As promised, the following is my account of my recent trip - to the metropolitan city of Shanghai.
Mummy was already waiting for me when I returned to my pad after work on Thursday. Yes, another journey with Mummy, Just The Two Of Us, as Abah was advised by the doctor not to come along. We left after dinner and prayers for KL Sentral for the train to KLIA. No hurry as our flight to Shanghai aka the Paris of the East would only take off at 1.40 am. Managed to catch precious sleep, hardly enough but better than nothing at all.
23 June 2006: Landed at Shanghai Pudong Airport at 7 am. Already very bright but the view was marred by the smog enveloping the city [this would remain for the next couple of days]. After clearing immigration and collecting our luggage, our little group of 17 people and a tour leader met up with our local tour guide, Martin. A brief introduction and an exchange of the usual pleasantries followed before we were whisked away to the city, stopping en route at a restaurant for breakfast. Pudong Airport maybe only 40 km away from the city but the building traffic made it seemed so much further.
Arrived at our hotel at 9 sth and after getting our room keys, we went to our respective rooms for a much-needed rest. We then gathered at the lobby at 1130 for lunch. A little early, you say, but as it took a considerable amount of time traversing from one part of the city to another, it was well after 12 noon when we reached the restaurant. The weather hadn’t improved and if anything seemed to have deteriorated even more.
As it was a Muslim tour, we were then brought to a mosque for prayers. It was quite packed and only then did we realise that it was Friday. There was the usual Friday sermon of course in Mandarin (but of course).
Our following destination was the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Piercing the Pudong skyline at 468 metres, it is the tallest TV tower in Asia. We rode up the elevator to the tower’s observation deck on the first upper level, at a height of 250-295 metres and a diameter of 45 metres, to enjoy the 360-degree view of the surroundings. For claustrophobics, don’t worry: the elevator ride took only 50 seconds! Alas, the weather wasn’t too accommodating and the light drizzle didn’t help any.
Next, we went to a building housing a traditional medicine shop (for lack of a better name). We were given a foot bath followed by foot massage, not unlike the one I had in Beijing last year, except that the Beijing experience didn’t include a foot bath. Then some traditional medical practitioners came along to diagnose us, by fingering our wrists and palms and studying our eyes. Sounds too simple to be true, eh. Mummy and I weren’t about to be fleeced like any other unsuspecting tourist and didn’t buy anything despite much persuasion and coaxing.
Dinner followed soon after and following that, some of us went for the optional tour of a cruise along Huangpu River while the others went back to the hotel for their own activities. It was a pleasant ride despite the blurry night-lights emanating from the buildings crowding along the river. Thankfully, the night wind wasn’t strong enough to chill us to our bones and the crowd not noisy enough to be annoying. We reached the hotel before 10 pm.
24 June 2006: Another hazy morning. After what I suppose was a typical Chinese breakfast, we set off for Nanjing Road, reputedly China’s most famous shopping street. There is a 1 km stretch of pedestrian only boulevard and as it was a Saturday, it was fast becoming packed as the morning progressed. We were allocated about 1.5 hours here, a bit unreasonable seeing that there barely any shops were opened when we got there and when the shops Finally opened their doors for official trading, we barely had time to shop, choose, decide and make our purchase before making our way back to our coach.
After lunch and prayers, we left Shanghai for Suzhou, a city in Jiangsu Province. Suzhou is a garden city and has been called ‘A City of Gardens’ [Marco Polo was alleged to have called Suzhou ‘Oriental Venice’] and also the Paradise of China. It boasts more than 2500 years of history and with 13 rivers criss-crossing it, it is hardly surprising that there is a strong ‘river influence’ among its residents – who in ancient times, mainly lived along the rivers and whose livelihood and daily activities depended on and revolved around the rivers.
We were met by our local Suzhou guide, William. He first brought us over to a mosque in the city centre then across a river to the ancient Suzhou district. The Government had decreed that the buildings in this area must not exceed six floors and each building must have white walls and black roofs. The roads in this district were narrower than those in the modern district. We stopped at the Humble Administrator’s Garden aka the Lion Grove Garden. The 700-year old garden was built by a monk and now owned by the Government. There were some rock formations resembling lions [you need to squint hard and convince yourself so at some formations though!] and a charming garden. Unfortunately, it started raining before we could wander off into the garden, as if proving William’s point earlier that Suzhou receives 200 days of rain annually. After getting wet in Europe, I was prepared with my umbrella. We then went for dinner before checking in at Green Tree Hotel.
