Zhouzhuang, Shanghai, China

After two days fighting the crowds and trying not to get sunstroke in Shanghai, me and the boyfriendman took a 90 minute bus to the quaint waterside village of Zhouzhuang. Known as "The Venice of the East", Zhouzhuang is a gorgeous little place with traditional houses and winding narrow streets that lead you around a maze of shops and restaurants. The atmosphere is so laid back compared to Shanghai; shop owners snooze in the corners of shops or if not, sit slouched on a stool fanning themselves in the sweaty heat. It's a great place to visit for a relaxing day out of Shanghai. 

Although it is a bit of a tourist trap, it still has charm. The market stalls sell hand made arts and crafts as well as the tat you can find in the city centre. The canal banks are lined with trees, flowers and lanterns, making for a very pleasant walk  in the afternoon sun. We took a relaxing boat ride on a traditional boat powered solely by one old guy and his oar. 

 

Communist China

China - the most capitalist communist country in the world.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has headed the Chinese government for almost 60 years; however, the country is rapidly opening up to international trade and foreign investment, which is probably the main reason China has become such a powerful country over the past 15 years.

The photos below show "communism" in China:

A typical neighbourhood found at the base of the 100-floor skyscrapers. 

Motorbike repair; a great advert for celotape.

Everybody has a bicycle in China, but they're 50 year old bikes.

Contrasting properties.

Local seamstress just chilling outside her front door.

Typical  neighbourhood, the topless guy was washing his dog in the communal sink.

Me in the blue rain poncho asking the miniature guard if I could take his photo. He said no.

Big Brother really is watching, on every street corner in China.

Military marching around Tiananmen Square in the pouring rain (carrying but not using umbrellas)

Soldiers in Tiananmen Square; they're not too friendly.

Shop delivery being taken in through the window.

Beijing, the Heart of Communist China

31st July - 3rd August

Beijing is totally different from Shanghai. Where Shanghai feels modern, touristy and vibrant, Beijing feels oppressive  regimented and dull. Although the dullness may be something to do with the heavy downpour that lasted for two full days of our time there.

In Shanghai it is evident that China is moving away from its strict communist past. In fact, it's probably the most capitalist communist country in the world. In Beijing, however, there is still a strong communist sentiment. There's a heavy military presence in Tiananmen Square in the centre of Beijing (famous for the military action taken against protesters there in 1989.) You have to go through security checks just to get onto the square and the entire area is fenced off and guarded.

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square - grey grey grey

We went to the square the afternoon we arrived (in the torrential rain). In the vast empty space we headed towards the crowd of umbrellas at the far end, assuming something exciting was happening. They were however, from what I could gather, just waiting from the flag to be lowered. One Chinese spectator told me "it's so cool" - I'm not sure I agree.

The Forbidden City 

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is where numerous emperors of China resided for hundreds of years. It's a walled city surrounded by a moat and inside the walls there are around 800 buildings which look very much the same: ornate roof, gold and red. I don't think the Forbidden City is worth the 60 yuan entrance fee, it certainly isn't better than the Great Wall and it's more expensive. On the other hand, if you like being crammed into a confined space with a million Chinese tourists looking at 800 identical buildings it could be just your thing.

The entrance to the Forbidden City

Shopping in Beijing
We took the subway to the famous silk market. I was expecting a traditional market with quirky, unusual stalls and typical Chinese arts and crafts. Oh, and silk, I was expecting silk! The market was in fact a shopping mall with isle after isle of identical shops; each floor selling a different item. The sales approach of the shop workers there wasn't so much 'hard sell' as much as it was 'physically violent attack'. After showing a slight interest in a tennis racket a female shop assistant trapped Ric in the shop and started grabbing, pushing and hitting him when he tried to leave. Once he'd escaped the shop she followed him, shouting at him and trying to grab him. After that we were scared to look at anything. In every shop you had to barter. The sales women would start off obscenely high and only drop to a sensible amount once you'd walked away. I know that's common all over the world but honestly, it seems a pretty senseless way to do business; why start off asking for £400 if what you're selling is only worth £5? I suppose some people enjoy bartering but I didn't have the patience for it.

Speedy Trains

Left: bullet train; Right: sleeper train

There are 1000 miles between Shanghai and Beijing and amazingly, you can get from one to the other in just 5 hours! Going to Beijing we took the high speed bullet train: two stops, 300km/hour the whole way. Returning to Shanghai we took the slower sleeper train, it was very exciting for me as I'd never been on a sleeper train before. It was lush: 4 to a cabin, each bed with its own reading light and flat screen tv, table in the middle with a kettle - I slept like a baby!

To conclude, I did like Beijing despite my negative reviews. It's great as a base from which to visit the Great Wall but it's not a fun city to explore like Shanghai is. Maybe my experience was affected by the terrible weather we had while we were there; maybe it was the strain of the 2000mile round trip we did to get there, but I found the city no match for Shanghai.

The Forbidden City - view from outside of the walls

Shanghai, China

28th - 31st July and 3rd August

For our one week summer vacation we flew to Shanghai. Typically when we travel to a place we go uninformed, with nothing booked, no guide book and just explore things ourselves, however we didn't count on it being peak season and mid-summer break - it was really busy and all the hostels were booked up! This meant we spent the majority of our first day wandering around with our backpacks looking for somewhere to stay with no map and no money (who knew you can only change money in China in banks and airports!)

We're not really tour bus kind of people but as we had such a short time in Shanghai and as it's such a huge place we decided it would be a good way to see everything, and for £3 you can't complain. We "hopped off" at The Bund, the river front that overlooks the financial district - check this for an impressive skyline:

The Bund

Next we went to Shanghai Old Street which is a traditional neighbourhood that's been turned into a shopping area with markets and souvenir shops. I like the contrast between the traditional Chinese buildings and the modern skyscrapers in the background. 

Shanghai Old Street

One evening we went across the river to the financial district where all the gigantic skyscrapers are. It's incredible. I've never seen buildings that big before, it was like I'd shrunk and everything in the world was bigger. We went up the Jin Mao tower to the 88th floor viewing platform. The tower is the 13th tallest in the world and is 421m high. The high speed lift from the basement took less than 15 seconds and made my ears pop. The view speaks for itself:

Jin Mao Tower from the bottom

The Oriental TV Tower (centre) 468m

On our last day in Shanghai we went to Jing'an temple, a traditional Buddhist temple in the middle of the city. Walking through the gate was like leaving Shanghai and going to a completely different place. Even though it's in the city centre the traffic, pollution and chaos of Shanghai seems miles away; instead all you can hear is the chime of bells and tranquil music. Gone is the smell of rotting food and exhaust fumes and in its place is the smoke from hundreds of incense sticks burning on an ornate metal carriage. Inside there are two Buddha sculptures made from jade. They were brought to China from Burma(/Myanmar) and weigh 11,000 kilograms. It's a beautiful temple and well worth the 30Yuan (30p) entrance fee.

Jing'an Temple

I love Shanghai. The buildings are fascinating - so stylish and modern and yet at the bottom of them are old traditional Chinese buildings housing numerous large families. It's a weird mixture of old and new. You only have to walk five minutes off the main street to find street vendors selling exotic fruits out of wicker baskets, old men sat in deckchairs wearing stained white vests and women washing clothes in plastic bowls on the pavement.