On to Shanghai, China !
Our first night in Shanghai, we take a harbor cruise – and what a surprise! Buildings and boats are all aglow with colorful flashing lights. It’s as though each one is trying to outdo the others. It feels like a boat parade on steroids..
Shanghai’s famous harbor and iconic Oriental Pearl Tower (background). The majority of boats are vibrantly lit up, reminding me of a nightly Boat Parade.
Colorful lights abound in the Shanghai harbour.
A Dragonboat adds even more color to the night.
The sign says it all – ‘Shanghai Scenery’, at least at night on the harbour.
Beautiful, just beautiful!
Colorful, floating billboard boats also plied the waters.
Every boat in the harbour flies the ‘Wǔ Xīng Hóng Qí’, the five-starred red flag. This is the flag on our boat.
This is the view from our hotel – high-rises in the background and low, single-level huts with sparsely-located light bulbs in the foreground.
Ahhh, lunch! Tsing Tao beer and Asian food
Day begins on a Shanghai street
Morning routines at the Bank of Shanghai – man reading the newspaper, another man sweeps the street with an old style broom.
Denise and Pat in front of their ‘mother ship’. No wait, that’s the Oriental Pearl Tower.
Festive entry to the Oriental Pearl Tower
Shanghai skyline at night/ The dual-towered building on the left looks like a black evening dress at night.
Inside the ‘Space Module’ of the Oriental Pearl Tower – Shanghai.
Looking out over Shanghai from the Oriental Pearl’s ‘Space Module’
China (and USA) rockets – Inside the Oriental Pearl Tower.
Robot greetings, inside the Space Module.
Yuyuan Gardens
Yuyuan Garden is a classical garden using ‘garden architecture, located in Anren Jie, Shanghai. The garden was finished in 1577 by a government officer of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1655) named Pan Yunduan. ‘Yu’ in Chinese means ‘pleasing’ and ‘satisfying’. Pan built Yuyuan for his parents to enjoy a tranquil and happy time in their old age.
Approaching the festive market bazaar, before entering Yuyuan Gardens.
The omnipresent (and welcome) Starbucks.
An ageless and beautiful old door at Yuyuan.
Ahh – serenity and zen-like architecture throughout the grounds.
One of the many quiet, secluded areas for meditation and solitude.
A typical Yuyuan pagoda built into the rock, and sitting on a pond.
More incredible Yuyuan scenery.
Frenetic fish feeding frenzy. The pond name is something like ‘Pond of a thousand Happy Fish’.
The famous Yuyuan Garden Dragon. His tail hugs the entire circumference of the Garden’s wall.
Another one of the incredible Yuyuan pagodas
Even the doorways are ‘art’.
Reef-lections ..
Inside the pagodas, intricately carved window frames provide dynamic art. Here, one window frames life’s daily routines (left). One window seems to frame the essence of Autumn (middle).
Another window showcases Spring (right).
Yuyuan market bazaar at dusk…
… and at night. Beautiful any time of day, and so fun to explore!
Souzhou – the ‘Venice of the East’
Suzhou is located on the lower part of the Yangtze River, in the province of Jiansu, China. Built in 514 BC, it’s famous for its beautiful stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously-designed gardens. Suzhou has also been an important center for China’s silk industry since the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD). The Grand Canal is a great engineering achievement – it is the longest man-made waterway in the world. Cruising on the Canal, you can see the local peoples’ life. The completion of the Grand Canal strategically placed Suzhou on a major trade route, making it a metropolis of industry and commerce throughout China’s history.
Venice, chinese-style, with red lanterns and silk laundry on the line.
We pass by other Suzhou river boats on the Grand Canal.
Bustling waterway scene in Suzhou. Another riverboat waits for us to exit the bridge
People on the bridge watching the busy riverboats.
His stance is reminiscent of a Venetian gondolier, but I think he may be trying to net fish
Dragon boat ‘taxi stop’
Pagoda, bridge, and fisherman on Suzhou’s Grand Canal. Note the 4-sided fishing net suspended by bamboo poles.
We discover a boat full of yellow paper cats onboard a boat.
We disembark at a plaza by this beautiful pagoda.
Our boat and captain closes the roof once we leave. Riding inside the canal boats put us at water-level.
Suzhou is famous for its world-famous water gardens. This is The Humble Administrator’s Garden, built in 1513 on the ruins of the Dahong Temple which had been burnt during the Ming conquest. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most famous of the gardens of Suzhou