25 June 2006: After breakfast and hotel check-out, we went to the Suzhou Kaidi Silk Factory. See, besides being a place for gardens and canals, Suzhou is now a centre for silk trade. The factory was located very near to the Tiger Hill Pagoda (Yunyan Ta) aka the Leaning Tower Pagoda (because it leans to the north). William had even started telling us of the silk products on the way and when we arrived there, he wasted no time giving us a tour of the factory. The main products are silk quilts (perfect for those hot summer nights) and silk pillows and of course silk clothes. We spent quite some time there parting with our RMB.
Satisfied with our purchase, we then headed for lunch. William bade farewell to us after lunch [and looking pleased with his successful advertising efforts] and we soon found ourselves on another Expressway, this time heading for Nanjing.
We reached Nanjing some 2 hours or so later and met up with our local guide, David, a cute youthful-looking guy who talked with much confidence and eye contact. And while he was no Beckham, he was still quite an eye candy! Yes, I have a cosmopolitan taste in guys, uninhibited by skin colour, ethnicity, culture, background… anyway, I digress. Now, Nanjing means southern capital [Beijing being the northern capital] and was the capital of several dynasties. It was the capital of the Republic of China [note, not the People’s Republic of China] from their 1911 revolution, led by Dr Sun Yat Sen who then became the President, until defeat by the communists in 1949. Now the capital city of Jiangsu Province, it is also known as Stone City - thanks to the city wall circling around the city which at one point in time was the longest city wall in the world - and also the Gold City. With its 382 colleges and universities, Nanjing is now quite an educational centre.
After a brief stop at the local mosque, we went to the Yangtze River Bridge. Work on this 80-metre high bridge started in 1960 and finished in 1968. It was originally started by the Soviet before they left suddenly with the blueprint and technology. The Chinese had no choice but to continue the work themselves and as a result, the bridge was the first ever to be built by the Chinese on their own. And mind you, China [and most developing countries too] didn't have modern machinery and technology then and very little money too - in fact David added that some workers may not have been paid at all. So it was built with much toil, sweat, passion and pride. You can just sense the pride that they still have over the bridge - from its troubled initial beginning to its construction and finally completion - and they should well be proud.
The bridge links the north and south parts of Nanjing [which are separated by the mighty Yangtze] and has four towers and two tiers - the train track at the lower level which runs for 6700 metres across and the road at the upper level which is 4500 metres long. We spent some time here going up to one of the towers and admiring the view of the river and the surroundings. There was a crystal store conveniently located at the first floor [that’s ground floor for us familiar with the British system] and that meant more time was spent waiting for those eager to part with more of their RMB. Dinner was next and after that, we travelled across the city to Wong Jiang Lou Hotel. Our tour leader, Alfred, had been taken ill with fever by this time too. Oh dear.
26 June 2006: Another date, I mean, day, with David today. After breakfast and checking out, we went to the Purple Mountain, where Dr Sun Yat Sen’s mausoleum is. There were over four hundred steps going up to his resting place and I went up to have a look. It was a hot, humid climb but it was nowhere as strenuous as the struggle up the Great Wall. Being a tourist spot, there were small shops at the bottom [and you know what that means]. I wanted to buy some silk stuff but was put off by the unyielding salesperson who refused to give me a miserable RMB2 discount. Sheesh, it’s not as if RMB2 would make you any richer or any less poorer!
We next visited the Nanjing Museum where apparently a sizeable collection of jade materials was housed. And of course, there was the jade store located within the museum so there was another round of bargaining by us tourists. Lunch which followed was a welcome relief and then all too soon, it was time to bid farewell to Nanjing and cute David (*sigh*). We travelled along yet another Expressway towards Wuxi.
We reached Wuxi some two hours later [with a restroom break in the middle of the journey] and met up with James, the local tour guide. Wuxi is located at the edge of Tai Hu Lake, the largest fresh water lake in China [in fact, the lake is even bigger than either Hong Kong or Singapore!]. Blessed with tin/pewter as its natural resources, it is now a middle-sized city with a population of only 1.5 million in the city and another 5 million in the suburbs. We paid a visit to the local mosque, which with six floors was the tallest mosque we’d been to thus far. I found visiting Chinese mosques amazing, fascinating and humbling at the same time. It’s just fantastic to meet other Muslims; while we sure don’t speak the same language, we still pray to the same God. Dinner followed soon after, at a restaurant just across the street from the mosque. We then travelled to another part of the city to check in at Green Land Hotel. We checked in quite early [at 7 pm] and there was considerable time to kill before the World Cup match later that evening so after freshening up, I ventured out alone to the area within the hotel vicinity. After a while, I saw the familiar red, white and blue logo of Carrefour. Ah, civilisation! I made my way there and soon found myself browsing along the aisles of the supermarket, rubbing shoulders with the local people. I then bumped into two girls from the non-Muslim tour and we walked back together to the hotel.
