Shanghai, Three Gorges Dam/Yangtze River Cruise and Macau with the Thai girlfriend

[S Landreth]

We’ll be spending the next few weeks in China and I’ll try to post updates on the things/places we see on a daily basis. I’ll also review each resort we stay at, after we leave.

This afternoon we landed in Shanghai and will be visiting Suzhou, Hangzhou, do a Yangtze River cruise for a few days passing the Three Gorges Dam and visit Macau before settling in Hong Kong for a few days.

Skyline

This trip was planned around a visit to Tibet but China has restricted traveling there for the past few months. If China lifts the restrictions while we are visiting we will try to rearrange a visit to Tibet if possible. However, I don’t think we’ll be visiting during this trip.

We have spent some time in China before but have not visited any of the destinations mentioned above except for Hong Kong.

Chinese Visa’s were no problem to obtain for either me (American) or the girlfriend (Thai) in Bangkok from the Chinese embassy as long as they have your itinerary.

Along the Bund

Dinner at the House of Blues & Jazz (food was great): http://www.houseofbluesandjazz.com/

[S Landreth]

Today we went to visit the Yuyuan Garden (Yu Garden)

Visited the Yu Bazaar

Went to the top of Jin Mao Tower (building on the right) to get some pictures.

Shanghai Museum (beautiful museum)

Xintiandi/Old French Concession (Shanghai French Concession)

Building where the first Chinese Communist Party meeting was held

Did a short Huangpu River Cruise

This evening we went to the Shanghai Circus World. I was able to click off a few shots even though we were not allowed to take any photos. Their site has better pictures so I’ll post a couple from that site (ERA-Intersection of Time). It was a good show and at one time there was 8 motorcycles in the sphere.

[Tickiteboo]

Nice TR - interesting pictures. Look forward to more....

[sunsetter]

great stuff, keep it coming, just reading a book about shanghai, and the bund was part of it,cheers for the pics!!

[The Ghost Of The Moog]

A friend did the Three Gorges a couple of weeks ago, and mentioned that with the waters quite high at the moment, the gorges were a bit disappointing.

[Bangyai]

]

Yummm ........ Artyfarty food. Lovely. Looks so nice it seems a pity to eat it.


Great thread. We're all going to enjoy this.

[S Landreth]

^&^^&^^^&^^^^Thanks everyone

Today we spent time with one of the girlfriends girlfriends, who is married and lives here in Shanghai. My girlfriend brought her some Thai sausage that she missed being away from Thailand for so long. The girlfriend had a concern about bringing this type of food into China but after we picked up our luggage we walk right out to the airport parking area. There was absolutely no customs check leaving the baggage area.

Her girlfriend took us to an artsy area called 50 Moganshan in Shanghai’s Art District. Some nice shops and most of them would not allow me to take pictures.

We took a ferry across the river (2 yuan/person) and walked back along the Bund, after we left her girlfriend.

Little about the place we are staying at in Shanghai. The resort is called The Peninsula Shanghai (The Peninsula Shanghai). It’s a beautiful place and the staff couldn’t be more helpful. The little bit of food that we have eaten here has been great. Nice pool, which I’ll be in when we get back Wednesday.

Dinner was at an Italian restaurant called 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo. Great Italian food: Otto e Mezzo Bombana – Shanghai

[Bangyai]

Looking at these pictures one thing strikes me very strongly. When I was a kid Mao Tse Tung was still alive and most of the buildings in these pictures hadn't been thought of yet, much less built.
People think that the progress in Thailand has been quick but China has really come a long long way in a very short time.
The other striking thing is how clean, well planned and litter free it all looks
Remarkable progress.

[godfree]

Thanks for posting these. Looking forward to the sequel.

[S Landreth]

^^I do see street cleaning crews out at most of the locations we have been visiting.

This morning we caught a train to Suzhou (Venice of the East) to visit the Garden of the Master Nets, Panmen Water Gate and the Lingering Garden.

Train ride,…….

Garden of the Master Nets,………….

Panmen Water Gate,……..

Lingering Garden,………..

[stickmansucks]

China is life France, without the Chinese it would be great :-)

[Phoenix]

Great pictures and an interesting thread. Thought about going several times but heard it was expensive compared to Thailand so left it out. Might have to think again.

[natalie8]

Great thread and pics, SL. Let's see if I can green you.

[S Landreth]

^&^^ Thank you both


Today we took a boat ride on the outskirts of Suzhou, in the town of Tong Li: Tongli , where there are tourist shops and restaurants along the canals. The boats here are able to accommodate small groups of passengers.

Some of the restaurants in the area look a bit iffy but we stopped and had a snack at Yuanye Coffee which looked a bit neater than the others.

We also visited another site inside of Suzhou called Shantang Street where you can also take a boat ride (with at least 15 passengers and visit some tourist shops: Historical Shantang St

We were told the best time the visit Shantang Street and take the boat ride would be during the evening hours.

After visiting both areas I would recommend visiting Tong Li if you have the time to travel about half an hour to the town.

Tong Li,..

Tong Li, Yuanye Coffee…….

