Any trip to Shanghai would be incomplete without visiting the world famous waterfront – The Bund (上海外滩). It was once part of the foreign concession and out-of-bounds to locals. The Bund is now Shanghai’s financial hub, also known as “Wall Street of the Far East”. As there are many building architectures that date back to the centuries, the Bund is symbolic of Old Shanghai.

While taking pictures along the Bund, a stranger approached me….a strange with a moustache wearing a cap. I initially thought he wanted to rob me…hahaha…Later he declared his intention and that was to sketch me.

Taking a quick glance at my watch, I was game for it as the sketch would take 10 minutes and there was more than enough time to return to the designated meeting point for the tour group. We negotiated on the price and agreed on RMB 20 (about S$4).

While the artist continued to sketch using a charcoal pencil, I was soon aware of the fact that there was a crowd gathering to watch the artist and his model both at work – the former displaying his craft and the latter his patience.

The Ang couple from my tour group also walked past. These 2 photos were taken by Mr Ang (thks…) as he thought it was too good a shot to miss. Agree…agree…

Yes, continue to sit still & smile

And here’s the final sketch portrait! Unveiling…Gosh…it’s almost lifelike..I’m going to frame it up when I go back. It’s another one of the Shanghai memories for me

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It’s my second day in Shanghai. And the first stop today is Madame Tussauds Shanghai. I’ve visited the Madame Tussauds exhibition at World Trade Centre years ago when it was brought into Singapore. I remember I was still in uni then…i guess…

At Madame Tussauds’, everything is life-sized. It’s like seeing the real celebrity in his skin. Visitors like us are given an opportunity to get close up to the stars (which we can’t get access to in real life) and then take some pictures. If you want to get close and chummy, there’s no one stopping you too…hehehe…

A huge Yao Ming 姚明 greeted us before we took the lift to Madame Tussauds on the 10th floor of 新世界商厦. Yao Ming is huge. For the record, the star player for Houston Rockets stands at 2.29m. I’m a mere dwarf standing next to him, man…

2.29m Yao Ming – any takers?

At the main entrance, we were greeted by yet another famous Chinese icon – Liu Xiang 刘翔. Liu Xiang is a Chinese 110m hurdler, an Olympic Gold medalist, the reigning World Champion and the world record holder in the 110m hurdles at 12.88 seconds.

Glory for China

The museum is divided into different sections. Among the various sections, I particularly like the glamour and gossip sections…hehehe…After all, what is life without a little stardust and grapevine right?

A rather sombre and frail looking Tony Leung greeted me when I stepped into the museum. Hey, whatever happened to the suave Tony who acted in the French hit “The Lover” where he bared his butt cheeks? No wonder none of the ladies in the tour group bothered to get close to him. Poor Tony…I think he’s more comfortable being left alone.

A frail looking Tony Leung

As compared to Tony, this lady was a hit. She’s Rosamund Kwan – the perennial beauty. I think she must be in her late 40s, but her complexion is still so good. Envy envy…Both guys and gals clamoured to pose with her. And of course, me too

With Rosamund behind the Shanghai night scene

Vicky Zhao Wei & Cecilia Cheung

Being star struck is a real understatement. Everywhere you turn, you see celebrities and stars. I think the museum people really had a hard time deciding who gets exhibited here huh…but Chinese stars or Western stars, they are all bunched together. For once, no race conflict…phew…Madonna, Julia Roberts, Aaron Kwok, Tom Cruise, David Beckham, Bruce Lee and many many more…

If Madonna can open her legs, so can I :p

My favourite female movie star – Julia Roberts

Aaron Kwok & Coco Lee

Sorry Katie, I’m borrowing Tom Cruise…

Me for Zhang Yimou’s next film, together with Michelle Yeoh?

With so much eye candy to oogle and photograph, no wonder I was really kept busy at the museum. To be honest, it was not only me, but the people who helped me to take photos as well…hehehe…

Me with Twins

Let’s sing with Na Ying & Joey Yung…

Michael Jackson & Kylie Minogue

She’s Mum’s idol. Also mine. Theresa Teng.

With bad boy Robbie Williams

Marilyn Monroe in her 7 year old itch costume

Audrey Hepburn looking stunning as ever

Guess I was quite disappointed when I saw Louis Koo. On screen, he’s always being portrayed as the cool guy…but in real life, he’s actually quite skinny and has no chest! oops…hmm…guess the camera lies too huh?

Blue haired Louis Koo?

Here’s everybody’s all-time hero. The one who sells jerseys by the seconds. Yes, David Beckham…looking suave and sharp…in his new jersey.