27 June 2006: After the usual breakfast-and-check-out affair, we travelled to the Tai Hu Lake and spent some time admiring the view and capturing the Kodak moments. James explained that Tai Hu Lake is acidic in nature and that the rocks we saw at the Lion Grove Garden back in Suzhou were from the bottom of Tai Hu. Besides silver fish, crabs and dragon shrimps, the lake is home to oysters bred for pearls. Apparently 87% of fresh water pearls come from Tai Hu and... no prizes for guessing what was next. Yes, a visit to a pearl centre, the Ju-baoyuan Pearl Designing Centre to be exact. I wasn’t at all interested to add to my collection of three strands of pearl purchased in Bangsar and the Mikimoto single pearl necklace which my brother bought many years ago (though I wouldn’t turn down an offer of a gift of either a South Sea pearl or the ridiculously expensive golden pearl necklace). I was pretty convinced that you could get them pearl necklaces and bracelets cheaper elsewhere but wasn’t about to stop fellow tourmates from contributing to the local economy [although they sure did take their sweet time doing so].
After all that pearl purchase, we went to a teapot place [not sure if it was a museum although it did look like one and has extensive teapot collection to be labelled as one]. It’s amazing how good the Chinese are at advertising or promoting their local cottage industry. We were given an explanation on the various teapots and materials used in making them [yes, a lesson in teapot indeed and mind you, they refer to the teapot ‘specialists’ as Masters!]. I was surprised to learn that the material used is a type of rock found in the mountains near Wuxi.
Lunch was next and then it was time to leave Wuxi for Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang. Another trip along the Expressway and when we pulled over for our restroom break, I was amazed to discover that the wide expanse of body of water along the Expressway was not the East China Sea but rather a part of the immense Tai Hu Lake!
We pulled into Hangzhou some 2.5 hours after leaving Wuxi. Called the Paradise on Earth, Hangzhou is famous for its West Lake, beautiful gardens and ethereal hills. I was even more pleased to discover that in addition to its natural wonders, it was also quite a modern metropolis with its own Prada, Gucci and Ferragamo stores! Definitely my kind of city! As the local tour guide couldn’t meet us until the following morning, Martin helped to explain a bit about the city as we made our way to the local mosque. Dinner was at a nearby restaurant and after that, we rushed to the Song Dynasty World for an hour-long performance of The Romance of the Song Dynasty. The theatre was filled to its capacity by tourists from various countries [apparently Hangzhou is a famous destination] and the good performance evidently played some part in boosting tourist arrival. After the performance, we were given a brief free time to wander around before making our way to Xiangji Holiday Hotel, located at the other side of Hangzhou city.
28 June 2006: After a very early breakfast and checking out, we met our local guide, Jean – our one and only female guide on this trip. We travelled across to the western fringe of the city to the famous West Lake. After the usual round of capturing those Kodak moments of the lake and the Leifing Pagoda in the Setting Sun/Evening Glow [I know, what a mouthful] located at the southeastern shore of the lake, we boarded a boat for a ride around the lake. Jean pointed out three gourd-shaped pagodas called the Three Pools Reflecting the Moon. Each hollow pagoda has five holes and when candles are lit inside the pagodas on moonlit nights, their reflections and that of the moon form an enchanting, romantic view. If I’m not mistaken, Jean also said that these three pagodas protruding out of the lake could be seen on the RMB1 note. The lake water lapping gently against the boat with the occasional light wind pretty soon almost lulled me to sleep.
We got down the boat on another shore of the lake and boarded the coach for Mei Jia Wu Village up in the hills where the Longjing (Dragon Well) tea fields are. Apparently, Longjing tea is the most famous green tea in China. There are a few grades, the best being those tea leaves picked during the harvest period in end-April. Don’t be surprised to discover that prices for the very best are as sky-high as the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. We went around the complex, listened to a talk on tea by a tea expert [she just graduated from university, majoring in tea! And no, I’m not kidding] and sampled a glass of the organically-grown tea. I bought some myself.