Tong Li neighborhood,………

Shantang Street,.........

The hotel we stayed at while in Suzhou was the Shangri-La: Shangri-La Hotel Suzhou The hotel is alright and has a nice restaurant (Café Suu) downstairs where they offer a buffet. If you have any trouble with the language/communicating with the staff while at the hotel go upstairs (48th floor) and ask to speak to the manager. He’s an Australian, very helpful and has a good sense of humor.

It doesn’t take long to get back to Shanghai at 297 km/h.

[S Landreth]

Earlier this week I inquired about some Wind Turbines that I saw when flying into Shanghai. We were driven out to see them today. They are massive! Rotor diameter is 91 meters.

Little info about the wind farm. The Donghai Bridge Wind Farm is a 102 MW wind farm close to the Donghai Bridge, Shanghai and is capable of powering 200,000 households. It started producing and transmitting power to the mainland grid on July 6, 2010. It is the first commercial offshore wind farm in China.: Donghai Bridge Wind Farm

We had to cross over the Donghai Bridge to see the turbines. The Donghai Bridge used to be the longest cross sea bridge in the world (32.5 km or 14 miles): Donghai Bridge

We were also able to see the Yangshan port which will be the largest deep water port in the world when finished.

Tonight we ate dinner at another Italian restaurant called Issimo: Issimo Italian Restaurant In Shanghai

After dinner we walked along the Bund for the last time, this visit.

[S Landreth]

This morning we left for Hangzhou to visit the Lingyin Temple, Liuhe Pagoda and take a short boat ride on West Lake.

We left by train out of the Shanghai Hongqiao Train Station.

Lingyin Temple

Liuhe (Hangzhou Six Harmonies) Pagoda

West Lake (West Lake) where a poet/mayor oversaw the construction of the Su Causeway (dredged material from the lake) which connects the north and south sides of the lake.

Tonight we saw a show on the West Lake (Impression of West Lake). The few pictures that are posted below do not do the show any justice. The girlfriend took some good videos that I will try to put together and post at a later date.

[misskit]

Fantastic pics! Looking forward to more!

[Boon Mee]

Excellent stuff K. Landreth!

Headed to Mt. Tiamen (Zhangjiajie), Xi'an & Beijing in Nov with the missus. I'll try to post pics of that trip.

[S Landreth]

^&^^ Thank you both.

Boon, Xi’an is beautiful and might be a little chilly when you visit. We were there about two years ago and stayed at the Sofitel (nice place): Hotel Sofitel Xian. The Sofitel in Beijing is also nice.

Today we took a cruise on the Grand Canal, which is the longest canal/artificial waterway in the world ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canal_(China) ). The rest of the day was spent around West Lake where we took another lake cruise and walked the length of the Su Causeway before eating an early dinner at the Lou Wai Lou Restaurant (Lou Wai Lou Restaurant). We were told that the restaurant had been in business for 150 years and that their Begging Chicken was the best.

Grand Canal

West Lake. If you have the chance to visit, you might want to go on a weekday.

Lou Wai Lou Restaurant

[Bangyai]

Looks like Tubbytellyopolis .

This is such an interesting thread SL and great pictures. Are you still shooting with a Sony or have you upgraded ?

[S Landreth]

^Some of the pictures that are posted in this thread are from that same Sony camera that the girlfriend uses, but I have upgraded to a Cannon PowerShot SX30 IS.

We left Hangzhou this morning flying (China Eastern) out of Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport into Yichang to start our cruise down the Yangtze River. After landing in Yichang we had some time to waste before going to the boat so we spent some time in the city. Yichang seems to be a mining town.

Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport

Yichang

Starting point of the cruise

Little bit about the place we stayed at in Hangzhou. Sofitel Hangzhou West Lake which is bit old, but OK. If you ever travel here I would recommend another hotel; maybe closer to the lake, like the Shangi-La (renovated) which is right across the street from the lake.

Sofitel Hangzhou West Lake

[S Landreth]

First full day onboard and our first stop was a place called Tribe of the Three Gorges which was set up by the cruise company to show tourists how people lived in the area years ago. They did a nice job.

Later in the afternoon we visited the Three Gorges Dam (Three Gorges Project). We were told in ten years this dam would pay for itself.

Tribe of Three Gorges

Three Gorges Dam & Locks. The construction you see is the building of a future lift.

[S Landreth]

Late afternoon yesterday we passed through the Three Gorges Locks. There are two locks each containing 5 steps/stages. It takes between 4.5 to 5 hours to pass through the locks.

Today after passing through the Wu Gorge we stop at Wushan for a shore visit to the Lesser Gorges on the Daning River.

In the afternoon we stopped at the White Emperor City after passing through the Qutang Gorge.

Three Gorges Locks

Lesser Gorges area

White Emperor City (there used to be a city under that bridge)

[S Landreth]

Today we made our last (tourist) stop at the City of Ghosts before disembarking tomorrow.

Victoria Cruises was the line we traveled on during this part of our trip. It was nice cruise, the food and the staff were fine.

[misskit]

^ That's a great stateroom. How many days cruise?