China

Hi everyone

I have just returned from 10 days in China and had such an amazing time.
Air New Zealand has started flying to Shanghai and Jo (a friend from work) and I jumped on the second flight up to check it out. My friend Karin is currently living up in Shanghai so we were lucky to be able to stay with her in her amazing apartment in downtown Shanghai and have her show us around. We did loads of shopping, eating and drinking as well as doing all the tourist sites (see photos below).

We also headed up to Beijing for two nights to see the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the forbidden city and also do a spot more shopping...

site seeing photos...

Bridget with Pudong in the background:
We did a boat cruise up the Huangpu River and this photo is taken from the boat looking over to Pudong which is the new area of Shanghai (it has all been developed since 1994 before that there was nothing there but swampland!) - you can see how hazy the air is from all the pollution.


The Oriental Pearl Tower:
We were really lucky to get a beautiful clear day (which I understand is very rare) to go up the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Jin Mao (Grand Hyatt) Tower. It gave me an appreciation of just how big Shanghai is, seeing it stretch out in all directions.



The Markets:
The markets are amazing but you really have to be in the mood to be harassed and to barter hard for a good price. Going to the markets hungover is not a good idea!! Here Karin and I are in a stall that sells 'North Face' and other brands of jackets. My main focus was handbags though and I purchased 9 altogether.






The Great Wall of China:
It was so amazing to actually walk along the Great Wall! We were so lucky to have another beautiful day although it was really really windy and sooo cold. But we soon warmed up walking along the wall which was really steep in parts. Definitely was the highlight of the trip.












Lotus Lane: on the recommendation of our guide we went out for dinner and drinks in a beautiful area of Beijing called Lotus Lane which is a pedestrian street full of bars and restaurants set around a small lake. It was stunning at night with all the lights and lanterns.

That night we also meet these two Chinese guys who were sooo sweet, and who took us to a local karoke bar which was hilarious - especially once we found out they could actually sing. We couldn't pronounce their names (we had a few drinks) so called them King and Mr Tai!! hehehe.





From the Only in China files...



we spotted this lady moving her fridge via bike!












The Chinese version of a people mover - the whole family on a bike.

This guy was having a little snooze on the corner of two busy roads - how he could sleep through all the honking horns I don't know but he look relaxed enough!

And finally we walked past this shop one night and couldn't get over the owners dog- it looks like a clown! Hilarious!