Category: Travel

  • Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

    China Trip – Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙) (Day 4) – We alighted at Yu Yuan Garden from the City Sightseeing Bus, Yu Yuan, literally means Yu Garden is located in the Old City of Shanghai, which is also next to the famous Chenghuang Miao (Cheng Huang Temple).

    The Yu Yuan is one of the must-visit attractions in Shanghai as it is considered as one of the most lavish and finest Chinese garden. You can head over there by Shanghai Metro Line 10’s Yuyuan Garden Station.

    It’s a very commercialised tourist spot now with many retail outlet selling clothing, gifts, food and more. Yuyuan was first established in 1559 as a private garden and now is a famous tourist destination. You can find the famous and some said it’s the best Xiao Long Bao at there – Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao.

    Yu Yuan 豫园

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)
    Selling Malaysian’s Nangka at RMB10 per box.

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)
    Inside Yu Yuan with many food outlet, spot Starbucks Coffee.

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)
    High tech toilet with LED ticket telling you the time on how long one has been in there and status.

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Chenghuang Miao 城隍庙

    After checking out Yuyuan, another attraction that could not be missed is the famous Chenghuang Temple. It’s RMB10 per entry. Chenghuang Miao, also known as City God Temple is a Taoist temple which was built more than 500 years ago during 1400.

    Although there’s Chenghuang Temple in Penang & else where in Malaysia, but then the features, the temple style and the type of Gods are a little bit different. The God’s statue in the temple here are somewhat, cuter. HAHA.

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)
    Entrance to Chenghuang Miao.

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)
    Pay your entrance fee of RMB10 through this little hole.

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)

    Shanghai: Yu Yuan Garden 豫园 & Cheng Huang Taoist Temple (Cheng Huang Miao 城隍庙)
    Brother warming his hand by the fire place.

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

  • Shanghai: On The City Sightseeing Bus #1

    Shanghai: On The City Sightseeing Bus #1

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

    China Trip – Shanghai: On The City Sightseeing Bus #1 上海都市观光车 (Day 4) – It’s time to hop on the 30RMB City Sightseeing bus to go a little tour around Shanghai. Well, if you were to tour on the City Sightseeing bus, be sure to wake up early, sit on the bus to tour the whole city first before getting off at any stop.

    We thought of using the City Sightseeing bus as our mode of transport around attractions but it’s not really useful as the frequency of the bus is very long. Just take the bus around, listen to the introduction, then forget about the bus anymore. Walk on foot or Metro to attractions as Shanghai is designed for walking.

    We started off at East Nanjing Road, passed by Waibaidu Bridge, The Bund, and we alighted at Yu Yuan Garden, guess what, that’s end of our trip on the City Sightseeing Bus because we wanted to get back on to go to another location, but then it’s over the operation hour and we have to get back onto the bus the next day.


    The bus ticket, notice the edge being cut, it’s a mark that you have got on board.


    Direction signs with Chinese & English.


    See Apple’s logo at the centre.


    The road in Shanghai.


    Waibaidu Bridge, a famous bridge in Shanghai which is also the first bridge in China fully made of steel.


    I can see Shanghai’s Pudong skyline from here.


    Along Shanghai Tan (Shanghai Beach), The Bund.


    Very cool western style building along The Bund.


    Awesome skyline of Shanghai’s Pudong. Look very futuristic.


    Chinese flag.


    Arrived at Yu Yuan Garden, an ancient city in Shanghai, refurbished become a hot tourist spot.

     Click here to read more about my China Trip.
  • Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

    China Trip – Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight (Day 4) – Back to Shanghai trip, it’s morning in Shanghai and it’s time to be serious in touring around Shanghai. Brother and I woke up quite late that day. Actually we don’t really have a proper itinerary, we just see which attraction is nearby and we start from them.

    We went to brunch while walking to East Nanjing Road. We have to go to East Nanjing Road because the nearest Metro station is located at there. We randomly went into a restaurant and ate Shanghai Xiao Long Bao again, not so awesome, then we walked along East Nanjing Road.

