| China 30th - Moved into Captain's hostel - more like a hostel in Oz - and went for a beer on the roof with an ozzie guy from my room. It was hot and sunny today. The view was awesome - overlooking the Bund and Pudong (where all the skyscrapers are!) Went for a walk along the Bund (by the river) where every chinese person and their dog was, taking fotos and just watching the buildings. Checked it out for a while then walked to the Bund history museam. Went to the Irish bar, O'Malleys to watch England Vs Ireland rubgy - cracking game, although the result wasn't what we wanted! Loads of ex-pats there; some were temp working whilst others were living here. 31st - After a late start, i checked out the internet and found a great dumpling shop where I could feast for about 20p. Bought a couple of Mao watches for Kath and I as we start our Chinese mystery tour next week and then wandered thru the main shopping streets - which seemed to be full of McD's and KFC (both are always full!) adn thru some mkts where u can buy fake designer gear for a few pounds. Went on a quick walk with a couple of guys from the room to the old part of Shanghai with all the windy lanes and 2 storey buildings that look as if they should fall down. Loads of small little shops there, selling nan bread and fruit - yum! Back to hostel and watched the others get very drunk (I am still dry, for almost 2 weeks now) and partied with them until we got kicked out of lobby. We went to rm where it got realy messy, thankfully I escaped at 1ish. 1/4 - April Fools Day - Bought my tkts for nanjing today - piece of cake. Sat on internet for 1.5hrs then thought about going to museam, but alas, by the time I was going to get there at 2.30pm, it was going to be shut in a couple of hrs after. So I wandered round the side streets some more then headed back and chatted with Eto, the Japanese guy in my rm. Sat and chatted with the folks in the lobby area - they went clubbing at 10ish, so I went to bed! Yeah, a nice early nite! The chinese love to spit - you hear them everywhere and everyone does it, its horrid! People are pretty wealthy in Shanghai and drive nice cars, dress well and most folk own a mobile. Prices can vary for us foreigners as they rip u off as most opportunities. People are staring at me all the time - just looking at my hair. Its pretty funny, I stare back which annoys some of them or makes them laugh. 2/4 - Nanjing Checked out the hostel adn headed to the airport style train station. Hopped on the packed train which was pretty comfortable and enjoyed the scenic 3 hr ride to Nanjing. The station was chaotic, people are milling about, I was offered various stuff to buy ranging from food to some sort of metal handle... Got into town and checked into the Foreign students dorm accom - we cannot mingle with the locals in case we corrupt them! Walked around town getting completely lost, although, I did find the Drum tower. It was used to signal warning/ceromony in past years. The rain started, so I headed home as i was getting soaked. My rucksack cannot hold a brolly! Sat and read the local propaganda newspaper and had some tea. Headed down to the net adn sat there for a while. Went across the rd to the bar for a beer and pizza. Back to bed for 9.30ish. I spoke to an American girl who is living there teaching English - i felt sorry for here, accom was dump and city wasn't too lively! 3/4 - caught the bus to the other side of town in my search for the ming ruins and museam. had to catch a tuk tuk as bus dropped me off well b4 target. Checked out the museam which was full of art/pottery/porcelain and jewellery. The only interesting bit was a suit made for dead noble made of Jade laced with silver thread - it was pretty amazing, and must have cost a bomb! Left the museam and checked out the city walls. When the MIng dynasty had Nanjing as it base, he built walls and moats round the city for protection. These are the biggest walls ever built for a city - I hear even bigger than Jerusalem! Checked out the ruins of Ming's palace - not much there but for 5 marble dragon bridges over the river, and yet I was charged to go into site - thankfully it was only 9p! I went looking for the Bell tower and gave up. Then on way back i realised I whad walked past it - it was nothing special as the tower was under scaffolding (still building it!) back to hostel for some tea and a much needed shower. 