The Great China Adventure (part 1)
on Kirsten VSO (China), 31/Aug/2010 01:34, 34 days ago
It's been a while since I've written as in August I was away on my Great China Adventure with my mum. It all began in Danfeng, where my mum was invited to dinner with my landlady and offered goose head and donkey.At a hot pot restaurant with my friends in DanfengHappy street food seller in DanfengThen it was on to Xi'an where despite temperatures of 39 degrees C, we managed to fit a lot into our 3 days there.Of course, we went to see the terracotta warriorsA calligrapher in the painting marketThis is the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, built around 650AD to house Buddhist stone tablets brought back from IndiaThese people are looking at crickets for sale in tiny cagesThe Drum Tower at dusk. In the past, the drums would sound at regular intervals through the night to let the people know the timeThen it was on to Shanghai, where the temperature was a much more pleasant 28/29 degrees COutside the Yuyuan gardens - lots of pretty ponds, trees and old buildingsA detail on one of the buildings in YuyuanOne of my favourite day trips was to the City Temple in Shanghai, where lots of locals popped in to pray to a variety of gods, both Chinese ones and BuddhaAll ages were there...And Haibo, the cutesy Shanghai Expo character was EVERYWHERE!!One of the best sights in Shanghai was definitely the skyline seen from the BundBeautiful both during the day and at nightA view down the Huangpo riverThis was the Bund on a normal Tuesday evening, with tourists there to take pics of the skyline at night. I was SHOCKED - it was busier than Edinburgh at Hogmanay!Next stop was Hong Kong.And you can't visit Hong Kong without a trip on the Star Ferry from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon...Locals having dinner in a street market in KowloonDried squid for sale, Kowloon