    It’s noon time already, we came across a City Sightseeing Bus parked by the roadside, a lady was offering ticket for it. Since it’s 30RMB/ticket valid for one day, we bought it, never know that the frequency of the bus was so slow. Haha, anyway, we have bought the ticket, we have to follow the bus schedule. So, part of my day 4 in Shanghai is on the sightseeing bus which I will share with you guys in the next post. =)

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight
    Street of Shanghai.

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight
    Little Chinese dog.

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight
    Sheng Jian Bao, very juicy. 生煎包

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight
    Wantan, but they called it Yun Dun, 云吨 which don’t really have anything under the skin.

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight
    Xiao Long Bao again.

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight
    Shanghai East Nanjing Pedestrian Shopping Street.

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight
    A Chinese medicine store.

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight
    On the bus, it’s not an good idea to sit at the open air area, very cold!

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight
    The bus actually parked there just to attract tourist. We boarded the sightseeing bus but it did not move right away, we waited like 15 minutes only then another bus came, we have to moved to another bus.

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Shanghai: Brunch Food & East Nanjing Road During Daylight

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

  • Shanghai: Dinner, East Nanjing Lu Pedestrian Street, Street Food & The Bund

    Shanghai: Dinner, East Nanjing Lu Pedestrian Street, Street Food & The Bund

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

    China Trip – Shanghai: Dinner, East Nanjing Lu Pedestrian Street, Street Food & The Bund 南京东路步行街,外滩 (Day 3) – The Apple Store at Nanjing East Road was really awesome, but then we got hungry after checking out of the Apple Store, hungry of Apple products, and also hungry of food too! It’s time to hunt for some real Shanghai food on the famous East Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street. Shanghai food initially was very cool in my mind, but then, it’s not as delicious as I expected.

    We dinnered at a Shanghai restaurant, serving Shanghainese food, we ate Xiao Long Bao, some very oily vegetable with pork, spicy mapo toufu and steamed rice. Well, Xiao Long Bao did taste better than ours, but the other dishes were special, yet weird, because of too oily and spicy. Alright, dinner done but not super awesome.


    Shanghai Xiao Long Bao soup dumpling.


    Spicy Mapo Toufu.


    Oily cabbage fried with pork slices.

    We went to tour the famous East Nanjing Road Pedestrian Shopping Street, it’s a very cool shopping street with historical Shanghainese building which blends Western architecture with Chinese culture. You can see huge Chinese signboard on Western-style building. If you watch movie about old-Shanghai where there’s many nightclub and supper happenings, this is the street. But now, there’s no nightclub anymore, it’s a whole stretch of shopping retail outlets. It’s still very happenings, and beautiful at night when spotlight shines on the building.


    Beautiful Shanghai East Nanjing Road.


    The walking street, dedicated for pedestrian, designed for walking.


    Street community karaoke going on.


    There’s the music man.


    There’s the conductor with the Chinese song lyric.


    At the end of East Nanjing Road.

    Some very stupid thing occurred at the East Nanjung Road was that there’s 2 Chinese girls tried to scam us. First, they asked us about directions to People’s Park, then we said we don’t know; then they asked whether are we students on travel to Shanghai, we said yes, later then they wanted to join us to walk around the place, like trying to be friendly to us. It’s just felt very wrong and weird because one must always beware of scam in China. We ignore and rejected them then they walked away with a “failed” face. After checking online, it’s actually the coffee scam, which always is 2 girls approaching young tourist, especially college students, and they will bring you to a coffee shop, where they will order some expensive drinks, end up paying hundreds of dollar for cheap drinks. So, beware of this. We actually came across 3 different pairs of girls at there. Haha, they really failed on scamming us.