Bend it like Beckham

Me looking regal like Prince William

When I saw Bruce Lee, I shouted for joy. He’s the REAL kungfu master – the rest can just stand aside please.

My hero Bruce Lee & screen hero James Bond 007

Albert Einstein anyone?

At the exit of the museum stood Andy Lau. I couldn’t get close to him coz he was protected by barricades. But I read from Chinese reports that this Andy Lau has a real beating heart and girls have been touching him all over, going gaga over his heartbeat. No wonder the museum people had to change Andy’s clothes so often…

Forever youthful Andy Lau

And of course, we must thank one great lady for daring to dream big and fulfilling it for the betterment of all mankind – Madame Tussauds. Thank you Madam!

Madame Tussauds

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It’s our first day in Shanghai…the last city of our whirwind Jiangnan tour. And we are going to spend three days here.

Today looks like an exciting day. Guess everyone was kind of disappointed when we saw Lake Tai (太湖) this morning. It was nothing compared to West Lake. To be honest, there was no scenery to speak of. And besides, it was dirty….

But Shanghai as its name suggests should offer something more exciting. It’s been a long long bus ride from Wuxi to Shanghai – 4 hours in fact. Wow! And here we are finally at Shanghai.

We had early dinner today as we had two missions to accomplish before night falls. Err…to be accurate, before the real night beckons. Coz when it hits 5pm, it’s already like 9pm back home in Singapore – pitch dark skies save for the street lamps. Nights are long during autumn days.

We are going for a river cruise down the Huangpu River (黄浦江游览）. It’s something I’ve been looking forward – to be able to soak in Shanghai’s night scene aboard a ship.

The queue to the cruise starts here

On board the cruise ship, we were given an option to remain in the cabin (where it’s warm and cosy) or to move to the deck (where it’s much windier). I chose the latter and was not surprised that most of my tour group friends too followed suit. After all, how often do you get your hair all ruffled right? Heck the wind, just soak in the scenes!

The cruise ship flag fluttering strongly in the wind

The Oriental Pearl Tower taken from the cruise boat

See what I mean? Ruffled hair…

Night scene of Shanghai Pudong

After the cruise down Huangpu River, we were clamouring for more. And we were not disappointed. Next stop was to ascend the world’s third tallest building (tallest in Asia though) – the Oriental Pearl Tower. It’s a TV tower standing at 468m (1535 feet) .

From the observation deck which was circular in shape, we moved freely to take in the night view of Shanghai Pudong from way up high. It was indeed a sight to behold.

View from the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower

Come soak in the fantastic view of Shanghai city

Tallest in Asia, third tallest in the world

The magnificant Oriental Pearl Tower

At the base of the Oriental Pearl Tower

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After the tour of the San Guo Ying Shi Cheng and dinner, the next itinerary in Wuxi was shopping. Yeah yeah…one of my favourite pastimes…:)

A pity we were only given 1 hr to shop…That’s not enough…I could almost hear myself shout out loud. After all, being visitors in a foreign land, we would definitely need some navigation and directions to find what we want correct?

I remembered the tour guide saying “don’t cross over to the other side of the road. Just stick to the mall will do.” By mall, she was referring to the Grand Parkson Shopping Mall, a business collaboration between Wuxi government and Malaysia.

After wandering in the mall for half an hour, I settled for a shirt which was on discount. 10%. Bought it coz I liked the stripe design on the front. Very cool…

White shirt with stripe motifs

The rest of the mall looked boring as it carried the same stuff I could find in Singapore – so there’s really no point in lugging it back home. And besides, there was no discount.

The adventurous spirit in me surfaced. I crossed over to the other side. As the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side. How true.

Me at 崇安寺 bazaar

I was glad I crossed over coz I bought another shirt – a translucent one (at half the price of the one I bought at Grand Parkson) . See what happens when you are too obedient and follow rules all the time?

Translucent white shirt

And by a stroke of luck, I found my beloved momo bears too in a sleepy corner of the bazaar. It was actually in the basement level of the bazaar. Who goes there right? But hey then again, the basement is always the most happening… And the bears are even cheaper than the ones I bought in Bangkok. So I bought 10 bears.

More momo bears to add to my collection

No wonder when I brought my bears and shirts up the bus, my tour group just marvelled at my shopping skills. Hahahaha…

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坐在旅行巴士里也忘了有多久。。。时睡时醒。。。睁开眼睛后才发现终于到了无锡。我对无锡的第一个印象是天气好冷好冷、天色好暗好暗。当时还下着绵绵细雨，再加上空中的雾笼罩着，使我第一次真正怀念家的温暖。

旅行巴士把我们载到三国影视城。三国影视城是中国最大的电影电视制作基地，有许多中国大型的古装剧都是在此拍摄的，例如中央电视台是为拍摄八十四集电视连续剧 《三国演义》等。

和大门的小兵合照

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The Gate of China, Zhong Hua Gate is the southern gate of Nanjing city. It is the greatest ancient city gate in China and the city gate with the most complex structure in the world.

Welcome to Nanjing

The city wall of Nanjing was built from 1360 to 1386 under the founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang. In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang was crowned Emperor, and made Nanjing his capital. The southern and eastern sections of the old city wall from the Tang dynasty were incorporated into the new wall. The northern and eastern sections were built afresh. The city wall was 33.676 kilometres long. It was 14-21 m high; 14.5m thick at its base, and 4.9m thick at the top. Thirteen gates were built into the wall, and the enclosed area was the largest of any walled city in China.

Sign fixed on the wall next to Zhong Hua gate entrance

Zhu Yuanzhang devised an ingenious way of making the artisans and builders put in their best effort in constructing the gate. He made them inscribe their names and other details on the stone slab. If there was any stone slab that did not make the grade, the artisan and his family would be executed. Needless to say, the gate’s quality is unsurpassed.

See the inscription on the stone slab?

Zhong Hua gate has weathered wind and rain for 600 years. It still holds its original state except for the wooden structure had been destroyed and some features on the wall constructed of sticks and stones. It is rare in the world for its vast scale and unsophisticated style.

And Zhong Hua gate when lighted up at night is really beautiful

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After the morning boat cruise down West Lake, we proceeded to our next destination – Mei Jia Wu Longjing (梅家屋龙井茶) tea plantation. The tea plantation is located towards the end of a windy windy road. The tour guide was sharing that there wasn’t a road leading to the tea plantation until the Hangzhou governor bit the bullet and constructed the road. Initially, residents living there raised a hue and cry as they felt their sanctuary had been intruded upon. But after the road was built, business soared and the governor was held in high esteem.

What really astonished me was another fact. Most ladies working on the tea plantations are single, reason being they are automatically barred from working on the plantations after they marry. So unless they marry some rich chap, think it’s still better for them to remain on the tea plantations. After all, after so many years of living among the tea, what else can they possibly do right?

Chado (茶道)- the way of tea

Me at Mei Jia Wu (梅家屋)

Posing in front of the tea hills

Tea & more tea…

This is the first time I’m visiting a tea plantation. Everywhere I turned, I saw more tea plants. So this is how a tea flower looks like…

Closed up shot of tea leaves & flowers

Longjing tea is perhaps the most famous variety of green tea from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China where it is produced mostly by hand and has been renowned for its high quality, earning the China Famous Tea title. Longjing is divided into seven grades: Superior, Special, and then 1 down to 5.

‘Superior’ is also known as 皇帝茶 whereas ’special’ is also known as 姑娘茶. To learn more about these two varieties, we stepped into the explanation hall.

Welcome to the world of tea

As the name suggests, 皇帝茶 is the best grade of Longjing tea. You need to take only a small amount of it using your thumb and second finger. That wee bit is enough to be mixed with 1 litre of water and be consumed for the next 3 days. Wow! It’s coz of the concentration of the tea components. I especially like the fragrance of the 皇帝茶…

As for 姑娘茶, you need to use the first three fingers to lift that moment of tea to be mixed with lukewarm water (also 1 litre) .

Regardless of which tea variety, all tea is being plucked only by ladies as they are known to have more dainty fingers.

皇帝茶 for our sampling

Me sipping tea…

Me the modern zither player

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We woke up much earlier this morning. Morning call was at 6am. All coz we wanted to be one of the first few to ride in the boat down West Lake (西湖). According to the tour guide, this was most advisable so that we would avoid the human traffic later in the day.

No trip to Hangzhou is complete without a visit to West Lake. The West Lake is like a shining pearl inlaid on the vast land of China, reputed for beautiful scenery, a multitude of historical sites, brilliant cultural relics and a profusion of native products. According to legend, the West Lake was a heavenly jewel fallen to earth.

There are a few routes to reach West Lake. Perhaps the most popular one was through the Sudi Causeway (苏堤).

Directional signs showing Sudi Causeway

Sudi Causeway (苏堤) was built to commemorate the great poet Su Dongpo (苏东坡), who also happened to be the mayor of Hangzhou.

Story behind the Sudi Causeway

Poet & mayor Su Dongpo

I particularly liked the air surrounding West Lake. It was very fresh. No wonder Hangzhou people all look so relaxed, energetic and youthful.

