Our first adventure was catching the Maglev fast metro into the city from the airport-437 km's so 19 miles passed in under eight minutes-awesome trip as the scenery flashed passed there was a tantilising mix of the city of contrasts -old run down housing and modern housing sit side by side-waterways and farming evident and the 'Venice of Asia' earned its name. We had to transfer from the Maglev onto the metro-with the help of a young man to make our way to the Yu gardens in the old part of the city.
The gardens are beautiful and a haven for sightseeing during a crowded day.
The second adventure took another turn but began with a kindness.....
Before we actually arrived at the gardens we met two charming chinese girls who approached us to help and take their photos at the exit to the metro.We ended up talking and they invited us to visit the traditional tea house ceremony that they were on their way to. Such a treat followed. Down old city streets until we came to the Old Tea House -we entered into another world.
The world of tradition and tea met through an exploration of the culture of tea ceremonies ."Eric" translated the ceremony for us as we learned about the properties of tea and how it had been only the preserve of the kings and queens of China to partake of tea but now it is for the common people to enjoy. Next week they celebrate with a special week to mark the tea ceremony.We tasted six different teas in a range of different servings and rituals to go with ways of making it. The tea is said to have life giving properties and each one had specific uses.
There was a tea buddha whose head had to be wet before the ceremony began along with a tea baby who completed the ceremony on a wet note-not sure how traditional that was!!!
Back on the street and our goodbyes said Brad and I headed off to the gardens-once again we had a diversion as a man helped us to the entrance way and in doing so told us about his pearl farming business-the upshaot was we visited his shop and he showed us how the pearls were grown and cut open an oyster shell to show us the pearls nestling inside. He also showed us the traditional steamed bun restaurant beloved by locals which we visited later. All very interesting to western eyes.
Our guide did know about our sister city relationship! He was also rather entertained by how small the city was in comparison to Shanghai!
The gardens did eventuate and well worth the visit. A place of calm and tranquility once you left the hustle and bustle of the bazzaar which led into the gardens. It was a Saturday so the locals were out in force - lots of family groups and young people enjoying feeding the goldfish and looking at the pavillions. We explored the walkways and enjoyed the magnolios in flower along with the rockery's and bonsai trees.
Our next adventure was dining at the dumpling house in the bazaar along with the locals.
Through the glass you could watch the creation of the dumplings,they were served in little bamboo steamers at the table along with chopsticks and some side dishes and soup-all delicious and very delicately flavoured -my soup had shredded egg and lemongrass with noodles.A beer tasted well with it.
After our lunch we walked through the old city towards the river where we walked along the bund and took in some fresh air-not a great day,misty and cool but humid so could not see the tops of buildings which were shrouded in mist.No use going to the Pearl Tower for the view. The river was full of boats for river cruises and the walk was a popular place for strolling with your family.
By now our legs were protesting somewhat so we took the hop on hop off tourist bus for a rest and headed across the river to see the modern commercial part of the city-beautifully groomed and spotless. Wealthy people in European cars were noticable here. Traffic not a huge problem yet but lots of honking horns and revving motors were testament to a city in a hurry.
We finished up with a visit to the People's Park but rain was setting in and the marriage market we had planned to see was well and truly over so it was just a glimpse but worth a return visit-someday .
The previous day had been excessively wet and the airport had been closed as the sky rained 'dogs and cats' according to our air hostess. We were lucky as it would not have been possible to do the exploring we did on the day.
Time had marched on-we had landed 8.00am Shanghai time and by my NZ time we were heading back to the airport abot 10.00 pm so shattered! We booked back in and took some time out-a meal and a sit down until we were advised of a change of departure gate-we were sitting in soliatry splendour and an anxious young man was trying to explain the situation.... oh well we were saved by kindness right to the end.
We boarded for our trip to London at 11.30pm Shanghai time so sleep claimed me even before the meal arrived! We had a stopover in Frankfurt and arrived in London at 7.30am. Seems like a week has passed rather than two days travelling.
Brad and I parted company at this point and I headed off on the tube only to have a rail outage and transfering onto buses etc until I finally arrived at Finsbury Park late and flustered as my phone battery was flat and no connection to Lou,s so it took awhile for us to track each other down.
It was a relaxing and sociable day catching up with |Lou,exploring her new flat and then having a meal with |Clare later-so nice to be here and sharing their news again. I slept the sleep of the dead last night so back to full spirits today.
Grey and cool in London yesterday and today so similar temperature to when I left home.I will go out for a walk soon and get ready for the next adventure.
My phone saga is another issue.Telecom and I are not friends. I spent an hour and a half at Auckland Aiurport trying to get my internet and mobile capbility restored . No luck before I left but they assured me it would work when I arrived in London and I signed up to a computer as the email address was absolutely fine. Was it ? No! I am still locked out so if you hear nothing of me for the next five weeks blame Telecom.
I can get onto my google mail so you can try : robyne.selbie@core-ed.ac.nz
Look forward to some photos and hopefully some more blogs- not sure of connections after issues to date.
My phone is not working yet so will try to get this resolved before I leave London.My travel sim no is:
372 54 774 513 and Brad's is :372 54 774 367-which does work.
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