Day
1
All
who joined the tour have to make their bookings with AirAsia as the tour begins
at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport. Upon arriving at Hangzhou airport
at about 2pm, our tour guide is waiting for us at the arrival hall. It was
mid-June and the temperature there is cooling and nice, around 26°C. It would
be much warmer a week later when the summer heat hits the area.
Our first destination is
Wuzhen, which is a historic scenic town built along several canals, located an
hour and a half’s drive from the airport. The points of attractions here are
divided into 2 areas, namely, the Wuzhen East Scenic Zone, and the Wuzhen West
Scenic Zone. As we are staying inside the water town itself in their guest
houses operated by locals of Wuzhen, we went to the West Scenic Zone. The
unique point of Wuzhen is that the various rows of houses and buildings are
built scattered on both banks of the canals, most of which are wooden
structures, with the architecture, look, and feel of an ancient Chinese town.
Wuzhen
buildings beside river banks
A
typical street in Wuzhen
Bridges
and canals are at almost every other corner
A
wooden bridge
The check in counter is
located quite a distance from the guest houses and visitors have to purchase an
entrance ticket just to visit the town itself. It is sort of like a walled
town, with entrance and exit via the same location. Upon checking in, you could
experience riding on a boat that is punted with a push pole to get you to the
opposite site of the canal. However, as the waiting queue is quite long, our
tour guide advised us to walk over the canal via a bridge instead as we could
still experience the boat ride on our way back after we checked out.
After reaching to the other
side of the canal, we were taken on a buggy ride to where our guest house is
located. The one where we stayed in is a double-storey wooded house that
retains the ancient architecture looks at the exterior but renovated to suit
the modern taste in the interior. The room is quite spacious with built-in
washroom, and the bed is with mosquito netting. Note that since it is a wooden
house, the sound-proof quality is lacking and thus you could hear conversations
and sound from other rooms.
Bed
with mosquito netting
Home cook breakfast is
provided by the guest house operator, and thus, each guest house would serve a
different menu compared to the other ones. For the one that we stayed in, there
is a menu with a choice of selection for you to choose from. You would have to
pre-order your selection the day before, along with the time that you intend to
have your breakfast.
Dinner for the day is
covered in the tour package and is at a restaurant in the town area. The meal
consists of dishes that include steamed river fish, steamed river prawns,
vegetables, braised pork, and fried eggs.
Steamed
river fish. Tasty but drawback is lots of tiny bones!
After dinner, we were given
free time to explore the town. Among places of interest that we went to was a
Chinese wine distillery, a calligraphy practicing courtyard, a hall with locals
playing musical instruments and singing, an outdoor ‘cinema’ showing black and
white film, and the While Lotus Pagoda. There were also various shops selling
food, souvenirs, clothing, and many more as well as a street filled with pubs.
We bought a handmade bamboo balancing dragonfly from one of the outlets for
RMB30.
A
stone pedestal used for practicing Chinese calligraphy
Outdoor
‘cinema’
White
Lotus Pagoda
Night
view of Wuzhen
Handmade
bamboo balancing dragonflies
Day
2
We had steamed buns, fried
rice, bacon and egg, and a bowl of porridge for breakfast. After breakfast, we
were given time to explore the town till 11.30am. Most of the shops were still
close so we took our time to walk around the outdoors slowly, basking in the ambiance
and cooling temperature. We had a try at pumping water from a well, walking
around a lavender garden and crossing a bridge on a lotus pond while watching a
buffalo and ducks roaming nearby. We bought some spring onion pancakes, red
bean paste dumplings, and osmanthus cakes for lunch for RMB20.
Breakfast
in Wuzhen
Pumping
water from a well
Lavender
garden
Cormorant
fishing (i.e. using the Cormorant bird to fish for you!J
)
Spring
onion pancakes
Upon checking out, we took
the boat ride to the exit.
Our next destination is the
town of Suzhou. The journey took approximately 1 and a half hour. Suzhou
contains 9 classical Chinese gardens which are grouped together and
collectively inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Classical
Gardens of Suzhou. These gardens are mostly built by scholars, spanning a
period of almost one thousand years, and are constructed with landscapes to
mimic natural scenery of rocky hills, rivers, pagodas, and pavilions. Our first
destination in Suzhou is one of these 9 gardens, known as the Couple’s Retreat
Garden (known as 耦园 Ou Yuan in Chinese).
