"We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us."
-Unknown
Showing posts with label tianjin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tianjin. Show all posts

Thursday 16 August 2018

Destination Diary: Shanghai, China



To complete our cultural experience in China, we headed on to the last part of our tour: Shanghai.

Arriving in the evening, Shanghai is the more metropolitan, modern version of the cities we visited. Shanghai is also a popular tourist destination because of the attractions that blend with both heritage sites and modern ones. 

Bullet Train from Beijing to Shanghai
Bullet Train to Shanghai

The weather in China is behind all the “normal” flight cancellations, but we had a schedule to keep. So our host arranged for us to leave for Shanghai no matter what. We were told the bad news that our flights were cancelled, but the good news was that we were to take the bullet train.

Speeding at 300 km/h, we got to see the countryside, train route and and wind-powered energy farms in wide view windows of the train, and just how wide the land is in this country. It took us six hours from Beijing to Shanghai, that’s how big China is, considering the speed the train travels in. The train stops for only a minute in each station, that’s just enough time to get in and out. Tickets are more expensive than airline fares, but train rides are rarely cancelled; whether it’s rain or shine, it’s a sure way of getting to one’s destination.

Yu Yuan Garden, Shanghai, China
Yu Yuan Garden

We passed by a small alley that led to Yu Yuan Garden. It is a historic temple in Shanghai that is now surrounded with many artisan shops and is a popular shopping site among tourists. It’s really a temple inside with many artisans selling their wares all over the place, from a tea shop, to jewelry, souvenirs, metal goods, even food and department stores can be found in this tourist destination. 

Choose your wild, an assortment of tea in Yu Yuan Garden

Tea to hoard in Tins 

Tea of the day in Yu Yuan Garden Tea Shop
Shadow Theatre in Yu Yuan Garden, Shanghai

Nanjing Road

This is for the person who cannot live without shopping and an unlimited amount of credit. Nanjing Road is a whole shopping strip consisting of a 5-KM stretch of shopping malls left and right. If you have a whole day for exploring the whole place, there’s so much to see. There’s an interesting vintage photo booth complete with props that can take your photo and process it Vintage Shanghai-style. There are also so many food stalls and souvenir stalls all over. There are so many brands and shops, hello 5-KM stretch.

Corner Entrance to Nanjing Road, Shanghai

Nanjing Road Alleys, Shanghai
A corner building in an intersection road in Nanjing, Shanghai



Sights and sounds, Nanjing Road, Shanghai

Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Tower and World Financial Center

Here’s a quick trivia, one building is privately called The Bottle Opener. By looking at the Shanghai skyline, one can guess which one. We went to the Bund Riverside Walkway at night to get a better view of the Pudong New Area and to get up close with the Shanghai skyline. One could see the mix of architecture from modern, to the renaissance style divided by the Bund Riverside separating the Pudong New Area and the Old District.

This was one of our last stops before heading on back to Tianjin for our closing ceremonies with TEDA and the Ministry of Commerce.

Oriental Pearl Tower

World Financial Tower and Jin Mao Tower

View from the Bund Riverside, Shanghai
In the Bund Riverside with our translator Grey
It has all been an amazing experience and we were all able to make friends and immerse in new cultural experiences in a different country. I’ll be keeping the official site visits private, but in the meantime, there will be more travel posts soon for the year.


China 2018 Series:

Shanghai

Planning for a trip to China soon? Here are some things you may need beforehand. 

Disclaimer: All inputs are based on my experience while in China. A schedule was planned for our group beforehand given the limited amount of time.

Check out my video below and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.


Sunday 5 August 2018

Destination Diary: Tianjin, China


Our Home in China

At least that’s what our local Chinese friends called Tianjin. It’s where we spent half of our time in, began and ended our stay in China as a group. In some ways, I have to agree. It’s in Tianjin that we were able to feel like locals, walking two blocks to the mall and museum which is very near the hotel where we stayed. Remembering my room in the hotel makes me miss the time spent there too. 

Galaxy Mall in Tianjin (robot is actually an exhibit in our hotel lobby, car is a Tesla display inside the mall)

Galaxy Mall

You know how Filipinos are naturally “lacuacheros”?  Being in a part of a seasoned group of travelers has taught me that it’s alright to explore the locality in China, the private joke is that as long as you know where the nearest embassy is, then you’re fine. Galaxy Mall is only a couple of blocks away from our hotel.

It’s a high-end mall, carrying brands like Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Valentino, Bottega and of course, Tesla showrooms in the mall itself. And you know that I immediately went inside the bookstore at the top floor. I enjoyed the bookstore but couldn’t buy anything because all the popular books were published in Mandarin and my literacy in Mandarin is only limited to elementary speaking and a handful of greetings.


The mall is huge, with cinemas at the top floor, and a hockey ring at the ground floor. There are many other shops and it takes some energy to just walk around in. 



Traditional Restaurant featuring Tianjin Cuisine

This restaurant has been around since 1935 and has been open and operational ever since. We were brought here to savour traditional Tianjin cuisine and I made a mental note to copy some recipes once I arrived home. The star of the show is how to eat Peking Duck, the traditional way. So far, I haven’t mastered any dishes yet lol.



Tianjin Eye and the Riverside


We made it a point to visit the river at night. Here, locals unwind, take a walk, there were couples completing their evening photo shoots in their wedding dresses. The riverside must be a popular place, and it’s where people practice their evening photography by the water too. The riverboat passes by every few minutes, and the building opposite the Tianjin Eye flashes images of the flag every single night.


Eco Life Museum


Before we left for Beijing, we visited the Eco Life Museum after a short walk through the promenade. Now I’m really impressed with the way the promenade was planned out, there were also so many roses just growing outdoors.


As for the museum? My travel buddies all agreed that it’s world-class, combining a lot of audiovisual methods to heighten the static displays of the exhibits. For foreign visitors, it’s free to get inside the museum, simply show your passport. 

Tianjin was impressive, for a municipality of China, it sure has a lot of well-planned, green spaces and leisurely areas for its locals. It’s also where we stumbled upon a local bakery that sold delicious pastries, locals and foreign visitors alike were lining up for the freshly-baked treats. We bought our shares even if all we did was point out which ones we liked.

Local Bakery in Tianjin
 A lot will be missed from Tianjin, from the friends we made, and even the little freedom we enjoyed walking around its streets at night and in the morning after our sessions in class. There are a lot of sights and sounds to experience in Tianjin, and I hope to come back when I have the chance.

View from my hotel room
Planning for a trip to China soon? Here are some things you may need beforehand. 

China 2018 Series:


Disclaimer : All input are based on my experience while in China. A schedule was planned for our group beforehand given the limited amount of time.

Check out my video below and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel