Our journey from Hangzhou back to Shanghai took just over two hours and by 10.45am we were back in the metropolis – well sort of! We headed first to the former French Quarter, Xintiandi. The buildings here were all refurbished in the later 1990s, with some influence from Jackie Chan the film star who has his restaurant here. It is an incredibly pretty quarter with some very upmarket gift shops (although not expensive) and some very charming bars, cafes and restaurants. We had a delightful coffee and blueberry muffin in Starbucks, and there were pasta cafes and even a restaurant offering an Australian T bone steak with peppercorn sauce – even though the food has been excellent, that set a few of my Aussie travelling friends drooling!

We had a selection of Chinese snacks for our lunch in the ancient town, not far from the Bund, and then we made our final garden visit to the Yu Garden. A very pretty garden but the amazing thing about this haven is that it is surrounded by the ancient quarter on all sides, with many of the balconies almost overhanging the gardens. Apparently when the garden was created the highest pagoda offered the merchant owner a full view of the city including the River, now, it is surrounded by high rise buildings! More…

Rock Carvings

Lingyin Temple

There certainly isn’t a shortage of temples to view in China, but Lingyin Temple, where we head to first this morning is the largest temple in Southern China. It is only a few minutes drive from the hotel so we arrive there in good time, but already it is busy with Chinese tourists, and this is a “working” temple with worshippers of Buddha. The temple is set in some amazing gardens and en route to the main entrance via Felai Feng (only a small hill) there are numerous stone carvings in the rock face to view. These have been carved over the years by monks and pilgrims making their way to the temple; they give this site a real sense of history but also of real life pilgrimages, and sense of purpose – I found them very moving. It is essential to show some respect when visiting this temple for the true and meaningful worship that is taking place all around you, for me it really brought the place to life; many of the local Chinese were praying to Buddha and lighting incense to “attract” his senses to listen to their prayers. There was also a Buddhist monk ceremony in the main temple, which we were allowed to observe silently but of course not take any photographs. More…

Suzhou by night was certainly busy with many locals out in “Snack Street” and along the canal; apparently the majority were themselves tourists, enjoying the local market stalls, eating in the cafes and drinking in the bars. The canalside was lit up until 10pm, then to conserve electricity in this province the outside lights were switched off but the area was still buzzing when we left around 10.30pm.

Humble Administrator's Garden

Our first Friday visit was at the “Humble Administrator’s Garden”. There wasn’t anything humble about it though, it covers five hectares and exhibits a fine selection of plants set amongst enchanting waterways, and with a labyrinth of paths around which to find your way.

Now, on the World UNESCO World Heritage list the story goes that the administrator was in fact a government official that retired with some money, and decided that by planting and growing he would in fact be nurturing the land, and thus be humble. However, he didn’t factor that his son would gamble away his hard work and effort in one night!

It was an extremely hot day, but the stone walkways and walls, along with the water features provided a cool atmosphere and even on what was a busy day, judging by the coaches in the car park, it was very pleasant indeed to stroll around.

Our journey onwards to Hangzhou was a bit daunting, three hours according to Jason. However, the traffic was kind to us and we did it in just over two. The scenery changed en route, and the houses at the side of the expressway became visibly grander, and the land seemed to be less beholden to farming. Apparently this is a “new” found wealth, and Hangzhou City reflects this. There are many new flash cars, and showrooms selling Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley and Maserati, to name a few, as well as some very upmarket looking shops with some very well know brand names on offer!

Shopping in Hangzhou

On arrival we drive straight to the ancient part of the city which now hosts a traditional row of local shops, many selling local teas, for which the area is famous. The drive from here to the hotel follows the shores of the famous Western Lake, which looks and feels very European, with many people strolling the shores, and even hiring the red bicycles with which to sight-see.

Our hotel is just past the end of the Lake, a twenty minute stroll. We have had a long hot day so we all have dinner and head for an early night, looking forward to a day in this pretty city tomorrow.

Garden of Master of the Nets

We were all sad to leave Shanghai this morning as we had passed some more “must do” activities very close to our hotel; for the girls, some amazing shopping, and for the boys, the National Science Museum! However, off we went to the city of Suzhou, a small city by China’s standards of just six million inhabitants!

Suzhou is famous for its gardens and it is to one of these that we head first. The Master of the Nets Garden is pretty much in the centre of the city, and it is a true oasis. It was used for a government official’s retirement, and so has a full suite of residential rooms as well as an amazing garden. There is a Master’s study in the inner garden and it is complete with full Ming style furnishings and architecture. The suites are constructed to take cognisance of Feng Shui, and so each set of doors adjoining the next room are offset to stop the elements pervading the building.

Choyers Silk Factory

The outside of the property has the usual rock and green garden that we have come to associate with the royal gardens that we have visited and in the centre of the buildings is the customary water to protect the buildings and their inhabitants. Today was a very hot day, (35 degrees) but in this garden all was cool and calm.

Suzhou is also famous for its silk weaving and we head to the traditional silk “factory” of Choyers. Here they still breed the silk worms and extract the silk from the cocoon in the traditional way. We were shown around the factory and whether you like the end result you have to appreciate the time and intricacy of the process. I certainly came out more informed than when I entered the building!

"Venice of the East"

By means of variety we didn’t take the bus to our hotel – we took a barge along The Grand Canal. The nickname for Suzhou is the “Venice of the East” and on the last leg of today’s journey it is easy to see why. At its narrowest the canal is just about wide enough to allow this barge through and along the way you can see the backs of these ancient canal side properties, wooden balconies and bridges, and even the original stone steps down to the water level.

Our hotel is just along the street from the older quarter where there are many bars and cafes, all to be explored after dinner!

Shanghai National Museum

Our first stop today is the Shanghai National Museum, which only takes us around twenty minutes from the hotel. The museum is set just behind People’s Square which is officially the centre of Shanghai, and it is a fantastic looking building, which was only completed in 1996. The building has a square base and a round top attached with arches; the building reflecting the ancient Chinese philosophy of the universe that the earth is square while the sky is round!

There is something for everyone in this museum of four floors; 130,000 pieces of national treasures, covering twenty one categories from bronzes to ceramics, calligraphy to paintings and even furniture. I found lots to occupy my two hours in there, and it was interesting to see who chose what topics as you certainly can’t cover all four floors in such a short time. The females were heavily biased towards the costumes and paintings, (Sugar and Spice!) whilst the men went for the coins and the furniture collection (Slugs and Snails!)

From the museum we left via the Peoples Square entrance to walk back to the bus. This city is such an opposite to Beijing which has a real sense of ancient history in the Forbidden City and is truly Chinese. Shanghai in contrast is a city that has a European feel, with a very modern twist, it is clean and green and even though it covers a smaller area, and is therefore more densely populated, there is much more of a feeling of space, and air!

The Bund in Shanghai is locally and nationally known as the Wall Street of China. It was originally mainly built in the early 1900s, and was to be demolished until a Chinese businessman made a plea to local government to save and refurbish the area. It now houses many of the international banks and the famous Waldorf Astoria of Shanghai. When standing on the shore of the Huangpu River, you could almost be on the shores of the River Thames in London, there is even a mini Big Ben. The elevated area alongside the river gives an amazing view of the “old” and the “new” the latter being the financial centre of Asia, with many head offices of major financial institutions having moved here from Hong Kong.

The elevated section is 1.7km long, but as it is totally flat it is a lovely walk with a gentle breeze and a rewarding view of East and West side of the River.

View from the Grand Hyatt Regency Hotel

The Jin Jaeo Tower houses the Grand Hyatt Regency Hotel from floor 55 to 88, however, on the 88th floor there is an observation platform. Wow! The elevator is an ear popping experience, and the view is stunning. A 360 degree panoramic view of the city, it is the only place to get a sense of the shape of the River and how the city has evolved around it. A must!

In England we have a Maglev that operates between Birmingham Airport and the Station; in Shanghai they have the same! The only difference is that this Maglev reaches 431 km per hour, and takes eight minutes to reach the airport from the city centre. Maglev stands for magnetic levitation, and this is what it does, the feeling is strange, but what a way to cover the miles.

Shanghai at night

The contrast between the two shores of the river is of course best viewed from the river, and even better is to view it from the river at night time. That is what we were to do on a Huangpu River Tour which left at around 7.40pm, dusk and returned forty minutes later. What a show! All of the “new” buildings were lit up to form the most beautiful light show imaginable, while the older buildings of the Bund were tastefully silhouetted against subtle lighting to show off their best attributes. It was truly awe-inspiring.

Tomorrow we head out of this wonderful city to the countryside again, and to the garden cities of Suzhou and Hangzhou – and we are looking forward to gardens galore, hot weather and the Grand Canal. However, I for one will be sad to leave this wonderful city, it feels really cosmopolitan and I do hope that I will return here for a longer break in the future.