle of China.  

There were many famous patrons, such as Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, President Grant, and Bertrand Russell.  In additional to that, the first electric lamp in China was burned here and the first phone call was made from here.  

Shanghai is a very international city, much like Hong Kong.  In fact, it didn't feel much like China either.  According to records, Shanghai is the largest city by population in China with more than 24 million people.  

It was a beautiful city with an interesting history and flavor all it's own.  

This is the Bund.  It is the most international street in Shanghai and has been the financial center of the city since the 1940's.  

There are about 52 buildings included in the Bund, of which most are gothic, baroque, neo-classical, and of other European influence.  

Regardless the past or the present, they are beautiful and make for a romantic atmosphere.  I especially love the one on the right that resembles a flower.  

And now onto Nanjing Road.  This was one of the busiest roads in Shanghai.  It was common to see men with their shirts off, sweat glistening on their round stomachs.  Children were squatting in the street relieving themselves.  Women were loudly discussing their days and teenagers were laughing hysterically at an obscure joke.  

All along the road were neon signs guiding the way.  I felt like a mosquito gravitating toward the light, though I didn't know what lay at the end.  

Here's a peek at a man with his shirt rolled up.  Many wore them this way and many also took them off completely.  It was disgusting to say the least...but, I relate as this summer was the hottest on record in China in over 80 years.  

After a nice night wandering up and down Nanjing Street, I just had to go to the Shanghai Museum.  Of course, it was mentioned in my "1000 Things to Do Before You Die" book.  

The museum was top notch and one of my favorites world wide so far.  

It included many different exhibits such as paintings, sculpture, jade and ivory carvings, masks, calligraphy, and furniture.  

This one was called Thousand Buddhas.  It was one of my favorites.  

The exhibits here trace Chinese history back more than 5000 years.  It's amazing to think that a culture has stood the test of time.  Sometimes I wonder how America will fare and adjust.  What will make our culture rich?  What will be strictly American or will we be a blend of so many other cultures?

Just another unique artifact from Chinese culture.  

Here is the Garden Bridge, also known as Waibaidu Bridge.  It was the first steel bridge in China.  This bridge has an important place in history during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai.  It was here that many Chinese and international occupants crossed for safe haven from the Japanese in the international settlement on the opposite side of the bridge.  Now, it serves as a piece of art as it changes color and lights the night between the Bund and Pudong.

One of my favorite things throughout China was the dancing and singing at night.  Shanghai was no exception.  Each night, the residents gathered in public places to dance and sing the nights away.  This particular man chose to serenade me with a love song.  Of course I was extremely flattered albeit embarrassed!

Headed to Hong Kong

After 25 days of travel through mainland China, we were ready for an urban setting.  We boarded one last overnight train and headed toward Hong Kong.  Hong Kong is interesting, because it was a British territory from the mid 1800's until Japan's brief occupation during WWII and then again until just 1997.  Currently, Hong Kong is considered a special administrative region of China.  It's education and political systems are different than mainland China, and it's a bit more international.  

The city has an interesting culture that's very unique.  It's easy to see the British and international influence more than that of the Chinese.  All in all, I loved the city but felt that it was a bit bland.  Most people visited to shop and cash in on the many deals, both in clothing and electronics.  Since I'm not too keen on shopping, I searched for a bit more culture.  

The past three pictures are of the city's financial district.  It was located on Hong Kong Island.  The only way to get there was by ferry across the harbor.  

It was very beautiful and there was a light show every night. This is Victoria Harbour for which Hong Kong was named.  It's name in old Chinese actually means "fragrant harbor".  The rush hour on the harbor is intense and thousands of boats cross daily.    

Of course, we had to have high tea at the Peninsula Hotel.  It was one of the "must do" items from my "1000 Things to Do Before You Die" book.  Apparently, it's been "the" thing to do in Hong Kong since 1928.  We saw this Rolls Royce waiting outside and wondered if we would feel out of place.  

We ended up waiting in line for a couple hours in line before even getting seated.  Apparently, this was a really popular thing to do while in Hong Kong.  Of course the delicate finger sandwiches and french pastries were worth the wait.

It was actually the first time in a month that we had dressed up during the trip.  It was pretty formal and it was exciting to have a proper tea...especially with our friend who was English!

The grandeur was palpable, which was unique to our trip as a whole.  Here's to pretending to have some class!

Following tea, we headed up to Victoria's Peak on the world's steepest funicular railway.  It has been making the 1805 foot trip since about 1888!

It was supposed to be a fabulous view, but this was all we could see from the top!

Not too clear during our time in Hong Kong!  Rumor has it that on a clear day one can see over 200 outer islands dotting the South China Sea.

