Shanghai (part 2) and Guangzhou

The next day we ended up going to The Bund and looking around Shanghai.  There is some really neat architecture and buildings there. Don’t ask why there is a big chicken on the building

We got to Guangzhou and went to the fair.  It was huge and full of interesting things.  Here is a map and I tried to get a picture of the booths, but none really turned out.

The Asian games are in Guangzhou and so all of the subways and buses were free.  There were so many people that they had to gate people in and move them as groups.

It was a wonderful trip even the long train rides!

I love him!

We then took a 27-hour train ride to Guangzhou to go to the Canton Fair.

Some pictures of the train and the beds we stayed in.

The lock for the bathroom

Shanghai (part 1)

Road Trip, I mean train trip!!! The World Expo happened to be in Shanghai and was ending October 31^st.  Landon really wanted to go so just a few days before it ended; we bought 17-hour train tickets to Shanghai!

No trip would be complete without a bathroom picture.  The squatter is actually open to the track and you can see it as it moves.

After a night on the train we arrived early in the morning in Shanghai, got a hotel, and went straight to the World Expo. It was huge.  Instead of HOV lanes there were EXPO driver lanes.

USA BABY!!

Some of the outsides of the Pavilions

Inside of multiple pavilions

  

There were so many people; actually there are always so many people everywhere in China.

We tried to hit up lots of the pavilions, but there were some lines that were 6 hours long.  Even if there were no lines, I think it is impossible to go and visit all of them in one day.  Here are some pictures at the end of the day with the buildings and bridges that have changing lights.

We were so tired by the end of the day and our feet hurt so badly.  We were ready to go back to the hotel to sleep!

Sunday Stroll

A lot of our activities consist of getting on random buses or talking random streets to see where we end up.  Needless to say we run into some pretty interesting things along the way, where you smile and just say, “Only in China.”

Our first stop we ran into a park that had rollerblades/skates, 3 person bicycles, kid toy rides, carnival games, and lots of kites.  Here is Landon in front of the park with all of the kites with some of the street vendors selling food.  The other one is kites that you could rent for the day.

There are so many people that ride bikes and they pile on everything.  I saw a two wheeled bike that was carrying 4 queen size mattresses on the back of it.  Here is one with balloons.

Picture of the buildings/apartments.  They are all so close together.

There are so many different types of lamp posts here and it is always interesting to find the new ones, but every time we seem to find them, they are not on. Chinese people never turn them on.

Random toilets on the side of the street.  Most toilets in China are squatters though.

One of the funniest things to do here is read the signs and their English translations.  The first one is for a place to eat and it says “Dog, Lamb meat hotpot.” The second one is one that we found in a park.

Breakfast time- Jen Bing

At first the food was very difficult for me and I couldn’t find anything I liked.  Landon came across this lady one morning right outside of our apartment complex and brought me home one of the tastiest things I have eaten here and for at least a week I would go every day to get one.  Now it is more like 4 times a week.   He asked her what it was called, but he doesn’t remember it completely so we just call it Jen Bing.  It is like a crape with fried egg on the outside, sauces, spices, green onions, and a deep fried crispy crape on the inside.  She doesn’t even have to ask us how we like ours because we go so often. 

The close up

The video of how it is done



Let me tell you, we have seen several other people make it and have tried theirs, but hers is the best one we have come across.  She makes it look so easy.

Back to Hong Kong

We decided to make another trip down to Hong Kong for a weekend. Landon went on a foreign exchange program in high school to Hong Kong for a year.  He planned the whole trip ahead of time and we had a blast.   We stayed at Landon’s host brother’s home and caught up with a lot of Landon’s old friends and host families. 

We left on China’s National Holiday, October 1^st, we were able to go to a firework show down in Hong Kong. None of the pictures really came out, but here is one. 

The next day we woke up early and had breakfast with one of his host father and mother, then headed to look at pink dolphins.  Sadly we didn’t get to see any, but still enjoyed the little boat ride as well as the wandering around the area. 

While wandering around the area we came across a street with a lot of these houses made out of metal and they were so short and very interesting. 

We then took a bus up to the Big Buddha and came across a temple.  The dragons are good luck and everyone rubs them for good luck.  You can tell where they rub them. 

On our way up to the Big Buddha and the view from the top

I wished I would have taken more pictures and I am sure that I was in control of the camera and that is why there isn’t much, but we took the sky cart all the way back. 

It was a very packed weekend with little down time.  It was a lot of fun, but I was ready to go back home.