Continued from last post...
Sunday
We
decided to take it fairly easy on Sunday (as we only got up at
12.30pm...) so we walked down to People's Square, which was okay, but
I don't know whether we actually managed to explore all of it, as
there was a main road running through what we thought was the square,
and we got confused....after that, we took a trip to the Yuyuan
Gardens. Initially we got a bit lost when we emerged from the subway,
but we persevered and we finally found it. Unfortunately, it was
4.45pm by the time we got there and as it cost 30 yuan to get into
the gardens and they closed at 5pm, we decided not to bother going
in. But all around the gardens is a beautiful bazaar, filled with all
these kitschy shops where you can buy all these typical Chinese
souvenirs, such as fortune cats, or having your name painted in
Mandarin on a scroll...it was pretty cool! We ended up having Chinese
tea in a tea house which was awesome - the tea was so refreshing –
nothing like the herbal tea we have back in England! The only
downside was a man hacking up spit every five seconds on the table
behind us....I don't know whether I'm ever going to get used to that
noise.
Monday
Yesterday,
we visited two museums – one was the Former Residence of Zhou
Enlai, and the other was the Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen. Brief
history lesson for you, folks (although I'm sure you're obviously
already clued up about China's history anyway ;)....) - Zhou Enlai
was the former Chinese Prime Minister during the 1960s and 70s, and
is seen by many as one of China's greatest twentieth century leaders.
He was a keen military strategist and was was a key figure in
negotiations between the U.S and China in the 1970s. Sun Yat-sen on
the other hand is seen as the forerunner of the Chinese democratic
revolution, the founder of the Republic of China and a respected
contributor to Chinese modern history....but I'm a bit annoyed at him
right now, as we had to pay 20 yuan to get into his museum and then
the whole bloody thing was in Mandarin. Not cool Sun Yat-sen...
Last
night we went back to Hengshan Road, which was good – we weren't
quite so late back this time, although the taxi woman we got to take
us back to the hostel didn't understand English, so instead of
dropping us off at East Nanjing Road, she dropped us off at the very
start of Nanjing Road (West)...look it up, and you'll see how far
away that is! After about 45 mins of walking, we finally admitted
defeat and hailed another taxi, which took us to Shanxi Road, where
our hostel is. Although my feet were on fire, it was still something
to walk around Shanghai at night, and we saw some interesting sights,
such as a security guard shaving his face while he was on duty, and a
shop display full of entirely naked mannequins...weird just doesn't
sum it up...
So
that's all for now! Sorry for the uber-long post, I'll try not to
leave ti so long between updates next time! Hopefully I'll be able to
let you know I'm alive and well once we reach Harbin :).
Until
then,
Zài
jiàn!
Your update was great Rach! I definitely snorted with laughter a few times at your hilarious escapades :p Keep updating, enjoy Beijing! Skype soon :)
ReplyDeletep.s. I am so naming my kid hello!
Haha, thanks Han! You know me - I always attract the weirdos! Off to Beijing soon, will let you know when I can Skype you :), hopefully I'll be able to once we reach Harbin! Lol, you so should, it's an awesome name ;) xxx
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazing place! The tea sounds yum!! How's your mandarin going? Do a lot of ppl speak English? Xxxxx
ReplyDeleteShanghai was great - wouldn't like to live there, but I am glad we visited it. The tea was gorgeous! Mandarin is hard - can say a few words but that's about it lol. A lot of people spoke English in Shanghai, but apparently they don't in Beijing - eek! Xxxxx
ReplyDelete