After a short walk, we were asked to board a boat at the boarding point. What a name for the boat 满江红. It reminds me of a poorly done assignment clad in red instead. Hahaha…

At the boarding point

Me aboard the 满江红 boat

Boat heads towards West Lake

A while later, while admiring the scenery (or lack of clarity of it coz West Lake is always surrounded with a layer of mist 360 out of 365 days), the boat soon reached the middle of the lake and stopped for us to take pictures.

Mist surrounds West Lake like a mysterious cloak

In the middle of West Lake

In the middle of West Lake 2

I spotted a pair of Mandarin ducks swimming lovingly in the waters of the West Lake. As we all know, Mandarin ducks are always together as it shows how devoted to each other they are.

Pair of Mandarin ducks

Our boat on its return trip

It’s autumn now and when the wind blows, it gets exceptionally chilly. We were told we won’t be able to see any lotus flowers in bloom (that’s in spring). True enough – I only caught sight of lotus leaves in abundance, including many dried ones as well.

Lotus leaves in abundance

Nonetheless, that did not dampen my spirits. After all, the beautiful scenery is more than enough to compensate. In fact, the Hangzhou people have voted for their most beloved 10 best West Lake scenes (西湖十景）. These 10 best West Lake scenes are spread out across the 4 seasons which means I’ve got to stay in Hangzhou for a year to take in all 10 different scenes.

Not quite possible though but to be able to view 1 scene is of some consolation at least. That’s the deal we got when the tour brought us next to “Watching Goldfish on Flowery Stream” (花港观鱼）.

This is the exit actually

We were given some time to walk around the gardens. The picturesque sceneries and cool climate brought me instant happiness. You can never get this back in Singapore. Never in a million years. No wonder wedding couples too were posing with grace here (vis- a- vis the sweaty couples posing on man-made Sentosa?)

Posing and enjoying the breeze darling…

Pavilion among the greens & waters

Reflections, waters & greens

Time out for me… :p

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The performance tonight at the Dongpo Cinema (东坡剧场) promises to be one of world-class standard. To be honest, I haven’t watched a Chinese stage performance before so I really can’t comment. The ones I mostly watch are Western productions, and of course, not forgetting the transexual show in Pattaya and a-go-go show in Bangkok.

Dongpo Cinema (东坡剧场)

I stepped into the cinema with much anticipation. It was to watch the “Night of West Lake” (西湖之夜).

Splendid performance worth watching

There were many stories compressed into the slightly past an hour stage show. But from the moment it started, it was impressive all the way. From the early days of the Qin dynasty to legends such as Liang Shan Po & Zhu Ying Tai, to Hangzhou’s tea culture. The garish costumes were good to look at, the songs pleasant to the ears.

China during its Qin Dynasty days

The acrobatic skills of Chinese performers

Liang Zhu before becoming butterflies

月圆花好 – boys meet girls

What I particularly liked was the last act – the thousand hand Kuan Yin (千手观音). There was a similar performance that was played at the Esplanade earlier but I missed it so watching this one was more than enough to make up for it.

The thousand hand Kuan Yin act

After the “Night of West Lake” show, I can only raise both my hands (and feet included) . Kudos to the Chinese performance. Well done! I enjoyed myself very much

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In all fairness, while toiletry standards have much improved, the food so far has only been so so. Nothing much to shout about really. But each city has its own speciality – Nanjing has its salted duck, Wuzhen its farmers’ meal, Wuxi its spare ribs, Shanghai its xiaolong bao. Similarly, Hanzhou has its Dongpo Pork. Dongpo what?

One of the best restaurants thus far

It’s Dongpo pork. Dongpo pork is Hangzhou’s trademark dish. To eat dongpo pork is to begin to understand the role of fat in making meat taste good. That was what we were told when we stepped foot into The Grandma’s Restaurant (外婆家).

The dish is named after revered Song Dynasty poet, artist and calligrapher Su Dongpo, who is supposed to have invented, or at least inspired it. And this Dongpo pork needs at least four hours during which time it is simmered twice, braised, sautéd and steamed.

Dongpo pork

I wasn’t prepared to eat the Dongpo pork when I saw it. As it was made from a slab of pork belly, there was obviously a lot of fat evident. Yieks! So I did what was the next best alternative – remove the fatty bits and eat only the lean meat, sans the gravy of course. My first taste of dongpo pork tasted no different from the other lean pork types which I have tasted back home. Guess it’s just the name. Dongpo pork.

Btw, The Grandma’s is one of the best restaurants in my entire Jiangnan itinerary. I really enjoyed the food. Thumbs up!

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