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We travelled to China in Sep/Oct 2006 with CTS Horizons. This first part of our itinerary focused on China's waterways and gardens, visiting Shanghai and neighboring cities connected by the Grand Canal. The second part of our itinerary focused on China's history and ancient capital. The third part of our itinerary focused on China's natural scenery.

Shanghai

Sat 16 Sep/ Sun 17

We took the train to London St. Pancras, costing a mere 12 pounds per person in an almost empty First Class carriage. As promised, just before we pulled up to the platform the taxi firm called to clarify meeting arrangements. The next hour we spent touring London, passing famous road names one after the other, before making a final 15 minute drive on the motorway to Heathrow's Terminal 2. What a great way to get to Heathrow (vs. driving or confined in a bus); we'd do that again! We were an hour queuing to check in, but security was no where near as taxing as we had anticipated.

Bruce's camera backpack thankfully made it into the size tester, with a little shoving. He tossed an unopened decongestant spray at the security check; the pharmacy in the departure gate area must have greatly appreciated the increase in profit brought about by the ban on fluids, as customers were forced to buy the same products again at inflated prices. The "one item of hand luggage" rule was then mocked, as folk did their shopping and brought onboard an extra bag or three.

China Eastern Airways sports new planes: an Airbus carried us, albeit slightly delayed due to lack of crew, the 11 hours to Shanghai. Business class experience really makes Economy hell. The seats were packed very tight and Simone is still amazed that we slept/dozed at all, waking fully with about 3 hours to go. At that time we were over Ulan Bator and then saw the Gobi desert stretching out underneath the plane for a long time.

Shanghai put on a sunny and warm (26 degrees) afternoon, but by the time we cleared inefficient Chinese immigration it was a cool evening. A 1hr bus journey took us into the heart of this city of 18 million people, all seemingly impressed by the rows of skyscrapers (the city has 3000 buildings 10 stories and over). To reach the hotel we crossed the Huangpu River by way of a suspension bridge that ended in a space-saving spiral 3 levels deep. Many lights, many cars, many people. What we could see looked very Western; commerce was clearly in charge here. There were illuminated billboards and other advertising that diminished New York. From our room on the 20th floor of our centrally-located hotel we had a reasonable cityscape view.

Veiw from our hotel room, Shanghai

Shanghai

Mon 18

Our itinerary led us to the Jade Buddha Temple, featuring the largest buddha carved from a single piece of white jade. A large hall contained buddhas representing Past, Present, and Future, and a rare female buddha. One of the artisans had a Chinese calendar; Bruce was born in the Year of the Monkey (like Maus!) and Simone in the Year of the Dragon.

On to the Gardens of Yu Yuan—mostly a rockery—featuring a "lucky" rock with 72 holes (8 x 9), where 8 is prosperity, and 9 is the Emporer's number. We walked to a tea house in the centre of a small pond, reached via a zig-zag bridge, and poked around the (tourist) market. Lunch featured dim sum.

Factory alert!

The first of many "factory" visits was to buy silk carpets. Like those to follow it was basically a shop, with a brief introduction and some exhibits as a prelude to the full-on sales pitch. After this we had a brief time to explore the French Concession, a definitely more up-market vestige of European colonization. Our bodies then obligated us to take a rest back at the hotel.

Exploring the local area we noted little obesity, little smell, and little litter. We heard earlier in the day that the Government owns all the land so can relocated people to make way for urban development (they are usually compensated e.g. with more room). There is not a temple on every corner, as in Bangkok for example, giving the city more of a Western than Asian feel.

After dinner we took a pleasant cruise on the Huangpu River, then were quick-marched along a section of the Bund (riverside colonial-era architecture).

Veiw from Bund to Pudong, Shanghai

Suzhou

Tue 19

The wake-up call came too early; we rushed through the shower and breakfast to board the bus for Tongli, about 1.5 hours from Shanghai—a city we felt we hadn't even seen. We visited more "gardens" that were apparently unlike those in Shanghai, although they looked to be twins to us. It is strange calling a collection of buildings, concrete-like rocks, and ponds—with the occasional stunted shrub—a garden. Lunch was in the same style as the day before; platters would appear in random order (rice often toward the end) until the melon was served at which point you realised the meal was over. After lunch we boarded a converted river barge and motored along the Grand Canal, a manmade waterway of some 1800 km connecting Beijing to the coast south of Shanghai. Built on the whim of an Emperor who spent 10 years national income on the project, his indulgence was rewarded with a short dynasty but his legacy was a useful waterway that provided a trade route for goods between North and South.

We disembarked at Zhouzhuang to visit the house of a wealthy Qing dynasty merchant (much like the other two "gardens"), but found the nearby waterways and old stone houses of more interest. The bus took us to Suzhou, a technology boom-town built on a silk industry heritage. First impressions were of a Russian provincial town, being somewhat dull and run-down with a Socialist-style hotel that was having its lobby demolished (Beirut-style, it looked like a bomb had hit the place). The rooms were, however, in pristine 1960s condition. Arriving at 4 pm after a rushed itinerary, we were then left to our own devices so decided to visit the local shopping mall. In here you could pick from live fish and crabs, or items that may have been food or alternatively industrial cleaning products. Just £1.50 bought us a large bottle of water, a large bottle of beer, 2 cans of pop, 2 bags of crisps, and 2 small chocolate bars. As the cafe had vanished along with the lobby, we later ate in the Revolving Restaurant on the 29th floor. The buffet included such delicacies as duck tongue, "delicious" ox stomach, bull frog in two variations, "assorted" marinated meat, fish heads, and whole small crabs (hmm, crunchy!) A Chinese family sat opposite making slurping noises and chewing with open mouths; just as distasteful as the popular habit of hawking loudly then spitting in the street.

