Today we arrived in Shangzhou, a little south from Shanghai. So yes we took our first train. It is so well organized! Here you have safety checks everywhere, in each subway and in train stations... without having to wait for half an hour :) Hangzhou is the place to be for the welthy people of Shanghai and is also a town visited by a lot of Chinese tourists. You see them coming from their bus and follow their guide. Very familiar view:) There is a very beautiful lake with tempels all around. At night you see all the lights getting on, the bats flying around and some music in the back. A little romantic. Our new hotel is located in the middle of a closed park (we will have to figure out tomorrow what this place is exactly). We hear the crickets and the water... it will be a good night of sleep. Now it is time for us to rest our bodies and especially my feet (parents, why have you given me so sensitive feet?)
2nd and last day of Shanghai. To be honest we are not sad to leave Shanghai tomorrow. It has been fun today but it feels too much like an asian version of Brussel. We visited a temple at noon and it took us the whole afternoon to find the second one. So lesson number 1: never trust indications of a random Chinese, but you can trust cops :) so we found that second temple 1hour after closing. We had to search our comfort in dumplings, by accident we were at the birthplace of those delicious little things. After a little detour (a very, very big detour) we found our way back to the subway and went back in the vecinity of our hotel. We went to 'our' bakery (according to Albane) and finalised our evening with a couple of beers in the French pub.
After a long flight we arrives this morning in Shanghai, local time 8 but for us 1 am. Customs cleared us out in no time and we decides to take the subway instead of a cab. We wanted an adventure so we make it an adventure. I'm very proud of ourselves for figuring out where we had to go.
What to say about our first impressions? Maybe the smell of spices everywhere, even if you don't see any restaurant. Also the streetfood, everywhere and at every moment of the day, everyone is eating. We had a fantastic meal this afternoon. As I am not as adventurous as my husband I'm very proud of myself today :)
We walked to the historical center of the city. At 5pm local time we were exhausted and now w're enjoying a Vedett in a french bar of 6 euros for 2 half liters. What to expect more in life than a Belgian beer in a French pub in China?
In a couple of hours we will choose our street food for dinner and we'll go to sleep. It has been a long first day but we are ready for what China has in store for us!
Saying goodbye tot the belgian beers, we'll miss you!
Over here it's 10 o'clock. But in China it's allready 17 o'clock.
You can call it alcoholisme, we call it adapting to our destination!
1 day before departure and we still can't realize that we are going on our honeymoon very very soon. Some people think it is amazing, some think we are crazy... we are sure about 1 thing: our holiday in China will be an adventure. We are ready for the public bathrooms, the strang hygiene habits, the food, the big cultural differences and the complety different language... Or we think we are ready :) Just to say that we are aware of the adventure that is waiting for us. As long we are together I am sure we'll find a way to laugh about it. We are sure that we'll come back with in our head beautiful memories, funny stories and amazing pictures. We wish you all the best and we'll try to get you posted on our journey in China and Hong Kong. We'll also be happy to see your comments. Don't hesitate to let us know how you are and things happening in Belgium, this blog is maybe the only way we'll be able to communicate.