    Actually there’s nothing much to shop at there for us, there’s departmental stores, clothing, footwear, and more, which are pretty normal to us. It’s just walking around, looking at people and buildings. Things are not cheap at there too. Another thing is, you will be annoyed by the people standing outside of sportwear shop like Niki & Adidas, offering you some cheap fake shoes with a piece of catalog paper. Very annoying, but just ignore them and they won’t bother you anymore.


    A beggar on the floor.

    Since it’s still early, it’s only 10.30pm when we walked the whole stretch of Nanjing East Road, we walked to the famous riverside – The Bund to see the skyline of Pudong Shanghai. We walked pass many colonial Western-style building along the way and it’s quiet. Unfortunately, the sad thing was the lights at the skyscrapers were off at that time although the skyline of Shanghai’s Pudong area is really awesome. So, we planned to visit The Bund at the next day.


    Walking along the quiet street.


    The skyline of Shanghai’s Pudong area, awesome but then not perfect without the light on at the Pearl TV Tower.


    While on the way back, we found some street food stalls, selling BBQ food and fried noodle. I bought a chicken wing and a stick of mutton. Well, it tasted, BBQ, not really very interesting to me, but the locals and the caucasian like it.

  • Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

    China Trip – Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road 南京东路苹果电脑专卖店 (Day 3) – I had some rest at the hostel after getting back from the awesome day trip at Zhouzhuang, the ancient water town. After that, the real Shanghai trip began as this started our real exploration of Shanghai. We started off with Apple Store which located at the super famous East Nanjing Lu (Road) Pedestrian.

    I have always wanted to visit a real Apple Store for a long time, what’s difference between the Apple Store and Apple Reseller in our country is staffs at the Apple Store are very friendly, it’s always very crowded and happenings at the Apple Store, the interiors are beautiful and the big Apple is so awesome.

    Apple Store @ East Nanjing Road is my first Apple store visit in the world. All the while, Apple Stores are present in United States only, later then Tim Cook, CEO of Apple expanded the stores across the world to Europe, Asia and Australia.

    This Apple Store at East Nanjing Road opened just not long ago only at last year. It was so packed with people during my visit and the atmosphere in there were really happy. Everyone was smiling, happily playing Apple products and asking for help from the Apple’s staff. This is one of the most happenings retail outlet along East Nanjing Road shopping street.

    In there, you can notice the standard Apple Store interior design like aluminum wall panel, wood table and of course the cool glass spiral staircase. Another cool thing is that every Apple products are accompanied by an iPad which works as product introduction & price tag. Very cool.

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road
    Big Apple logo.

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road
    Me in front of Apple Store.

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road
    Apple Store activity time table.

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road
    My brother holding his brand new iPhone 4S which was not available in China at that time.

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road
    iPad as product information display! Very brilliant.

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road
    Look at the amount of people in the store!

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road
    The famous glass spiral staircase.

    Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road
    East Nanjing Road Pedestrian Shopping Street.

    To me, I feel Apple Store in China are must-visit places because there’s only 3 stores in China, 2 in Shanghai, 1 in Hong Kong. I’ve visited them all! Stay tune to my blog for more photos on other Apple Stores.

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

  • Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

    China Trip – Zhouzhuang 周庄 : Last Exploration & Back Shanghai (Day 3) – Well, it’s my last few hours at Zhouzhuang. Sunrise – done; Boat ride – done and now it’s the last exploration of this beautiful ancient water town in China before heading back to Shanghai in the afternoon. We checked out the inn, bought our stuffs with us and we went to walk around again, this time according to the map of attractions.