Canals at Zhouzhuang

Suzhou

Wed 20

After an uninspiring breakfast in the Revolting (err, Revolving) Restaurant, we were taken to the Master-of-the-nets Garden. As we have now learned, a Chinese garden is made from 4 elements: rocks, plants, water, and buildings. There should be changing views, opposing views, and framing views. This garden was laid out in the Ming period 500 years ago, which is regarded as the hayday of scholar's gardens. In the Pavilion of the Autumn Moon you can allegedly see the full moon in the sky, reflected in the pool, and in your wine glass. The main entrance includes wooden doors overlayed with stone on the outside as a fire retardant. In the entrance hall a marble slab, a rock, and a vase can be found. Apparently similar arrangements can be found in houses of this period as they are supposed to bring good luck to the house according to Feng Shui principles.

Factory alert!

We visited No. 1 Silk Factory where we heard a repeat talk on the life cycle of silk worms. Then followed a brief tour of the the silk production line, then a prolonged shopping opportunity (bedding and clothes). After a "free" lunch put on to draw the shoppers, we moved on to Panmen to see an ancient water gate. There we climbed a 1000 year old 7-story pagoda.

Factory alert!

Another sales pitch was forced upon us at the misnamed silk embroidery "research institute". We cut this short (although the artistry and skill was not lost on us) and left the group to hail a taxi to the remnants of the old city, where canal-side development was clearly getting going. Simone had her blood pressure checked by the Nu-Skin company; entertainment for all concerned. Dinner was taken back at the Revolting.

Another impression that struck us was the KFC on nearly every corner in every Chinese town. We also found the practice of adopting English names amusing; the front desk staff in our hotel, for example, were known as Lucy, Angel, and Faith. Apparently the choice of name has no meaning; it's just one they like to use to make it easier for guests to remember.

Master-of-the-nets Garden, Suzhou

Hangzhou

Thur 21

The journey to Hangzhou in the morning should have been a 3.5 hour drive, but took more than 4 hours due to another bus clipping our back. Our driver and the other driver had to work it out with the police; the other driver got fined. This made our visit to an old Chinese Pharmacy very rushed (15 minutes!). It was a beautiful building containing strange plant/ mineral/ vegetable items. The most recognizable was the Ginseng root; very expensive, but according to our guide can last for many years. We also visited the waiting room of the Chinese Doctors, which felt quite uncomfortable to us. But talk about illegible prescriptions.... On the way back to the bus we walked through an area that was being developed for tourism and contained old houses and little stalls selling trinkets and woodcarvings. One restaurant was selling fried bugs (locusts/ scorpions and something less recognizable), reminiscent of Bangkok. Karen, our national guide, told us that the Chinese accuse the Cantonese of eating nearly everything:

Anything with wings, except airplanes;
Anything with legs, except tables and chairs;
Anything from the sea, except submarines.

We were taken for lunch at the Lily Hotel; some nice vegetables this time and very sticky fried pineapple. Then we were herded to the tourist boat for a trip on West Lake. This is the main attraction of the area, brining in not just foreign tourists, but mainly Chinese visitors. We were stared at by a number of passing Chinese groups. The lake afforded a vista of the surrounding hills and the city skyline. The most striking thing about Hangzhou was the green environment, in stark contrast to the decaying concrete of Suzhou. Both cities are know as "Paradise on Earth", but we could see it only in Hangzhou. After the lake cruise we were taken to the Guozhuang Garden. This was the first Garden we liked. It is difficult to say what made it more beautiful to our eyes: the classical elements were all there, but it was less confined, the buildings were not as dark, and it was at the edge of the lake. Two women were kept busy with nets, fishing leaves out of the pond.

Factory alert!

Next on the programme was the "Tea Village". The bus took us under a mountain into a valley with terraced green tea bushes. The builidings on either side of the road were nice looking and we were told that the tea farmers were quite rich in order to afford those houses. The village itself looked a little like any village in the Austrian alps. We had a brief introduction to tea harvesting (three seasons per year, two leaves together, just the tips), the drying process, and then how to prepare tea. The woman who presented the tea had been to university and majored in "tea". The water is not supposed to be boiling and was added to our glasses with three elegant wrist movements. The tea smells and tastes a little like spinach. It is called Dragon-well and the Queen (Lizzy that is) has also apparently been there. At the end of the interesting explanations came a most professional sales-pitch. Most group members did not particularly care for the tea, so not much business. A few renegades escaped through the gauntlet of over-enthusiastic sales assistants to wander along the road, cutting back through the edge of the plantation.

In the evening we took a stroll along the lake front, together with most of the 6 million inhabitants of this "small village". Dinner fulfilled the biological necessity to eat but didn't deliver us into Paradise as the name of the establishment suggested.

Guozhuang Garden, Hangzhou

Tipping: Pre-trip advice recommended 40 yuan per person to cover the national guide, local guides, and drivers, and 5-10 yuan per bag for porters. Over 18 days, for two people with 30 yuan for 3 bags, this amounts to 1980 yuan (approx. £133). Our national guide collected £60 per person at the start of the trip, and thankfully took care of these tips.

Continues here.

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