Monthly Archives: June 2008

China / Travel — Comments Off on Beijing
15
Jun 08

Beijing

Happy Father’s Day! I hope my dad and father-in-law had a good day. We made it to Beijing and have been in traffic now for a while. We are driving to Tsinghua University to get settled in. The overnight train from Shanghai was really nice and the sleeper cars were very comfortable. However, apparently the Chinese don’t stow away the top bunks when not in use because no one knew how to get them back down come sleep time. Upon seeing our bunked beds and excellent headroom, one conductor exclaimed: WWHHHAA??!?? Thus indicating difficulty in undoing our proud accomplishment. Today we get settled into Beijing with introductions, bikes and teams.

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China / Travel — Comments Off on Suzhou to Shanghai to Beijing
15
Jun 08

Suzhou to Shanghai to Beijing

June 15 After another garden in Suzhou, we visited the No. 1 Silk Factory(slow link). As in China #1. We saw silk worms and their cocoons, the separating of the silk cocoons, processing of silk, and many silk products. All culminating in a silk fashion show or a duvet cover, the ultimate finale was unclear to me. Now back to Shanghai for an overnight train to Beijing and our home for a few weeks.

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China / Travel — Comments Off on Around Suzhou
14
Jun 08

Around Suzhou

June 14 We left Shanghai to visit the towns of Zhujiajiao and Suzhou.

Zhujiajao was a small well-preserved canal town. We spent the afternoon walking around the canals, small lanes and shops.

Suzhou is a much more substantial and significant city and a historic center of trade and silk. Suzhou is also a city of great private gardens. We visited the Humble Administrator’s Garden, the Lingering Garden and the Keeper of Nets Garden. All very beautiful and spatially choreographed traditional Chinese gardens. We spent the night in Suzhou and go back to Shanghai tomorrow to get the overnight train to Beijing.

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China / Travel — Comments Off on More Shanghai Touring
13
Jun 08

More Shanghai Touring

June 13 Another day of Shanghai touring. Today, we started at the French secession quarter with walking, a museum and some traditional housing. We then made our way to the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum. A surprisingly large 5-story exhibition hall dedicated to, you guessed it, the planning of Shanghai. The profession seems to be more highly revered here. After, we took a stroll down Nanjing Road, a main pedestian shopping boulevard uncomfortable in its large scale and attention to foreigners. By my estimation everyone in Shanghai is selling either rolexes, bags, or shoes and any one of them could approach you at any moment to see if you’re interested in buying some of their replica objects. We had a hot pot for dinner and some drinks. Tomorrow, we leave Shanghai for Zhujiajiao, a so-called water town and the city of Suzhou.

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China / Travel — Comments Off on Shanghai Touring
12
Jun 08

Shanghai Touring

June 12 Today, we toured around in Shanghai. First, we went to Pudong, the new burgeoning world-class skyscraper district and checked out the surroundings from a tower observation deck. Tower in the park is alive and well. Second, we visited the Xintiandi District. Basically, a Shanghai version of Faneuil Hall, old city fabric repurposed for high end retail. Third, we went to some very nice traditional Chinese gardens with special rocks that were almost certainly “lucky”. We milled around the surrounding street markets and had jasmine and love butterfly tea in a traditional Chinese tea house. The touring finished with a river cruise with the Pudong skyscrapers on one bank and classical architecture of the Bund on the other, there were even fireworks. We had a drink to end the day with an unexpected performance by Phillipino lounge singers.

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