Qing Ming Jie 清明节: Wuyuan 婺源

Well, it was the tomb sweeping holiday in China and we were invited to go to Wuyuan with the Shanghai Engineering group. We would spend three days out in the mountains walking, enjoying fresh air, and absorbing beautiful scenery. The whole weekend would cost 300 RMB ($43.79)per person, all expenses included.

The trip started out with an early morning five hour bus ride. When I wasn't attending meetings on the phone, I was either sleeping or listening to my mp3 player. We would stop for lunch in Huang Shan City. A week earlier I had been here for the most famous bike race in China. After lunch we would ride a few more hours to our destination.

Our first stop was a small town with some rape flowers. These flowers are used to make canola oil which is used in cooking. Also, it is used to manufacture bio diesel fuel for motor vehicles. This application is not that good considering the N2O bi product of this fuel is worse than CO2. Of course, the pollen coming from these flowers is not good for anyone with asthma or hay fever, but it is so beautiful to see endless fields of yellow.

After visiting this area, we would climb higher up the mountain and see a beautiful lake. The lake was beautiful situated between many mountains and we saw a fishermen on the lake casting his luck.

After a brief stop for pictures, we headed to the place we would spend the night. It was a little village at the footsteps of some mountains surrounded by beautiful yellow sea of rapeseed.

We had dinner and then the adventure wasn't meant to last. I received an emergency phone call and had to return to the office to work the following day.

The Beauty of Huangshan

Our last day in was spent on a 50 km ride to the Huangshan cable car station. It would be a 900 meter climb on bike and worth every second to see the beauty of the countryside. It is incredible to ride around China on bike and appreciate what nature has to offer.

This post is a special just for pictures of the beautiful area we were able to see on bike during our three day stay. The area is known for it's beauty and many young aspiring artist come to draw some of the beautiful scenery.

Dragon Pond Scenic Park

Dragon Pond Scenic Park is an excellent one day get away and it is located right here in Suzhou in the SND Area. It has fun and games for all ages. It is considered a AAAA ecological park. The entrance fee for the park is 60 RMB ($8.76 US). Lunch can be a nice picnic lunch somewhere in the park or a variety of local food can be purchased at very reasonable prices. We really did not know about this park until our Chinese teacher invited us for a field trip in some very nice spring weather.


One of the activities my son enjoyed was the bungee jumping. Everyone had a turn at the bungee jump, but my son had the most fun. It was his first time and he really enjoyed flying in the clouds. He did this activity twice!




Also, in the park was a very nice playground with many physical activities. I think the kids could just run around for hours in this playground and never get tired. I had fun challenging myself to a few physical activities.

In the middle of the area there are two ponds. The two ponds are divided by a waterfall. One side of the water fall has water hamster balls. This activity is quite difficult and my son had a very hard time standing up, let alone getting the ball to roll in the water. He spent many minutes falling down inside the ball! The other side of the pond has paddle boats that can be used for a leisure stroll around the pond.

One of the best activities to do in this park is climb. There are areas around the park that one can climb to get a magnificent view of the city and the park. It is a truly fun experience to climb up the hills and relax while enjoying all mother nature has to offer.

We all enjoyed this activity and when we reached the top of the hill, we took a group picture. I recommend anyone looking for a nice day out in the sun visit this park. Bus 333 goes directly to the park!

A Day in Nanjing

Almost two weeks ago, a friend of mine had to make a trip to Nanjing. He would be going on business while I would take a day to be alone and wander around Nanjing. I figured wandering around the city would be a fun way to for my day visit. The round trip train would cost 134 RMB ($19.56 US). Once we both arrived in Nanjing, we would go our separate ways.

I brought my tourist map and my man purse to carry all the travel essentials from toilet paper, batteries, camera, snacks, and many other items. It is very typical to see men with these type of bags all around China. I have to admit, they do come in handy when you make trips and they are much smaller than a backpack. Also, I feel my belongings are safer when they are in front of me.

I would get onto the taxi and ask to be taken to the Purple Mountain Scenic Area. I have been to this area before and thought it would be nice to walk around and enjoy the maybe fresh air. Well, the taxi driver would tell me that the area was not available for viewing and I ended being dropped off at the Monk Peak Scenic Area. I would continue walking until I came to a sign that displayed cable cars. I would decide to take a ride on the Zijinshan Ropeway 紫金山索道门. The cable car ride would cost 60 RMB ($8.76 US) for a round trip and 35 RMB ($5.38 US)for a single way.

It was actually a pretty fun trip. It was very slow and quite long. I would pass the Astronomical Observatory Station and stop at the top of the mountain at Monk Peak Station. It was about 448 meters high. As I got closer to the top it would get much colder. I could look out over the city. I would enjoy a sausage on a stick and a tea egg for lunch.

Then, it was a long walk down. Actually, many people would walk up and down the mountain. The cable cars were mostly empty.