The Couple’s Retreat Garden
is a 0.33 hectare garden and is surrounded by canals on three sides. It is
divided into an east and a west section, separated by the residential buildings
in the middle.
Couple’s
Retreat Garden
A point of advice though.
If you have limited time and have the choice of choosing only one from the 9
gardens to visit, I would advise you to go for the Humble Administrator’s
Garden (known as 拙政园 Zhuo Zheng Yuan in
Chinese) instead. This 5 hectares garden is the largest garden in Suzhou and is
generally considered as the best and most beautiful garden in Southern China.
Our tour does not covers this garden, so it was a bit of a disappointment as
the Couple’s Retreat Garden pales in comparison to the Humble Administrator’s
Garden.
We were provided with
insufficient time to admire and fully appreciate the architecture of the garden
as we only spent 30 minutes there. We exit the garden is via a boat, paddling
around the canals. The boat operator would sing some folk songs to entertain
their passengers, while paddling the boat. Do note however that the boat
operator expects to receive some form of monetary tips (about RMB1 per person) in
return upon your arrival at the dock, and the boat ride last about 5 minutes.
Boat
ride on the way out from the Couple’s Retreat Garden
We next move on to the Calm
Garden (known as 定园Ding Yuan in Chinese),
which is not part of the UNESCO listing. The garden was originally built in the
Ming Dynasty, but the garden that we can see now was rebuilt recently. This
garden is bigger than the Couple’s Retreat Garden, and has a large lake in the
garden compound, where one can play zorb ball by paying a fee.
Entrance
to Calm Garden
Pavilion
and Rock Sculpture
Pavilion
in the garden
Large
lake in Calm Garden. The building at the far end is a tea house.
After the garden visit, we
proceeded to our hotel for the day, known as Suzhou Tourism Hotel, for dinner.
The food there was so-so.
Having our stomach filled,
we then went to the Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre for an hour of traditional
Suzhou cultural show called the Su Show. It showcases various dance, singing,
and acrobatic performances, playing of classical Chinese instruments, and also
includes a magic show.
Suzhou
Culture and Arts Centre
Su
Show Stage
After the show, we went to
Guanqian Street, which is one of the four Most Famous Walking Streets in China,
for some shopping. It has been in existence since 1930s and various
centuries-old shops line the street that sells things ranging from clothing,
souvenirs, and sweets, to fast food and other food delights. A prominent
building on the street is the Xuanmiao temple, of which the Guanqian Street is
named after as the street is located in front of the temple, and the name
‘Guanqian’ literally means in front of the temple. We bought a Chinese stitch-art
painting here for RMB132 as souvenir. After done shopping, we called it a day
and went back to the hotel for some well-deserved rest.
Guanqian
Street
An arch on the street
Xuanmiao
Temple
Stitch-art
painting souvenir
Day
3
Breakfast services at the
hotel were not up to mark. There were insufficient cutleries and paper towel
provided, reason being the storage room for these items was locked and the
person-in-charge was not in office yet. Food-wise, there were porridge, fried mee,
and some selection of fried desserts. Choices of drinks were soya bean milk and
orange juice. However, it was insufficient again as we only managed to get half
a cup of soya bean milk and the hotel staff said they do not have any stock
left, which I felt is a ridiculous reply considering the fact that we were
there at 8am in the morning.
After the disappointing
breakfast, we started the day’s journey by visiting a silk factory. We were
told that the silk worms species here are the largest in the world as the environment
and food here is the most suitable for the worms. The silk worms are indeed
much larger (about 6cm long and 1cm in diameter) than the ones I saw in
Cambodia and Indonesia. We get to see how silk is processed from the worms’
cocoon and being made into threads and blankets. The main priority that the
tour brings you to this place, however, is to pitch for you to purchase their
silk products from bed sheets, mattresses, and pillows, to shirts, silk
handicrafts, and undergarments. We bought a boxed silk worm cocoon here for
RMB20 as souvenir.
Our next destination of the
day is the city of Wuxi. The bus ride there took approximately one hour. We had
our lunch at one of the restaurants there upon arrival. The meal is quite
decent, with dishes that include fish, pork, vegetables, eggs, and Wuxi
pan-fried dumplings.
