Spring Break Visitors

Travel Dates:  March 8-10, 2013

One has to take advantage of the rare times when schedules coincide for friends to combine business travel with an extended visit, which is exactly what we did with our friends AB and N. who live in Memphis.  N. had a conference in Guangzhou and AB had a break from her university teaching schedule, so they made the long trip to China more worthwhile by taking time to hang out with the Millers.  AB studied abroad years ago on the same program as C. in Nanjing, so it was a bit of a homecoming for her, and it was N.'s first visit to China, so we had lots of exploring to do in a little time.

Standard procedure for visiting the Millers includes dinner at our favorite "local" noodle shop and a stroll through the Jing'an Sculpture Park, right near downtown Shanghai.  We trusted AB and N. to do some exploring on their own, which they enjoyed by setting out some destinations and covering a bit of the city while their hosts were at work.

Our Favorite Local Restaurant in Shanghai

Jing'an Sculpture Park

When the weekend arrived we were able to hit the road.  Again, with just a few days we decided to stay relatively close and make a trip to Chengdu.  I knew they would love the pandas, and we had a fun time discovering the quirks and charms of the city of Chengdu.  Fortunately everyone loved spicy food, so we took advantage of every opportunity to get tongue-tingling Sichuan cuisine.  AB had fond memories of the "old-fashioned" crunchy rice in broth dish called "guo ba" from her study abroad days, so we also made a point to get some of that too.  Imagine a savory Rice Krispie treat soaked in chicken broth - it was really tasty!

Mapo Dofu, Spicy Green Beans, Fresh Cucumbers

Old-Fashioned "Guo Ba"

Chengdu is China's fifth largest city (with about 13 million people), but it retains some of its "old" charm amidst the hustle and bustle of a growing megacity.  We chose to escape the mayhem by wandering through the sprawling River Viewing Pavilion Park.  It is dedicated to a famous (and of course hundreds of years old) female poet, and is known for having over 150 varieties of bamboo.  We were able to appreciate the calm meandering paths and the tall pavilion nestled among flowering trees.

Garden Bridge in River Viewing Pavilion Park

We also made a day trip out to Chingchengshan: yep, that's one of my favorite landmark names because it sounds like you're making fun of Chinese language, but that's the real name!  It's a small mountain with hiking trails and a little town, so we enjoyed getting some fresh (cough, cough) air and seeing the early buds of spring dotting the hillsides.  I'll always love visiting "rural" areas because the people and products you encounter are just outrageous.  It was a little concerning that four educated people, two of whom are biologists, could not identify one of the split animal carcasses strung up to dry.  Ah well, some mysteries of Chinese culture continue to elude us.

Entrance Gate to Chingchengshan

   

Bizarre Dried Carcasses

Our visit finished with a morning visit to the Buddhist Weihu Temple, a massive collection of gardens and temples and museums.  Although I could see the appeal of the place, by that point I just reached my threshold of wandering and nature-watching, so I was done in about an hour.  I'd still recommend it to anyone visiting Chengdu; it just wasn't my cup of tea that morning.  You can see my waning enthusiasm in the lack of photos I took.

We love having visitors, and we've got the standard Shanghai package pretty well figured out.  We're also experts at planning and leading "tours" all over China, so come on over and let us wow you with the unexpected surprises this place has to offer!  Or, stay put in the comfort of your clean city with full access to social media, and enjoy more of my photos for a virtual visit:

Jing'an Sculpture Park           Chengdu        Chingchengshan         Weihu Temple

Panda Video    

Suzhou Getaway

Travel Date: November 11, 2012

As usual, I've gotten a little behind in updating some of my travel experiences.  So now it's catch-up time, all the way back to last year...

Fall is actually a very pretty time in Shanghai and surrounding areas, so a group of us decided to enjoy a Sunday by getting out of town for a little adventure.  Well, we were supposed to catch "some bus" to "some town" that supposedly was picturesque with interesting shops and streets.  Long story short:  I was not in the mood for an unknown and unplanned and unorganized adventure, so I decided to go on my own to Suzhou for the day.

By the time I road my bike to the neighborhood train ticket office it was nearly lunch time, and then the first train I could get was over an hour later, so I got quite a late start to my little day trip.  Regardless, Suzhou is a quick 40 minute ride on the fast train, and it's such an efficient process so I didn't mind.

What I didn't realize is that even though Suzhou is much smaller than Shanghai, it can actually be trickier to navigate because of the much smaller public transit system.  To top it off, taxis were hard to come by because on this perfectly gorgeous fall day every Cheng, Tang, and Wong were out with their families enjoying the sunshine.