    We visited house of ancient famous people – Shen Wan Shan, which I have no idea who he really was (I don’t think he was famous, so I did not bother), then we went to a Chinese poet shop and asked the poet to write us a few poems derive from our name. This one is kinda cool, as in Zhouzhuang, you will see many shops, offering to write you a Chinese poem with your name in it, it’s actually not a specialty at there, but then it’s just a way of making money for them. We found it kinda interesting, so we gave our name for the poet, and he wrote us some Chinese poems. It’s pretty cool. It’s only 10RMB per poem, why not? We’ve got addicted with the poem writing and in the end, we have so many poems with my name, brother’s, my girlfriend, brother’s girlfriend, mom and dad, and even dad’s business. =D

    Later then, we found a Chinese opera house, unfortunately no opera was showing at there, it’s like a museum, a Taoist temple, Mao Tse Tong’s musuem, some local shops and that’s all. We went back to the bus station, bought a bus ticket or 25RMB to go back to Shanghai. Instead of heading back to Shanghai South Station, we went to Shanghai Main Railway Station. The journey took longer than 2 hours this time because of traffic congestion in Shanghai. At there, we took the Shanghai Metro to go back to our hotel, take a rest, then explore again. Fun! Shanghai was so much warmer, at 6 degree celcius.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    This is Shen Wan Shan 沈万山.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    Poet and calligrapher – Mr Zhi Xue.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    A Taoist temple.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    Cool barber shop with Uncle Mao’s photo on the wall.


    Wan Shan Ti / Wan Shan Hock, pork knuckles.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    Had Yangzhou Fried Rice for lunch, it tasted oily and not-bad. This costs 10RMB. We were told by the waitress that Zhouzhuang doesn’t has any must-eat or local food, many of the foods are from other places.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    The Chinese Opera House.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    Bus station, waiting for bus.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    Finally back to Shanghai, this is Shanghai Main Railway Station.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    It’s about 4.30pm, the sky was getting dark already. We headed to the Shanghai Metro to take the train back to our hostel.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    Like New York, the track shares with train of different lines, so you have see the screen clearly so that you will not get on the wrong line.

    Zhouzhuang: Last Exploration & Back Shanghai
    Waiting for train.

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

  • Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Canal Boat Ride

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Canal Boat Ride

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

    China Trip – Zhouzhuang 周庄: 20 Minutes Canal Boat Ride (Day 3) – After checking out the sunrise, and a rest at the inn, we went to take a canal boat ride. The boat ride operates from 9a.m. and costs 100RMB for each boat and a boat allows a maximum of 6 person on board. It’s similar to gondola ride in Venice. Despite the expensive price, we still went for it because I think that it’s things to do at Zhouzhuang as there’s nothing much else, except experience and photograph.

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    The ride takes about 20 minutes and it’s manually driven by an old aunty at the back of the boat. She kept insisting us to tip her so that she can sing a few local song for us to listen but we refused as the tip needs at least 20RMB and we were stingy. =D

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Boat Ride Along Canal

    It’s a one-way boat ride and just feel sad that the canal is not long enough. Zhouzhuang is really small, I wonder is there any bigger water town in China like Venice. Overall, it’s a good experience on the boat, it’s very relaxing and calm on the boat ride but it’s kinda weird when people looked at us. Haha. It’s not really a must-do, it’s up to you, if you have 4 person or more, then it’s worth it.

    “2 person for 100RMB? errr… errr…. ok-lah *finger cross*”. =D

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

  • Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

    China Trip – 周庄 Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise  (Day 3)– It’s 6.15am when my alarm of my mobile phone rang. Reluctant to wake up, I lay on the bed for a little while, my brother too. I got up, pour myself a glass of water to recharge my water level, and discharge the unwanted water in the toilet. It’s cold in the toilet. Brushed up, dressed up, prepared my camera, and off we went for a walk in Zhouzhuang to see the sunrise.

    We’ve check the sunrise time and it’s about 6.40am. Upon stepping foot out of the inn, icy cold air pinched my face. It’s 1 degree celcius. Surprisingly, this cold is not as cold as the day before, although it’s cold, I felt good, acceptable, except that my hand must have glove on all the time, and my scarf too.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise
    Aunty/Ah Mah selling tea leaves.

