China Trip, Summer 2006
After a fun trip to China in 2004, my family decided to go again with my relatives in California.
Shanghai - 07/30/06
After spending a relaxing day in LA, we were off to China. We arrived in Pudong, Shanghai around 6PM and were taken immediately to the heart of the city. On the way there, it was easy to mistake the highways for USA highways. With the exception of Chinese characters everywhere, it really looked about the same. As we neared the city, it almost looked just like NYC. The lights and video ads in the center of the city, what they call the "People's Center," was a reminder of Times Square. By the time we checked into our hotel, I was exhausted but still had to kick back and take in some Chinese MTV.
Hangzhou - 07/31/06
The first thing we did today was drive from Shanghai to Hangzhou. The first place we looked at was the Lingyi temple. As you may know, I love Buddhist temples. The statues they had in each temple were amazingly large and beautiful. There were also stone carvings on the side of large rocks, which were very impressive.
The next place is Hangzhou's famous West Lake, and the lotus flowers were in bloom. While it was beautiful, I have to say that the lake at Beijing's Summer Palace has it beat, even if the lake was man-made. We went on a short boat ride, which brought us close to the 3 stone towers that stand in the lake. Each of the stone towers has 5 circular windows. On nights with a full moon, they say you can see 33 moons on the lake when the stone towers are lit. 15 from each of the windows, 15 from their reflections, the real moon, the moon's reflection, and one in your heart.
Afterwards was the drive to Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain). The town at the foot of the mountain was a reminder of Guilin, that feeling of being untouched by urbanization. Tomorrow we head to the top of the mountain.