My main goal was to visit the most highly-acclaimed gardens, for which Suzhou is famous (haven't you heard of the famous Suzhou gardens??).  I decided to start with the smallest garden called Master of the Nets Garden.  It was tucked away in a teeny maze of alleys, so by the time I found it I was less interested in the garden itself and more relieved that I didn't miss it completely.  It was very quaint, and yes, beautiful, although it would take a lot more study and research to fully appreciate the aesthetic for which it is so renowned.

Since the afternoon was already fading away I decided I should just aim for one more garden, so I set out to find the largest one, the Humble Administrator's Garden.  Looking at the map it seemed like a short taxi ride away, but alas there were no available taxis to be hired.  Then I decided to get bold and just hop on a city bus in the general direction.  That actually turned out to be a decent move because for 10% of the cost of a taxi I got to enjoy amazing people watching, not only of passengers on the bus, but also of all the crowds in the streets and parks as we slowly inched our way through traffic.  I tried to keep a close eye on the map, constantly referring to the gleaming blue dot on my phone's Google map, to make sure I didn't miss my jumping off point.

Wouldn't you know, I did, but I only had to backtrack about a quarter of a mile before I found the turn-off to the large garden.  It was a nice stroll down some quiet streets, and eventually dumped me into a very busy street clearly dedicated to meeting every desire of the least discerning tourist.  I inadvertently let myself get guided through the souvenir stalls before arriving at the ticket gate, only to discover that the garden closed in about 45 minutes.  I figured I could just take advantage of the fading light and do a quick wander through the gardens, with the goal of deciding whether it'd be worth another visit another day.

  

The brief visit was quite rewarding, especially since there was hardly any crowd remaining.  It was truly peaceful, and the colorful leaves and softly glimmering sun certainly added to the tranquility of the scene.  There was also a noticeable lack of litter on the ground or loud talking among visitors, which gave hope that there are in fact still some places where locals can honor and respect their surroundings. The discovery of some colorful and very healthy looking ducks in the pond was even more encouraging.  The various ponds, bridges, pavilions, and pagodas blended into one another and the trees to create a scene of complete serenity.  After my unfortunately brief visit I decided that this garden indeed warranted another visit on another beautiful day.

As the park closed the sun hung very low in the sky, and the cool autumn breeze had turned into a brisk, chilling wind.  Again I encountered the problem of transport, which was now coupled with the issue of getting to the train station in time to make my return train.  (I finally learned that it's always a good idea to get your return ticket before going to your destination because seats on trains become scarce at the end of the day.)  I debated wandering along the also famous creek, but my hungry stomach and goose-bump covered skin urged me in the direction of the train station.  By this time my phone had died, so Google was not going to help me get anywhere, nor was my translator going to help me get directions from anyone.  Moving towards desperation I opted for a pedi cab; there were a few to choose from, so naturally I turned down the first ridiculous offer and eventually found a nice older man who agreed to my price.  I wouldn't say I'm afraid of pedi cabs, especially in a smaller city with smaller streets and slower traffic, but the route to the train station lead us to the highway, and the driver made some very interesting maneuvers to get me close to the train station.  By the time we arrived I was freezing, the sun had completely set, and I was just ready to get inside and find something to warm me up.

As train stations go Suzhou is nothing special (no 7-11 or KFC) but it did have a little restaurant that was very crowded - always a good sign.  I observed the process for a minute or so, trying to determine what dish A) looked good enough to choke down and B) was in my very limited vocabulary.  I ended up with some green broccoli, egg and beef fried rice, and a mysterious soup which at least was hot.  Really it wasn't the worst thing I've ever eaten, and it was enough to hold me over until I got home.

One nice surprise in the station were the charging stations they had for all varieties of phones and devices.  For just 1 RMB (less than $.20) you could charge up your phone for about 10 minutes.  It was a long line for the iPhone cable, but I finally got some juice.  Good thing too because when I arrived in Shanghai I was uncharacteristically disoriented by the arrival hall.  I quickly figured out that despite my wisdom of buying my return ticket when I left, I made a colossal mistake by buying a ticket to the wrong station: Shanghai Railway Station instead of Shanghai HONGQIAO Station.  Doh!  So my 40 minute and 45 RMB train ride required another 30 minute and 50 RMB taxi ride to get back home.  What a disaster.

In the end I accomplished my main objectives:  enjoy a rare beautiful day and see some of those famous Suzhou gardens.  Done and done.

More photos on Flickr