    The sun rises already when we were out, outside was bright but quiet and cold. There’s no people on the walkway. While we were heading East, we bumped up with an aunty, carrying goods to sell. It’s really early for her, we bought a pack of Ah Po tea leaves from her for 10RMB. We continue heading to east of Zhouzhuang to see the sun.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise
    The beautiful canal in Zhouzhuang.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise
    A quiet street in Zhouzhuang.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise
    I can see the shine of sunlight.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise
    This is me, in 1 degree celcius.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise
    This is brother.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise
    I wonder how can she stand the cold weather and water.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise
    Picking up leaves and trash on the water.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

    Although the sun has rises, it’s just nice that it’s still near the horizon. There’s no tourist out at that time, except locals bring their kids to school, washing cloth by the canal, and clearing up the fallen leaves and trash on the canal. They are strong, I see some of them do not wear gloves on their hand.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

    At the east side of Zhouzhuang, there’s a park, a temple and a bridge. The bridge actually connects to the outer area of Zhouzhuang, which is not under the ancient water town. It’s not open to public, but the gate was open, so we went to the bridge to check it out. The other side of the beach is a housing area, not under Zhouzhuang ancient water town.

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

    Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise


    In the shops selling those Wan Shan Hock (pork knuckles), I wonder do they change to a fresh one everyday because I see not many people buying it.

    It’s worth to wake up early that morning, it should have been earlier, but still OK. We went to eat a little food at a small shop which actually cater for locals, I ate a herbal egg cha ye dan, it’s only 1.5RMB. Later, we headed back to hotel again, for half an hour sleep before going out again to explore more of Zhouzhuang.

    Click here to read more about my China Trip.

  • Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town

    Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town

    China Trip – Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄 (Day 2) – After 1.5+ hours of ride from Shanghai, finally we reached outside-of-Zhouzhuang. Zhouzhuang is 30km away from Suzhou, you can say that Zhouzhuang is under the prefecture city of Suzhou. I tell you what, the first thing I felt when arriving at Zhouzhuang is cold! It’s 7 degree celcius there, 2 degree lower than Shanghai. The wind and the dryness were really cold.

    Very funny thing is that when the bus was stopping, the “private” cab drivers started moving close to the bus, offering a ride to Zhouzhuang. It’s not one or two person, but 6-7 persons together.

    There’s no official cab at Zhouzhuang. It’s all these “private” cab, charging you for only 10RMB, and they will drive you to Zhouzhuang water town area. We did not the ride as we had someone to fetch us, it’s arranged by our hotel – Long Xing Inn. The bus station to Zhouzhuang is very near only, about less than 10 minutes and I was starting to feel excited already.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄
    “Private” taxi driver.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    We met with the owner of Long Xing Inn outside of Zhouzhuang ancient water town and she brought us to the ticket counter to buy our entrance ticket. You need to buy tickets to go into Zhouzhuang ancient water town, it costs 100RMB per person for two days or visit. You must always keep your ticket well as you can’t go in again without the ticket, you also need to show the ticket when visiting some of the attractions in the water town too.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄
    Canal at Zhouzhuang.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄
    This is where you buy ticket to go into Zhouzhuang.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    Brother booked the hotel through a Chinese website and the owner told us that we were the only one who used English name to book. Haha. The room was not bad, only 140RMB/night with attached bathroom. They also have Chinese-ancient-themed room which is more expensive.

    We put our stuff in the hotel, rest a while, then we went to explore the ancient water town. The sky wasn’t really blue enough for me to take nice photos. It’s very dull and cold afternoon.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    Zhouzhuang is a very famous and popular water townships in China and it’s also known as “Venice of the East”. It has over thousand years of history. Although it’s not as big as Venice, it’s still pretty with authentic Chinese architecture house. Though, many of them are upgraded with better building materials.

    There’s no road in Zhouzhuang, it’s all water canal that connects to different parts of the town. Though you can tour Zhouzhuang by foot.