There were many people tired from the long walk. Many people would rest after going down alot of the stairs. Above you can see a tired female making her way down the mountain.

I would walk to the observatory station and take a taxi to the shopping mall to look around. It turned out that it was the International Day for Women and the shopping mall was very crowded with many women. Shopping definitely was not the thing to do today. I walked around the shopping center and then it was time to start heading home.

I would eat a nice beef noodle dinner inside the train station and enjoy a return trip on the D train. It was a nice day trip for under 220 RMB ($32.12 US).

元宵 Lantern Festival

Monday was the fifteenth day since the Chinese New Year began. It is the day where the first full moon of the year should be visible in the sky. Also, it marks the end of the holiday season. It is the last night to hear, see, and feel the Chinese New Year festive atmosphere.

In Suzhou, the New Year celebration closes with the Lantern Festival at the Pan Men Gate. The festival includes games, food, fireworks, and many other activities. On our way to the festival we would see many people preparing to send out their flying lanterns into the sky with all their New Year wishes. They would light up the lantern and let it float away into the sky. Many hundreds of lanterns would fill the night sky.

Also, fireworks would bring a constant buzz from all over the city. Everyone was celebrating the full moon. Fireworks were literally over my head and such an impressive site.

One of the things that makes the Lantern Festival such a special event are the thousands of people who go to the festival. There is literally a sea of people, as the Chinese would say, 人山人海! The most interesting thing of the night is crossing the bridge to the festival. It is one tiny bridge that fills up with so many people that one is helpless to move and completely at the mercy of what the crowd will do. My son describes the feeling of being in this crowd as being squeezed by an anaconda. This helpless feeling I think is pretty much what a foreigner would feel. I felt that the locals were pretty much accustomed to these type of crowds although many of the locals I know do not like to go to the festival because of all the people.

Once you reached the other side, there are many carnival games being played. These would include games with darts and balls to win a lucky prize. Also, there was local food including the special foods for the festival. The special food to eat this day are small little dumplings balls called 元宵. Below are some pictures of local foods served at the festival.

This festival can not be called the Lantern Festival without the presence of lanterns. All over the festival grounds one can see many different type of lanterns. They are all very beautiful and decorate the festival grounds. Historically, these lanterns should have a puzzle on them and the family would get together try to solve the puzzles and eat 元宵.

Suzhou Times Square: Worlds Largest LED Screen

Time Square in Suzhou has the largest LED screen in the world. The screen is over 500m long and spans from one end of Time Square crossing a street to the other end of Time Square. I have been looking forward to seeing this marvel in action. I have been to Time Square during the day and was not able to see the screen turned on and I have also been to Time Square at night and did not see the screen turned on.

Well, Friday night we decided to have dinner at Time Square. We arrived just before 7:30 pm and noticed quite a few people outside sitting down and looking up. It seems that they were all waiting for something to happen. And then it did. Over the loud speaker a voice announced that the show was about to begin. All of a sudden, the screen went blue. A few advertisements begin to appear on the screen. After the advertising finished, the show began. It started with fireworks on the screen and then it showed some beautiful flowers and clouds. It then had a small tribute to the new year with all the animals from the Chinese horoscope, dragons, and of course the ox. It was an incredible site to see! I feel lucky I actually took my camera with me this day. Below you can see a few beautiful pictures of the screen. The first one is from the east end of time square and the second photo is from the west end.

Yu Garden and the Bund

In China, the new year begins based on the Lunar Calender. This year the Chinese New Year began on January 26. During this time period many people are going home to spend time with their family. The first three days of the new year are national holidays. These first three days are relatively quiet and many people stay home to be with family and friends. After these days, families and friends adventure out to the tourist areas to pray in the temples, to shop around town, and to eat out. This time of year becomes very crowded with many locals as well as tourist adventuring around the town. We decided to become part of the adventurers and visit some of the tourist areas in Shanghai.

Our day began at the famous Yu Garden. This area is known as the Old Town. Originally, this part of Shanghai never saw many foreigners. It was home to many of the poorest Chinese as the settlers from various countries built there communities around the Old Town. After the Cultural revolution, the area was restored. It has many traditional looking buildings with tea houses, local food vendors, as well as Starbucks and other modern shops. During this time of year, there are many decorations for the Year of the Ox. These include the traditional lanterns as well as many ox decorations.

This year there was an arts and crafts festival at the Old Town. Many of the traditional Chinese crafts which included paintings, paper-cuttings, seals, and many other handmade items were being sold at the market. Today we decided to buy a seal. Seals have been used for many years around China. Seals were used to mark ones own possessions as well as contracts and documents. These seals are made of many materials and are hand carved. We purchased our seal for a negotiated price of 30 RMB ($4.38 US). The market is the best place to get local arts and crafts. Always remember to negotiate. Once the price was negotiated, the artist would make the seal with one's name. We chose to have the Chinese version of our name on top with the English name on the bottom half of the seal.