Here we are on the train.  It was packed!

So, we had to spend some time on the water front on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars. 

Here are Jackie Chan's hand prints.  We also saw Jet and Bruce Lee's handprints.  

These colorful ferries took us back and forth to Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.  This one is the famous Star Ferry.  

Hong Kong was really interesting.  We even took a short ferry ride to Macau, which was a Spanish settlement about 40 miles away.  I would definitely like to go back in order to see more and spend some more time exploring.  Just don't go there expecting to get the Chinese experience, because instead it feels like any big international city.  

Winding down in Yangshuo

After disembarking our cruise ship, we traveled 3.5 hours via bus to Yangshuo.  Our guide assured us that we would love the small town atmosphere with many bars and restaurants in which to spend our time.  This area of China is in the Guanxi province of China and is much less densely populated than most other cities with a total population of just over 300,000.  The area is made famous for the stunning limestone karsts.  In fact, the landscape below is featured on the back of the Yuan bill that I am holding up.  

The local culture thrives on the tourists, both foreign and national.  We took a nice cruise up the river to get a closer look at the karsts.

When we started our adventure, there weren't many boats on the river.  They quickly joined us and by the end, all we could see were boats zooming up and down the water.

Of course, as with anything, in the beginning they were beautiful and we stopped to take tons of pictures.  The scene was surreal...so peaceful and majestic.  After about 30 minutes though, while still beautiful, the enchantment was over.

Just one of the scenes along the river.

Here are Hanna and I enjoying the scenery.

The karst in the back is said to be horse mountain.  It is a large head with the pointed peaks as the horse's ears.  Can you see it?

A big attraction in the area was cormorant fishing birds.  These birds have rings around their necks and dive under the water to catch fish.  Because of the rings, they can't swallow them but instead bring them up for their owners.

This is how packed the river became after a bit.

Limestone karsts as far as the eyes could see.

The water was really refreshing since it was over 100 degrees every day.

Even the water buffalos thought that it was too hot to keep out of the water.

I love the water too.  Anytime I am near it, I just feel at peace.

Lotus flowers and karsts...I love it!

The next day in Yangshuo we went on a biking excursion.  It was very peaceful to bike through the countryside and check out the more rural side of China.  

We stopped at a house along the way that has been maintained since the early 16th century.  The property has been a part of this man's family for many, many years.  Here he is showing us how he has taught his bird to count (in English) by doing back flips. 

A beautiful rice paddy with limestone karsts along the bike route. 

This woman lives at the house too.  It was like a museum with all their family's antiques and traditional decor throughout.  

It was so stinking hot on the bike ride, especially wearing my backpack, that once they turned on the water, I needed to cool down.  

This was a home made kettle bell.  This man is in his 80's and works out by lifting this each day.  Some of the guys in our groups tried to lift it as well, but were unsuccessful.  That is one thing that amazes me about the more mature folks in Asia...they sure do take good care of themselves!

The doors were so short that I couldn't walk through without bending over...now that's short!

A water break along the way!

We were nearing the halfway point and came upon the small port on this river.  Many people hire locals to take them down the river.  They let them out, then turn the bend and load the rafts up about 10 high on these itty bitty trucks.  The trucks haul ass and take all the rafts back to the top and down they come again.  Let me tell you, meeting those loaded trucks while biking on a narrow, winding road is pretty scary.  

Here's a closer view.  

This is Moon Hill, which is rumored to look like different moons during different times of the year.  It's a really popular spot for rock climbing.  Our group, just enjoyed the view, hydrated, and headed back to Yangshuo.  

On our way, we stopped in a mud cave.  It was super crazy.  We jumped in this mud pit and were totally surprised at how buoyant we all were.  It was like we laid down and floated on top of the mud.  It was super disgusting and crazy fun!

The next day, three of us went kayaking down the Li River.  It was pretty cold and rainy, so it wasn't the most relaxing day, but the scenery and the break from people was nice.  Plus, I was done punishing my backside (from the biking) and decided that my arms needed some work too.  There weren't huge boatloads of tourists and we were pretty much alone for 5 hours on the river.  There were some points where I just wanted to finish, but overall, it was fantastic!

Here I am just taking a break.

It was neat to see the locals out on the river on their shanty boats.  I don't know how they stayed afloat. 

After my arm and shoulder workout, I decided to stop by Miss Lily's for some acupuncture.  Don't be fooled, I watched her put the needles in Mark, and they are huge!  She put them in me and while it didn't hurt as much as it was uncomfortable, I think she was a quack.  I might try it again, but not in China!