    There’s so many water townships near to Shanghai and the reason we chose Zhouzhuang was because that it’s the most famous and has the longest history. I realised that we should have visited more water townships as Shanghai was pretty boring after then. Haha.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    Zhouzhuang was kinda quiet in the afternoon. Most tourists come in the morning. I’ve met people spending a few days at there as Zhouzhuang is very relaxing. It’s the opposite of the Shanghai’s busy city. It’s very calm and there’s no pollution. People at there are very friendly too, but I don’t really understand their dialect. There’s some attractions to visit in Zhouzhuang like ancient house of famous people, temple, but we only did the visit the next day during the morning. We just walked around Zhouzhuang.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄
    This is public toilet at Zhouzhuang.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄
    Sunset at Zhouzhuang.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄
    Cute dog at Zhouzhuang!

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    Be sure to get a map with you as it’s easy to get lost at there. We did get lost and ended asking people for direction to go back where we came from. Haha. It gets even quieter when the night falls at about 5pm. Many shops started closing and the temperature drops even lower to 5 degree celcius! It’s my first time experiencing cold weather.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄


    Wan Shan’s Hock 万山蹄, pork leg named after the richest man in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasty in Jiangnan – Shen Wanan.

    China Trip - Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄
    Cheap beer! It’s only 3RMB/bottle and with 3% of alcohol only.

    We went back to the inn for a rest, then headed for dinner. Food at there was not really nice, it’s different and it’s weird. It’s different from Southern Chinese food. I don’t really know what’s good to eat at there, appetite haven’t came back at that time.

    After dinner, we went to buy some beer at the mini-market and also some sweets to bite. Slept early that night because we wanted to check out the sunrise at about 7am.

     

  • Shanghai: Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station

    Shanghai: Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station

    China Trip – Shanghai: Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station 上海长途客运南站 (Day 2) – Good morning! It’s second day at Shanghai. I was not feeling well the day before due to lack of sleep and sudden cold, but then I was so much better on the second day. I was craving for some McDonald’s to bring up my appetite.

    The second day of my China Trip was to a very famous ancient water town – Zhouzhuang, which is located near to Suzhou. After getting direction from the hostel’s front desk, we started our journey.

    How to go to Zhouzhuang? – Go to Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station and take a 1.5 hours bus ride to Zhouzhuang.

    The morning was OK-cold, it’s about 9 degree celcius. It’s my first time experiencing Shanghai, but the main point of day 2 was not Shanghai, but Zhouzhuang, so I didn’t bother to see Shanghai yet. Shanghai South-Long Distance Bus Station is kinda far, we have to change two lines in Shanghai Metro. We took Line 2 train at Nanjing Lu Station to People’s Square, then change to Line 1 to Shanghai South Station.


    Walking towards the Shanghai Metro.


    Wet morning, but not heavy rain.


    11 Lines in Shanghai Metro. Not easy reading the Metro’s map.


    Look! Chinese people queuing up to board the Metro! That’s so cool man.

    The bus station is not located right beside the Metro or above, it takes another 10 minutes walk from the metro station to the bus station. We were hungry, but we wanted to go buy ticket first.

    There’s two bus going to Zhouzhuang daily, one at 8:15am, another at 1.20pm. We bought the 1.20pm tickets, and as usual, we need to produce our ID document while buying the ticket. It’s only 35RMB to Zhouzhuang. Then we went to buy food for lunch – McDonald’s!


    How am I gonna shit here? Imagine you see other people’s poo floating pass you.


    Cold duck wing. Yums.


    Checking ticket.


    Spicy Chicken Fillet Burger is awesome!


    Spotted a ferries wheel while on the way to Zhouzhuang.

    The bus station is really high tech. There’s a waiting hall and ticket check point gate. We boarded the bus at about 1.10pm. The driver wanted us to finish the McDonald’s burger as he said that the burger smells weird. Haha. Chinese driver doesn’t like McDonald’s. The ride to Zhouzhuang takes about 1.5-2 hours depends on traffic. I looked out of the bus window to see Shanghai and I found some stupid thing. A driver parked his car by the highway’s road side, went down of his car, then pee by the road, then get back into his car and drive. DA FUQ is the Chinese doing?

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