Last Day

So many days have flown by in a blur of fun. It's sad that I have to leave, but all good things must come to a end eventually. I haven't updated in a while due to lack of internet and lack of time. I'm now back in San Diego, with mom fast asleep on the couch. This is going to be the last time I'll update my blog. So let me recap the last few days.

We traveled to Hangzhou, about an hour away by speed train. It was so pretty and worth the train ride! From the train station we headed off to Starbucks (♥). Afterwords we headed off towards the lake, from there we took a boat tour to two different islands. The one southern side of the lake is the man-made island of Three Pools Reflecting the Moon. Which was really pretty! After the lake we spent the day wandering around Hangzhou, buying stuff. Before we knew it it was time to go back home.

The next day we went to Fudan University, were Judy's husband works. The tour was so interesting, and the big statue of Mao Zedong. Then we spent the rest of the day with Grace and Gina at the bookstore. To conclude our day we went to a vegetarian restaurant near a temple, which was so delicious!

We spent our few remaining days wandering around. However now my journey has come to a end. So farewell!

Thirteenth Day- 8:37pm Saturday

Today we journeyed to Suzhou, by a 45 minute train. We started out by renting a tour van for 150 yuan, then took off to the gondolas. It was so fascinating traveling down the river, seeing modern and old flash between your eyes. The driver of the boat allowed us to go on the top to film our surroundings.

After that, we went to our drivers favorite menu and had some delicious food. Susan, Judy and Mom were raving about the fish (which I refused to eat, I gave fish up). The driver got free food, and we spent the most we ever spent on a meal. This was despite the fact we specifically asked for non-expensive food.

Pan Men was our next stop. It was a beautiful garden, surrounded by trees and rocks. We gave the fish some lemon wafers, and ate a few ourselves. There was an area in which they trapped incoming enemy boats then they killed them. It was wonderful until we went to the bathroom. Lets just say squatting with a 4 1/2 foot wall is not my cup of tea.

Then we traveled to the nine story (north temple) pagoda, which I climbed despite having a sick stomach. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking, you could see the whole city. We also viewed a small temple nearby and watched several monks playing Mahjong (which I can proudly now play).

Afterwords we went to the silk factory followed by some shopping! If you would like to view more pictures from today, click (here) If you would like to view videos from today, click (here)

Twelfth Day- 9:19am Friday

HAPPY NEW YEAR
I haven't been writing often, since we've been so busy! We did so many things! The day we got back from Beijing, we just hung out in pure laziness. On Wednesday we were supposed to go to Suzhou, "The Venice of china". With its many water canals, unfortunately the tickets were sold out so we wandered around and made our way to a temple, inside we found a amazing vegetarian buffet. Then we headed off to a famous book store were we bought a ton of cute books. On Thursday, we all slept in (we stayed up late watching criminal minds) so then we went to a noodle restaurant for lunch. We went back to Xintiandi, since Susan hadn't seen it. We found a lot of great bargins. This was followed by a lovely dinner and karaoke. Afterwords we watched criminal minds, and fell asleep.
That was a quick summary of what we have been doing.

Ninth Day-8:04am Tuesday

We just got back from Beijing, by overnight train. What a wonderful adventure we had there! The train was fun, and the food was delicious! We did so much in Beijing, that I had no time to update my blog! So here is what you missed!

First Day: Temple of Heaven (there is videos too!) Hot Pot lunch and The Forbiden City (view here)

The Temple of Heaven complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilizations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries. The Temple of Heaven underwent a 47 million yuan (5.9 million USD) restoration in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Summer .

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.

Second Day: Summer Palace and Olympic bird's nest

The Summer Palace was a summer home for the Emperor of China. It Includes a man made lake which covers 3/4s of 2.9 square kilometers of land. It includes many temples (which Judy and the rest got lost in). Even a boat made out of pure marble built for the Empress.

The Olympic bird's nest is where the race track and the being of the 2008 olympic games. The building is so interestingly shaped. It cost about $423 million stadium it is the world's largest steel structure

Third Day: Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Ming Wax Museum, Ming Tombs, Jade Factory and China's Flag Raising

We took a tour to all these places for about 100 yuan ($15 US Dollars) at our first stop, the flag raising took place in front of the forbidden city in 7:30 A.M. It was amazing! After we headed off to the great wall were we played in the snow, and climbed up the wall. The Ming tomb museum gave us so much information.

Fifth Day- 8:46pm Thursday

Happy Christmas!
We started the day with some pastries from a nearby bakery. The red bean buns were so soft and warm, a nice smell wafted in the air creating a homey feeling. Then off to church went the family, and mom and me stayed at home before going to the super market.

On our way to the super market, we were distracted by a shop filled with cute little trinkets. We stopped and spent a hour looking through it, finding many treasures. Vowing not to stop again, we failed at the sight of another adorable shop! The good thing about China is that everything is cheap, so you don't have to worry about wasting your money!

Somehow, we managed to make our way to the market without buying anything else. In the market, we bought plenty of fresh produce. For 5lbs of oranges its less then 25 cents. It was so funny looking at all the signs of badly translated English. For example, we were going down a flat escalator and there was a sign reading "Be careful for not trip on stairs" What stairs where them to trip on?

Later we had a lovely brunch at a restaurant called "aqua". It was nice and modern. The menu was as follows.
Appetiser: Fresh bread, olive oil and vinegar, a tomato brucestta and bell peppers
First Course: Kabobs with different cheeses and vegetables or a salmon salad
Second Course: Pumpkin Soup and Cinnamon bread
Third course: Turkey Dinner, Fish Dinner
Fourth: A selection of deserts
It was very nice!
View Pictures Here
We are going to go open presents now!
Funny signs

Fourth Day- 9:29pm Wednesday

Today we visited the Yuyuan Gardens, It was so pretty! Everywhere you looked was a array of bright green leaves and plants. I am rather tired so I will just give you the link to the pictures and go to sleep!
Here
http://picasaweb.google.com/amdamrau/NewAlbum122508105PM#slideshow/5283846756969703010

Third Day- 6:28pm Tuesday

Cars zoom down a crowded a Shanghai street, oblivious to the pedestrians crossing haphazardly through them. Let's just face it: the cars, trucks and motorcycles could care less about what they hit. So today, after breakfast we hurried our way through the street over to the market. Vendors were everywhere, selling everything you could ever imagine, from steaming hot chestnuts to ear cleaners. We spent the rest of our day, wandering through the stalls in the chilly, perfect weather. Yesterday everybody wore 6-7 layers of clothing (I wore about 3) and today about 3-4 layers (I wore a thin turtleneck). Everybody keeps talking about how cold it is, but to me its not!

Anyways, I am kind of tired of writing so I leave you with the link to today's pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/thatonespazzygirl13/Shopping?pli=1&gsessionid=Coz6-UaB82mPNGaS4_j9Vw&feat=directlink