Today we are in our first port in China - Shanghai. China has a population of 1,330,044,605. WOW! It is 3,600,947 square miles in size. Mandarin is the main language. The currency is the Chinese yuan. Since China has a 5,000 year old history, I won’t even attempt a summary!
Shanghai has a population of 18,580,00 and is 2,717 square miles in size. It is the largest city in China today. It was established in 751 AD and was a walled city on the banks of the Huangpu River. Shang hai means “up the river from the sea.” Today it has surpassed Hong Kong as the Chinese economic center.
Doug and I were here on our land trip to China a few years ago. We are here for two days now, and will spend the first day on a tour and the second on our own. Even in the few years it has been since we were last year, we see some big changes and growth. Our guide told us that in the last 10 years 8,000 buildings each with over 20 stories or higher have been built!
Unfortunately, today was a very rainy day, so all the activities off the ship were a bit hampered by the weather and and umbrellas! Our tour was to the scenic town of Suzhou, about a 1 1/2 drive from Shanghai. It is sometimes called the Venice of the East because it is on the Grand Canal. We stopped along the way for a “happy room” stop. That is what they call bathroom stops here. And they ask if you “want to sing a song.” If you want the bathroom stop, you answer affirmatively. After an almost hour drive, we asked if we were in the outskirts of Suzhou yet – to our surprise, we were still in Shanghai!
Suzhou is a small town (1 million) founded in the 5th century and on the Grand Canal. This old canal was made by hand 1,000 years ago, and is 1,100 miles long running from Bejing to Suzhou. There are now a million people living in this area. It had the feel of a smaller, older town and most buildings are not over two stories tall (quite a contrast to Shanghai!) Suzhou means “fish and rice land.”
Our first stop was a boat ride on the canal. Since it was raining, it was hard to get good pictures.
The boats sat low in the water, so it seemed like your feet were under water and you head just a little above water level. To take a picture, we had to quickly slide the window open, snap a photo, and shut it again quickly so we didn’t get wet!
The old whitewashed houses with their gray tile roofs sat right on the water. There were old stone bridges spanning a spider web of waterways.
Next was a trip to the Silk Embroidery Research Institute where we saw women learning and working on silk embroidery projects. One of their hands is on top of the silk, the other on the bottom as they stitch up and down with tiny little stitches. The amazing thing is how the finished project looks the same on the front and on the back. Watching them made you truly appreciate this art. So, of course, we bought one of the completed works in their gift shop.
We had a typical Chinese lunch at a local restaurant, the Bamboo Grove Hotel. It was served on the big lazy Susan with dish after dish brought to the table. We had the sweet and sour fish we had so enjoyed on our last trip – fish head included on the platter as well. There were chicken, beef and shrimp dishes plus scramble eggs and veggies. It was a full tray, but we only had these tiny plates.
After lunch, we had time to browse the hotel’s gift shop which was one of the best we have seen with reasonable prices. If we had more time (we only had 15 min.), we found several items we would have purchased. We only ended up with a ceramic toothpick holder!
The highlight of the tour was to one of China’s most famous gardens and the most beautiful one we have ever seen. It’s called the “Humble Administrator’s Garden” and is on ten acres. Humble is not the word I would have used to describe this garden! It was built during the Ming Dynasty in 1509 A.D. and is now on the World Heritage List by UNESCO.
It is centered upon the broad expanse of a lake and surrounded by picturesque garden landscapes and waterscapes with old, exquisite buildings amidst luxuriant vegetation.
There are bridges connecting the different areas and the stone pathways lead you into one beautiful picture after another. We would take a picture of one view, turn the corner and see the same thing in a different way. The master plan was truly masterful. It incorporates Feng Shui with the balance of the elements. The “buildings” are really large covered rooms or pavilions – each designed for a different purpose. For example, there is the Listening to the Sound of Rain pavilion (perfect on our rainy day!), the Hall of Distant Fragrance, and the Floating Green Tower. There were many more with such interesting names. Pictures cannot do it justice – it needs to be experienced.
The bus ride back was uneventful. We learned a lot about Chinese history on the ride to and from from our guide. We also learned a few interesting facts. For example, gambling is no longer allowed in China. Since the Chinese people love to gamble, they found a way around it. Now you can see them playing Mah Jong on almost every corner – for $$ of course! There are even places called Mah Jong houses where groups play.
The original plan was to get back to the ship and then go out for a dumpling dinner in Shanghai. But because it was so cold and wet and rainy, we opted to just have dinner on the ship. We met up with Barb and Charlie, who had also planned to go into the city for dinner and changed their minds too due to the weather, and had dinner together in the Lido. We sat by the window and saw all the lights (even though it wasn’t a totally clear night) and all the excursion boats lit up as they showed their passengers the lights of Shanghai.
This is just part of the waterfront area. This is the Bund, where the old colonial buildings are.
The night’s entertainment was the Shanghai Ai Fu International Acrobatic Show. The last time we were in Shanghai, we had gone to see the Shanghai Acrobats, so this worked out well to still see a similar show.
This young lady was amazing. On top of the two fans balanced on her head, there is a full glass of water on top of the highest fan! She did the splits as well with these!
They were very good and very talented. There was standing room only in the theater (just one show for everyone.) It was a fun evening.
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