4/4 - Back to Shanghai Caught the train back to Shanghai which was a nitemare as I had to stand all the way. I managed to sit on the buffet table for a while, much to official's displeasure. I just said that I am foreign special. Chatted to some Chinese girls on train - its v sad that its so hard for them to travel...I guess communism is stilla live in some areas! Back to hostel for a serious washing and food. Sat and drank beer till about 1ish when the cold was getting too much ( I was only in shorts, as my pants were wet!) 5/4 - Party nite Went out looking for a Doc ofr some bites that I can't get rid of...no luck! So I gave up, and went to dumpling shop and then back to hostel. Met the others there and they were going to a park in the other side of town. So I joined them. Nice place, real shanghai folks go there to relax and use the peddleo's. They have submarine one's there with guns on top that fire water! Went out later for some lunch with chaps to a hotpot place - basically cook own fod which consists of meat/vegs/noodles and eggs. They supplied us with free beer, so we were happy! Back to hostel where I chilled for a while. Grabbed a shower and shave then had some beers. Tonight there were about 20 folks drinking in hostel. We drank till 10ish then went to windo's for some cheap beer then window's roadside on Maoming Lu -crazy place and I had too many tequila's! Place was full of westerners adn chinese women looking for Western men for their passports. Left there at 4ish... 6/4 - No more beers! Today was just a day of recovering and chatting about the previous nite - it started late and finished early, which was fine as the weather wasn't too great... It was funny to hear how drunk we were last nite. Went shopping round Yu Gardens (via dumpling shop) Back to hostel for some more sleep then went to hotpot place with 9 others from hostel. Nice and cheap. You cook meats/vegs + noodles in a soup pot bubbling away on the table. 7/4 - Travellers Life After getting up late at 11ish (the cleaners had come and gone!), I headed to the dumpling shop for brekkie - I amgonna marry that girl! Went to the Shanghai Museam. Pretty swish place and loads of stuff on porcelian/jade/pottery/coins and art. Good for a few hours, then its culture overload! Back to hostel for dinner/chat and diary catch up. 8/4 - After a usual slow start I caught the bus to Shanxi rd. This is where all the markets are - huge,selling all kinds of fake stuff. Pretty good stuff there! Also niteclub/bar area is nearby, so I checked them out and tried to remember where I went to on Sat. Checked out the wee frenchtown area, then back to base. Chatted with folks till about 1ish. 9/4 - Last nite I noticed that my rash under my arm had come back, so I headed to the Shanghai peoples hospital. Plush place in compaism to the local one. I had a quick chat with Doc, who prescribed me with some drugs. Loads of SARS precautions here - kinda scary! Cost around Y330 (or 25 quid). Back to hostel for brekkie and shower. On email then grabbed lunch with some of the guys. Slept for a bit today, then watched confesstions of an assasin on somebody's laptop - good movie! 10/4 - Kath's arrival On my strict regime of anti-biotics, so I will have to delay the drinking for a while...not!. Met Menno (from Magnetic Island, whom had just arrived!) and went for a wee wonder round town. Went to meet Kath at thedomestic airport - which proved to be a challenge. There were several routes served by the same bus, and I kept on getting on the wrong bus...I was dropped off to soon as wellso I walked to the airport via the taxi q and met a distressed Kath whose luggage was in Beijing...funny place for your bags to go! [they arrived the next day at the hostel]. Sat on the net for a while and then grabbed some dinner. Chatted for a bit, then she passed out, so I went and watched fight club for a while... 11/4 - 3rd tallest building in the world. Went for a wander round the old part of town, where we got lost in the small back streets - cool places! Introduced Kath to my fiancee at the dumpling place, then headed back to the hostel for Kath to change with newly arrived bag. Headed across Huangpo river with some others to Pudong. Went for a walk up the Jimmao tower (biggie!) Views were partially obsecured by all the smog, but the views of thebund were stll good. The view into the hotel lobby were impressive. The hyatt occupies floors 54-87 and has a lobby at the bottom with crazy lights all the way up... Went to a hotpot place with some chaps - nice! Back to hostel for some beers then headed to windows for some cheap beer. Chatted/danced and watched all the western men with Chinese women. Kath and I seemed to be more drunk than we expected, so at closing (2am) we headed to bed. |