Time: 10:34 AM
Date: July 3rd
Day 5
We flew over to Hangzhou, which I have never even heard of before that day, but Gwen lives there right now! So, that's pretty cool even if I didn't get to see her. The first place we went to was the West Lake (Uh.. I think.) I was super, super tired that day and I wasn't really paying attention to anything. They took us on a little boat and drove us around and showed us interesting things. I was kinda half asleep, but it's all good. The lake was really pretty and so were the surroundings. I do remember the Baochu Pagoda though, which was made for prayer.
After that, we went to the Yue Fei Temple, which was a little walk away from the West Lake. The temple was built in honor of Yue Fei, who was a famous general and the model of loyalty in China. There were huge statues and elaborate wall paintings there and it was interesting. When we were done, it started raining and we had to walk all the way back to the bus. Repeat of Beijing, much?
Next, we went to go have tea. I don't remember much about this... So, it must've not have been exciting. It was one of those show and sell things. After that, we went to see a show called The Romance of The Song Dynasty, located in this little theme park looking area. I was this close not to going because I was really tired, but I went anyways and am I glad I did. It was one of the most spectacular shows I have ever seen. The props, technology, costumes, acting and everything was just so on point. There were scenes when half the stage turned into a lake and rain came from the sky and scenes were actors literally would appear out of nowhere from all directions. I die. Definitely worth going to. After the show, we drove a few hours to Suzhou to sleep for the night.
Day 6
The first place we went to was the Lion Grove Garden which housed several cool artifacts, but the main exhibit was the crazy pretty gardens. The coolest part were all of these rocks that intertwined with eachother and created this sort of maze that you were able to go into and climb around to take pictures. It was super fun.
Next, we went to a temple but I don't know what it was called. I think it might've been the Hanshan Temple, but I'm not sure. I just remember there were religious stuff everywhere and it was really cool. I also remember a bridge... if that helps.
Next was a show and shop place. Silk is the major producct of Suzhou, so we went to a place that showed how they got silk, how it's used and the products
After that, we left Suzhou and went to Shanghai. Shanghai is ridiculously beautiful and have the biggest and most elaborate buildings ever. I fell in love. The first thing we did in Shanghai was go shopping. First, we went to this one section that had the main typical Beijing stores and restaurants. People were everywhere. It was so crazy and I was getting a headache just being around everyone. It was similar to the US, nothing too different about it. After that, we went to a different section that was more tourist-oriented with less brand stores and more cheap stores. I managed to get a ton of stuff there because I went to the equivalent of the dollar store. Oh, there was also an H&M. There were also a bunch of people peddling their goods on the street. It's so annoying because they harass you until you buy stuff or until you snap on them. It got old quick.
At night, we rode a ferry around Shanghai and saw the city as it lit up. It was super beautiful.
Day 7
Last day in China!
First, we went to the Jade Buddha Temple. It had some of the coolest statues ever. The grand hall had like 30 giant statues in it. The jade buddha was also incredibly cool. Next, we went to a show and sell place, but this time, it was for pearls. They showed how to tell the difference between real pearls and fake pearls (apparently, real pearls are not all perfectly round.) and then people got a chance to buy stuff. This one lady got a pearl neclace for $500. Crazy. Next, we went to this scenic area where we looked out over this lake and got to see the city. It wasn't anything special, but it was still nice.
Once again, we went to another show and sell place. This one took forever because it was jewelry but the guy that was showing us around kept on giving discounts on the products. One bracelet was like 135 yuans, but he sold three for 100 yuan. He also marked down two necklaces for 100 yuans and people lost their shit. People were just buying things left and right and idk, money was flying every which way. It was kind of hilarious. I got a few bracelets to give as gifts.
More show and sell, this time it was at a steel place that did a lot of kitchen appliances. I felt like I was in heaven because I'm weird and I love watching those late night infomercials where they sell you 543249 different types of knives and demonstrate how to use it. They basically did the same thing here. The knife place was also hooked onto this other building that literally was like a maze of doom because it was one long hallway of products. It was seriously the longest walk ever of people just trying to sell you stuff. I thought it was just chocolate at first, but then it was coffee, toys, clothes, disney stuff, makeup, etc... I was like wtf?!
Finally, we flew home with a transfer in Shenzhen. At this point, everyone was tired to death to the point where we were all sprawled on the floor with our shoes off. Touring is draining!
Currently, I'm chilling in Vietnam and I'm coming home in a few days!
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