After lunch, we were
brought to Tai Lake, which is a large freshwater lake covering an area of 2,250
km² with an average depth of 2 metres. It is the third largest freshwater lake
in China. We stopped by here at the Li Hu Park for 30 minutes for a walk around
the lakeside to enjoy its sceneries. There is a giant Ferris wheel located
there as well. For those who have seen or used water caltrop (called ‘Ling Kok’
in Cantonese) during the Mooncake Festivals celebration before, you may be able
to see these plants growing at the side of the lake.
Water
Caltrop a.k.a. ‘Ling Kok’
The
green plants that look like algae covering the lake are actually water
caltrops!
Ferris
wheel at Tai Lake
We were then brought to a
Pearl Factory, where there was a demonstration held to extract pearls from a
live farmed oyster. Again, the main purpose of this visit is pitch for you to
purchase their pearls and other jewelry products. I felt that we have wasted 2
precious hours here when we could have spent more time visiting places of
interest.
Extracting
pearls from live oyster
Next, we spend two and a
half hours on a bus ride to Shanghai. Our first destination in Shanghai is a
shopping district known as Yu Yuan Market. The unique thing about this shopping
district is that its architecture made you feel as if you are shopping in an
ancient Chinese town in the middle of metropolitan Shanghai. There are lots of
things that can be bought here ranging from food, clothing, and small souvenir,
to candy, jade, and gold jewelry. You may want to try out the Shanghai Little
Dragon Buns (siew long bao) or the Half-Soup Buns (basically a larger scale
siew long bao and you’ll have to use a straw to drink the soup inside the buns)
here.
Yu
Yuan Market
Half-soup
bun
There a lots of things to
be explored here. Unfortunately, we were only given one and a half hour here,
inclusive of time for having our dinner. If time permits, do pay a visit to the
Yu Garden (literally translated to Garden of Peace), which is located at one
corner of Yu Yuan Market, across the zigzag bridge (known as a Nine Turn bridge
as the bridge consists of nine turns). The garden was constructed in 1577
during the Ming Dynasty and in my opinion, is much more beautiful than the
Couple’s Retreat Garden that we went to on Day 2. Do note that you will have to
be there earlier though as the ticketing counter closes at 5pm.
Also, pay a visit to the
City God temple (known as 城隍庙Chenghuang Miao in Chinese)
which is located at another corner of the shopping district. The temple is open
from 8.30am till 4pm. Note that for this trip, as we have wasted too much time
earlier in the day at the silk and pearl factories, we do not have time to
visit the temple and Yu Garden as by the time we reached Shanghai, it was
already 5.30pm. As a result, we walked around the shopping district to hunt
around for souvenir and managed to buy some for RMB22.
Beside
Nine Turn bridge that heads towards Yu Garden
Magical
Moving Picture box. Give it a try!
Old
street of Shanghai
Next, the tour guide changed
the itinerary of the tour and brought us to the Huangpu River cruise terminal
instead of visiting the Bund. Each person has to pay an additional RMB150 for
an hour cruise along the Huangpu River, which covers some light meal. We opted
out of the river cruise as we personally found the charges to be on the high
side, and we would prefer walking on foot instead to enjoy the night sceneries
along the Bund area, which is a waterfront area with many European architecture
buildings in central Shanghai. It was quite foggy that night though, so we were
unable to snap some decent photographs of the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower. We
took our dinner at a Subway outlet at the Bund for RMB30.
Shanghai
night view, with the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower covered in fog
The
Bund
After the river cruise
ended, we joined the rest of our tour mates to visit our next destination –
Tianzifang (known as 田子坊 in Chinese). Tianzifang is
an enclave that is known for coffee shops, craft stores, and narrow alleys. It
was developed from a renovated residential French Concession area of Shanghai.
It is a popular tourist destination in Shanghai to observe the Shikumen (known
as 石庫門in Chinese; literally
translated to Stone Warehouse Gate) architecture, which is a traditional
Shanghainese architecture that fuses the Western architecture elements with the
Chinese architecture elements. Our tour for the day ended here. We were then
brought to Jinsa Hotel Shanghai to stay for the night.
Tianzifang
Narrow
alleys of Tianzifang
Day
4
Breakfast at the hotel was
quite decent, with selections of Western and Chinese buffet spread to choose
from. There is also a noodle station that cooks Shanghainese noodle per order.
After breakfast, we were brought to a Jadeite shop where we wasted 2 hours
listening to their sales pitch.
