I came, I saw, I learned

Am so grateful for the time I've spent in China. I initially came in with mixed feelings not knowing what to expect but I must say, I've loved my experiences in this beautiful country. It has so much to offer!

The 'CNN effect' sometimes gives a biased outlook of a place or a situation and it's always best to take it with a grain of salt. I didn't know much about China except for the pollution, being over crowded and that basically everything is made in China:). My outlook changed once I lived here! Yes, it is different but isn't any new place different to what we're normally comfortable with?

Some things I've loved:
There's never a dull moment! There's always a place to explore or visit. The shopping which can range from interesting and unique souvenirs in the alley ways, copy market and the huge department stores:) You can also do online shopping on Taobao...the Chinese version of Ebay:) Whatever you find in department stores or ordinary shops, there's always a cheaper version on Taobao! Other things I've loved are: visiting historical sites such as, the water villages, the great wall, temples, the food (the style of cooking varies from province to province), the way they've maintained the old architecture and historical sites and of course the new friends I've made.

Tea tasting is a must in China! I'm not very adventurous when it comes to eating or drinks but one thing that I love is tea tasting. I love dropping in to tea houses just to taste a sample of tea. My favourites are: ginseng oolong, puerr tea, jasmine and chrysanthemum tea. 

 What you will need if you are planning to visit China:
-an open mind- things will be different so accept it and enjoy the experience.
-camera or mobile phone that takes good pictures
-an adventurous attitude
-do your research, read about tours, the culture, food, people etc.

The Peace Hotel

The Peace Hotel is located on the Bund. It's well known for its beautiful and classy deco....there is so much history all around.

Shanghai Jewish History

I did not know that the Jews had a strong connection to Shanghai. During World War II, 20,000 European Jews fled to Shanghai. It was one of the few places in the world they could go without a visa, and one of the few that put no limit on the number of Jews it would accept.

When I heard about their story I really wanted to visit the Jewish Museum to learn more.





There are 3 exhibition rooms with displays of photographs, scripts,videos and sculptors. The tour guide did a really good job explaining the history of the Shanghai Jews.

I was so engrossed in reading the pamphlets, and photo captions that the tour  guide asked if I was Jewish!


I learnt that there were different groups of Jewish settlers- There were the well off Jews from Baghdad who had already been living in Shanghai since the 19th century, then came the Russian Jews, then the Jewish immigrants from Germany and Austria. It was in the mid-1941 that refugees from Poland and Lithuania came to Shanghai.
If you like history, then this is a good place to visit.

The Ohel Moshe Synagogue. This was built in 1927 by the Ashkenazi Jews of Shanghai. It's no longer used as a synagogue, but is now a museum devoted to the history of the Jews in Shanghai.

Xiamen

Xiamen is in the Fujian province and is a major city on the southeast coast of the China. It took us more than 7 hours to travel down to Xiamen. Such a great place to escape to away from the winter cold.
One of the must see attractions of Xiamen is Gulangyu island. This island has no cars! This is a view of Gulangyu island from our hotel window.

 You would need a whole day to explore the island and wear good walking shoes!

The ferry across to the island was very cheap!

On the island there is a lot of great local shopping opportunities. If you like pearls then you can bargain for a pair of earrings or a necklace.

We spent the whole day there then caught the ferry back at about 4pm.

It was nice to have fresh seafood during the 4 days in Xiamen.

 

Beijing-The Great Wall and Temple of Heaven

I spent part of my Spring break in Beijing where I visited the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven.

 The Great Wall
There are numerous locations around Beijing where you can see the Great Wall. I chose the Mitianyu part of the Wall because it was recommended by friends. We left the hotel at 7am to avoid the traffic.
Standing on the Wall is breathtaking! It was amazing to see how the Wall stretched across mountains and down the sides! According to history, the first building began in the Qin Dynasty, more than 2000 years ago, and various dynasties have added bits, improved bits, or started up whole new sections of their own. Most construction took place in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Simply amazing!

Going down the steps was easy but climbing up was a different story!

We were blessed with fine weather that day so we were able to see the Wall. I met people at the base of the Wall who were going up for the second time because on their first visit it was too foggy to see anything.

This is at the base of the Wall. As soon as you get off the cable car,you are greeted with these sellers all trying to persuade you to buy souvenirs. You definitely need haggling  skills here!










The Temple of Heaven
 

This was another interesting place. It was where the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties held the ceremonies of worshiping heaven and praying for good harvests. If the emperor couldn't do it himself, an official was sent to the Temple to worship heaven.

 





 


The Temple area covers about 273 hectares. On one end is the Circular Mound Altar and the other end was the Altar of Prayers for Good Harvests. The site was buzzing with school kids on excursion, locals dancing and singing and tourist

This is the Imperial Vault of Heaven. It's the place where the tablets of the god of heaven are stored.



The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.

Inside the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. The 24 pillars represent the 24 solar terms.

Unfortunately we couldn't go in so we took photos from the side.

Winter

This was a very cold winter compared to last year. Here are shots from around my apartment.

The Oriental Pearl Tower-More of Shanghai

The Oriental Pearl Tower is an iconic symbol of the Shanghai sky line. I managed to get a lovely shot of it from the Bund side.

This is the Huangpu River which is the main river of Shanghai. It divides the city into east and west parts. On the east bank of the Huangpu River is the Bund.

The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall 
Located in People Square, the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall is a must to visit when in Shanghai.

I loved reading about the history of this city.

One thing I was really fascinated by was the huge scale model of  Shanghai which showed all existing and planned buildings... soooo amazing!!

When people ask me .."how big is Shanghai?" I just say the whole population of Australia can fit into Shanghai!!

You cannot fit the whole model of the city into one photo frame. That's how massive it is! This a good starting point before touring the city. When we first got here, we visited the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall then we took the big bus tour which gave us a really good picture of the city.