After shopping and wandering around all morning, it was time for some local snacks. There were many delicious items to choose from including traditional Chinese barbecue, soup dumplings, meatball soup, and many other local snacks. We would snack on some soup dumplings.

Each dumpling contained a pork soup inside with a delicious meaty flavor. Each one came with a straw to be able drink the soup. After a few snacks, we also went to lunch to a local sit down fast food restaurant and enjoyed some pork chop noodles. The pork chop noodle is also a noodle soup with noodles, a few vegetables, and the pork chop. I love to eat this soup wherever I can find it.

After lunch, we decided to go to Longhua Market. This market sells clothes, watches, jewelry, purses, and so many other things at low prices. There is one catch. The prices actually start a little high. Here you have to use your negotiating skills to reduce the price. A long sleeve polo shirt can be sold from 40 RMB to 100 RMB ($5.83 US to $14.60 US). Your price depends on your negotiating skills and what you are willing to pay. Tourists will usually pay a little more than a local because a local will usually know fair market price. If you come to China, get some local help with the shopping!

After buying some clothes, we were of to the electronics market Mei Luo Cheng. This market works the same way as Longhua except it sells all electronic items from USBs, Cameras, and PCs. It is a huge electronic market with hundreds of stores inside. Here it is critical you know fare market price for the items or you could be spending hundreds of dollars more. We limited our purchases to an all in one card reader and a memory stick for my son's PSP already loaded with games.

We also had dinner at the electronic market. The method for ordering food was pretty electronically automated. First, you would purchase a card for the amount you would like to spend in food. Then you could go to any one of the food court stores and order food. You would present your card to the teller and the money would automatically be deducted from the card. Once your dinner was finished, you could return for the remaining balance on your card or save it for later.

As darkness approached over the city, it would seem as our day in Shanghai was almost over, but in fact it was just another beginning. We wanted to walk the Bund at night. The Bund is the scenic area on the western side of the Huangpu River and claims to be the most scenic spot in Shanghai for both locals and tourists. The west side has many 19th century colonial buildings which served as trading houses and banks earlier in Chinese history. During the night, these buildings light up the area. On the east side across the river the financial area of Pudong lights up the night. There are many ways to view the Bund at night. Boats along the Huangpu river offer tours around the Bund by water. Many people choose the walkway and walk along the river bank taking in the views from both sides of the river.

There are two ways to get to the other side of the river without having to take a taxi to the other side. There is a ferry that goes across the river and there is a pedestrian tunnel that can be used to cross underneath the water. We chose the pedestrian tunnel ,50 RMB ($7.30 US) for round trip, and stopped by the Super Brand Mall for a Starbucks Coffee. We returned to the west side by the pedestrian tunnel and called it a night.

Suzhou Times Square at Night

I was still in search of the Largest LED screen in the world located at Times Square. The last trip it had eluded me. I was still determined to find it. I would make a night trip to Times Square to see if it would be visible.

So I decided to take the family out to dinner to a new restaurant in Suzhou, Burger King! This restaurant is located in Time Square and it is the only Burger King in Suzhou. It would also be the first time I eat at Burger King in China. The last time I can remember eating Burger King was in 2007 in Seoul, Korea. I can still savor the Whopper. It was probably the closest I had come to the real thing. Today, I ordered the BBQ Burger. I really didn't like the sauce. I think it was not the hickory BBQ sauce I like, it was a very different sauce. It did not taste like it does in the US. I should have stuck with the Whopper. Oh well, better luck next time.

Times Square at night has many lights and also many decorations for the new year. Below are some pictures of Times Square at night.

Well, I was running out of luck looking for the biggest LED screen in the world, but I now know where it is located at.

In this picture, you can see a long canopy over some of the stores. I have been told this rainbow colored canopy is the largest LED Screen in the world. Each side of the canopy is rainbow colored while the middle section is the LED Screen. It was not turned on tonight. I will have to continue my search to view the screen in action. When will it be turned on?

赤壁下 Red Cliff 2

Yesterday we went to the Suzhou Science and Cultural Arts Center to see the second part of John Woo's Red Cliff. Since I regularly buy Chinese movies I had seen the first one on DVD at home. We had no idea it was the first part of a series until the end of the movie. We have waited with anticipation to see the second part. Last week, my son took the first movie to school where his Chinese class had a chance to enjoy the the first movie.

The movie is based on a historical battle around 200AD during the Han Dynasty. The prime minister at the time used the emperor as a puppet to create a war and try to wipe out the kingdoms of the South. His intentions were to make himself emperor of a unified China. It is a real battle of wits and wisdom as Southern warlords battle in a war where they are completely outnumbered. This war is one of the most popular historical wars in Chinese history.

The movie is subtitled in English and the translation is pretty good. This movie is a must see. It has alot of action, a very good story line, and cultural value. Below is information about the Suzhou Science and Cultural Arts Center.

If anyone knows any other new released Chinese movies with English subtitles at the theatre, please let me know.