We were then brought to a
small shopping mall called Hong Qiao Datong Yang Building (known as 虹桥大通阳商厦 in Chinese) where we were given 2 hours of time to
stroll around. Nothing much is offered at the mall and it seems quite rundown.
We went to a shop selling Chinese ramen and took our lunch there for RMB21.
Then, we walked to a nearby mall called Hualian GMS Shopping (known as 华联吉买盛 in Chinese) to shop around. We bought some snacks for
RMB6.
Chinese
Ramen
After lunch, we were
brought to a Chinese pharmaceutical outlet called Tongrentang, which is the
largest producer of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). There, we were treated
to a Chinese foot massage, after which a TCM practitioner will take your pulse
diagnosis and pester you to purchase their medicines to improve your state of
health.
Next, we headed to Hangzhou
to a theme park called Song Dynasty City, which is a theme park designed to
look and feel like China during the Song Dynasty. The bus ride here took 3 hours.
Visitors get to feel that they have travelled a thousand years back in time to
visit ancient China during one of its most glorious period, with rows of shops,
restaurants, and other outlets built in make-believe Song Dynasty architecture.
The workers here are all wearing traditional Chinese clothing known as Hanfu
and there are various cultural and acrobatic shows and performances available
for one to enjoy. There are plenty of photo-taking opportunities at scenic
locations throughout the theme park as well. There are also some thrill rides,
a haunted house attraction, a trick art town, a wet high ropes course, and many
more to fill up your time. Unfortunately, we only get to spend 2 hours here,
after which we were brought to Hangzhou Xin Wang Ge Hotel for checking in.
Song
Dynasty City
Chinese
Wedding ceremony demonstration
OMG!
Justice Bao accepting bribes? ;)
A
bridge in Song Dynasty City
Giant
Buddha statue
Look!
We can cling onto the wall! ;P
Day
5
Breakfast at this hotel is
horrible and is the worst among the whole duration of this tour, with not much
selection of food and some very bland coffee that taste more like coloured
water. We ended up only managed to eat some pau here for breakfast. Some of our
tour mates also complained that the air conditioning in their room is not
working as well, which caused them to have lack of sleep. Luckily, ours seems
to be alright.
After breakfast, our first
destination of the day is to the West Lake of Hangzhou, which is one of the
UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is described as having influenced garden design
in China, Japan, as well as Korea over the centuries and reflects an idealized
fusion between humans and nature. We were given 90 minutes to explore the area
that covers 6.5 square kilometers. Obviously, the time provided is
insufficient. Furthermore, we were brought to a location that is not very
scenic which causes most of our tour mates feeling unimpressed with this place.
We managed to drop by the West Lake Museum while we were there.
West
Lake
UNESCO
emblem at West Lake
Our next destination is the
Hangzhou Longjing Tea Plantation, where there was supposed to be a Longjing tea
roasting demonstrations on a big heated wok using bare hands. However, since
our trip falls on Sunday, the demonstration is not available. We were briefed
on the nutritional values of the Longjing tea and how to differentiate the
grades of the tea as well as being treated to sample some AAA grade Longjing
tea. We were told that the Longjing tea leaves can be eaten because the tea
leaves were not fermented.
The
wok used to roast Longjing tea leaves
Longjing
tea
Tea
plantation
Then, we had our lunch at
one of the restaurants nearby, where we get to taste the Dongbo pork, which is
a Hangzhou dish of stewed pork belly. The taste is nice but the pork belly used
is extremely fatty to our liking though.
Our final stop for the tour
is to Qianhefang Ancient Street (known as 清河坊
in Chinese), which is a shopping street at a section of the Hefang street of
Hangzhou and is nearby the West Lake. This street is a well preserved part of
the ancient city of Hangzhou and was once the most flourished street in the
city during the Song Dynasty about a thousand years ago. There are many
century-old shops lining the streets here, selling things like medicines,
Chinese traditional fans, and souvenir. We visited a Bronze museum there, called
the Bronze Mansion of Qinghefang (called江南铜屋 in Chinese). The place is known as China’s first bronze
house and houses many bronze sculptures for one to appreciate.
Inside
the Bronze Mansion
Bronze
rice hay on display
One
of the many bronze sculpture on display
While strolling around, we
bought some souvenirs for RMB94, before heading over to an outlet of McDonalds
for dinner for RMB30.
After dinner, we were sent
back to the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, where we bid farewell to
Hangzhou, Wuzhen, Suzhou, Shanghai, and Wuxi.
