Shanghai

As I mentioned in the previous post, William was injured and we were both tired leaving Hangzhou and heading for Shanghai. So when we reached the largest city in China, William opted to stay in and rest at the Hostel despite the fact that we were leaving at 5 the following day. Unwilling to just hang out at the Hostel, I chose to venture out on my own. Once again, the hostel was in a prime location, right near the river across from the Bund and Pudong. The city was very beautiful at night and I managed to snap a few pictures. The next day, unfortunately, it was raining. We attempted to walk around a bit more anyway. We didn't mange to see or accomplish anything short of getting thoroughly saturated. Due to the weather and steep prices, I left Shanghai with a bitter taste in my mouth. When I tell others that I really didn't like Shanghai, they are shocked. I guess I'll have to give it another shot later in the semester. For now, it still has to win me over. here are the pics:

Busy streets 

this is a traffic light at a pedestrian/pedestrian intersection....

Henan (my province) noodle restaurant in Shanghai right beside our Hostel, it was delicious and we were able to talk with the owners about life in Henan province!

City at night

A lit church with the city in the background

"The City of Shanghai People's Hero Monument" near the river adjacent to Pudong

Pudong(the new area) 

walkway along the river. BEAUTIFUL

Streets at night

HALF of ONE of the FOUR trains stations in Shanghai. This particular station had 30 platforms....

Hangzhou, we're still going!!!

After powering through Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Ningbo with only one day a piece, William and I decided that it was time to slow things down at our next stop, Hangzhou, and stal 2 nights! Like the previous two hostels, the one in Hangzhou was in a prime and beautiful location: right on the famous 西湖(Xihu)/ West-Lake. One of my favorite part ofs Hangzhou was that you can easily rent bikes from a city-wide rental service and return them virtually anywhere in the city. The deposit was steep at 300RMB (50US), but the hourly was really cheap. One day we rented for about 4 hours and paid 6RMB(about 90cents) Due to the proximity to the lake, we decided that we would ride around it and check out the scenery... It probably takes about one hour to circle the lake without stopping, but we took our time and stopped a few times to enjoy the sites and scenery. The second day, we did the same thing: bikes around the lake, but this time we opted to venture out a bit and check out the National Tea Museum, a wonderful choice. By the end of the day, we were both tired and William was limping due to excessive walking and biking everyday. (When you travel, you walk A LOT) Soon however, we hobbled on to the next city. Here are the pics from Hangzhou. Due to the fact that I was on a bike most of the time, I didn't take that many, sorry...

near the tea museum

tea bushes and mountains. And yes, this is only a short bike ride from the Hostel. Hangzhou is BEAUTIFUL!!!

The Tea man

At the tea museum

Pagoda overlooking the lake (from behind)

temple near the lake

temple on the mountain neat the lake

sunken canoes on the lake. 

one of the many coves around the lake

house-boat. pretty cool.

path through the center of the lake. no cars. just bikes and pedestrians. good ride

a traditional boat on the lake. 

walkway across the lake with a pointy pagoda in the background

a man trying to fly a giant circle kite. I was going to take another picture when it was in the air, but he never really got it off the ground...

spicy squid on a stick: yummy!!!

Ningbo

After spending one night each in both Xiamen and Fuzhou, William and I continued on to Ningbo, a city 4 hours north of Fuzhou via D-train (almost the fastest) We arrived late into Ningbo and took a taxi to our hostel. it was late,but we were hungry but we ventured out to get some food. Due to the late hour,we found nothing, but we had a nice chat with our new roommate who came along with us. The next morning, William and I went in search of China's largest private library, which was recommended to us by Arron (the gentleman from Fuzhou whom had been so helpful.) Luckily, the library was only a short walk away from the Hostel. Rather than being a library, we found ourselves in a beautiful private garden/estate. It was magnificent. After the garden, we headed farther downtown in search of food. Mexican Food. I had read online that there was a Mexican restaurant in foreign district of Ningbo, and after  5 months of Chinese food and a few rather few attempts at "western food", I figured we could try some Mexican, and besides, this place had good reviews online. Unfortunately, the foreign district proved a little hard to find. But after walking across all of downtown, which was beautiful, we finally crossed the river and found it. The food was great and the atmosphere was also authentic. Finally, it was time to head back to the hostel and then get on our bus (we were closer to the bus station) to the next city. Here are the pictures from Ningbo.

across the lake/park across from the hostel

walkway along the lake

same lake, different spot

ladies fan-dancing by the lake (look closely)

Inside the library: love the Gold Accents on the building!

Flowers, rocks and Lanterns YES

"Sloppily dressed people, alcoholics or mental disorders should not go into the Northern Book Store" And as far as I can discern, this is an exact translation!

Hi Will

Hello again, Will

Mind you, we are in the middle of a city!

This is my kinda library!

Walking downtown/across the river

River through Ningbo, walking over to the Foreign District

Church beside the foreign district

Downtown, from across the river

I found a sign that matches my shirt. It was a lovely day for a Guinness. But, I didn't have one.... I'm to cheap.

it was as good as it looks. the things you miss and crave when you can't have them....

inside the Mexican place

a REAL bar! (too bad it was 1 in the afternoon and we had a bus to catch...)

last shot of the park across from the Hostel