The complex also housed an area selling a myriad of things, from silk carpets to silk clothes and materials, green tea-based products and tea pillows, small souvenir trinkets, postcards and books on various topics. We spent some time here before boarding the coach for lunch.
After lunch, we bade farewell to Jean and took the Expressway back to Shanghai, stopping en route at Xitang Water Village. It was a small village centred around a canal and we walked around and along the canal for a closer look at a traditional Chinese village life. We spent barely an hour here before re-boarding the coach back for Shanghai.
We reached Shanghai at about 4 pm and went to this impressive centre which housed an impressive collection of jade, pearl and various crystal accessories, gigantic cloissone vases and paintings. The accessories looked far better than those we saw earlier in Nanjing and Wuxi too. Too bad we had made our purchases previously and really, one can’t be wearing two jade bangles on her left wrist, right?
After spending enough time at the centre (and causing the employees to leave work later than they normally do), we went to a Shopping area in the city centre. The Xiangyang Road Market which offered fake, imitation products had been closed down on 1 June 2006 by the Government [not that I was interested in fake goods anyway]. Despite the dozens of shops, Mummy and I just couldn’t find anything that caught our fancy.
We had a rather hurried, late dinner [as the restaurant was closing for the day even though 9 pm was hardly late for us visitors] before checking into our hotel where we spent our earlier night in Shanghai.
Initially, we were supposed to check out at 10 am the next morning and make our way to the airport, stopping en route for lunch. ‘Traffic jam’, Martin cited as the reason for this unreasonably early departure and the driver wasn’t keen to be stuck in the jam. [We thought the driver was a little impatient most of the time and like almost every other Chinese driver, enjoyed honking his horn at every possible opportunity]. After dinner, Martin however said he managed to convince the driver to bring us to Nanjing Road the next morning for a last-minute Shopping in Shanghai, but not before everyone agreed to pay RMB20 each. Everyone unanimously agreed to pay and it was settled.
29 June 2006: Last day in Shanghai. Woken up at a ridiculous hour by Mummy who wanted to join some other ladies to go marketing [and by that, I really mean visiting the market for groceries]. Seriously not something that would have me leaping out of bed in joy but I decided to indulge her although I did sulk a bit. Travelling with Mummy means a rare, 24-7 time Alone with her and let’s just say that it can be challenging at times. Like when she woke me up at 6 sth am in the morning to ask me to go to the market with her; never mind that it was already bright outside, it was only just 6 in the morning!!!
After breakfast, we walked around the corner up the street and barely five minutes (and a few exchanges of halting English with the locals to determine the direction) later, we found the market. Everything looked so fresh: the fruits, vegetables, fish, even the mini lobsters were still crawling about!
After the grocery purchase, we headed back to the hotel and just after 8.40, left the hotel for Nanjing Road. We reached Nanjing Road at 9.10 am and were given only one ridiculous hour to shop, and while normally it could have been possible to squeeze in some purchases in that length of time, it was hard to do so when the majority of shops open at 10! It was a good thing that Mummy and I had sighted this pair of lovely pillowcases on offer on our visit five days earlier and had earmarked them for purchase.
Back to the coach and went for an early lunch. Another hurried meal and soon after, we were cruising the road heading for the airport. Turned out we arrived too early at 1220 [as we tried to point out to Martin] and ended up having to wait before our luggage could be checked in and our boarding passes issued. And then it was time to bid farewell to Martin and Shanghai…
The plane took off at a quarter to 4 pm and we landed at KLIA at 8.45 pm.
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Some trivia on Shanghai:
It’s a fascinating mix of East and West and the most Westernised city in China [I found that out from a Robert Ludlum novel]. It is spilt by the Huangpu River into Puxi, the older town on the west bank, and Pudong, once a rural area and now the skyscraper-laden financial district of Shanghai.
There are five districts in Pudong New Area. Historic shikumen houses rubbed shoulders with modern apartment and office buildings.
Its rapid development has led the megalopolis to be ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world [as evidenced by the smog and haze that greeted our arrival and lingered until we left for Suzhou].
And yet, it’s still a captivating city, no less. It’s possible that I’ll return. One fine day, who knows? And this time, I’ll make sure that I take a leisurely stroll along the Bund and admire the diverse mix of Gothic, Roman and Baroque architecture, and visit the gardens. And allocate more time for Shopping.
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