April's showers have officially brought May flowers. What started out as a chilly beginning to the month finally turned into Spring half way through! Thankfully I was able to escape the last of the chilliness by heading out of the country to Hong Kong for the famous "Hong Kong run." That's the phrase used by all the foreigners who need to leave China for a couple days to get their Visas. I ended up spending three days in Hong Kong with some friends, seeing some sights and, of course, shopping! One of the sights included the Avenue of Stars (an Asian copy of the Hollywood Walk of Fame) which was right next to the Hong Kong skyline. The only celebrity I knew was Jackie Chan. Overall, Hong Kong was great! I loved it there. It was like going to a mini Asian version of Britain with everyone driving on the left side of the road and complete with double-decker buses. Speaking of buses, I got to take every form of transportation while there including a plane (into HK), mini bus (more like a van), subway, double-decker bus, ferry, taxi and normal sized bus. Almost everyone speaks English there so getting around wasn't difficult. Even though this tiny city of 7 million people belongs to China (returned to them from the British in 1997) it's like going to a whole new country. I hope to go back again soon to see the rest of the sites that I didn't get a chance to see last time.
When I returned from Hong Kong, China was celebrating it's annual Tomb Sweeping Festival (清明节). This is a time for the Chinese families to get together, have a meal and tend to the graves of their ancestors. I used this time to sleep-in after a busy couple of days acquiring my Visa.
I also got the chance to visit a popular tourist destination called Tianzifang (田子坊). It has an old style feel with narrow streets, laundry hanging outside of the residential apartments above (on the second or third floors) and the Shikumen architecture. The old style is crammed together with many fascinating shops and restaurants and outdoor bars to create a very unique atmosphere and experience. You can get everything from your typical, cheap Chinese souvenir to amazing artwork and from a nice sit-down restaurant to a toilet-inspired ice cream shop (only pictures can explain that).
Next up was the 15th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (or you can just call it a car show). A friend of mine got me a ticket on the day that they were showing the best and most expensive cars so of course I couldn't refuse. I absolutely love sports cars and this show had me adding to my list of dream drives. Words are not enough to describe how amazing they were, so check out the pictures below.
Despite how busy all of this makes me seem, I did have a little free time here and there so on one of the first warm days of the month, I headed out to get myself a badminton racket so that I could play one of my all time favorite sports. When I got to the store, they only had a few rackets that were already strung. I didn't realize that there were so many options for a simple badminton racket so I decided to have one of the unstrung ones done up in a patriotic style of red, white and glorious blue. While playing in a nearby park, a seven year old Chinese girl noticed us and wanted to hang out with us by being our "gopher" and score keeper. So anytime the birdie fell far enough away that I couldn't pick it up quickly, she picked it up for me! She even knew some basic English ("hello", "thank you", "you're welcome" and 1-10) and seemed to enjoy getting to practice it with a foreigner.
I've really enjoyed getting to see so many different aspects of Shanghai this past month and hope that I can enjoy just as many, if not more, this month. My next post will showcase all the flowers in bloom around the city as well as whatever other adventures I can find.
Chinese phrase: 我很高兴认识你。Wo hen gao xing ren shi ni. Very nice to meet you.
When I returned from Hong Kong, China was celebrating it's annual Tomb Sweeping Festival (清明节). This is a time for the Chinese families to get together, have a meal and tend to the graves of their ancestors. I used this time to sleep-in after a busy couple of days acquiring my Visa.
I also got the chance to visit a popular tourist destination called Tianzifang (田子坊). It has an old style feel with narrow streets, laundry hanging outside of the residential apartments above (on the second or third floors) and the Shikumen architecture. The old style is crammed together with many fascinating shops and restaurants and outdoor bars to create a very unique atmosphere and experience. You can get everything from your typical, cheap Chinese souvenir to amazing artwork and from a nice sit-down restaurant to a toilet-inspired ice cream shop (only pictures can explain that).
Next up was the 15th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (or you can just call it a car show). A friend of mine got me a ticket on the day that they were showing the best and most expensive cars so of course I couldn't refuse. I absolutely love sports cars and this show had me adding to my list of dream drives. Words are not enough to describe how amazing they were, so check out the pictures below.
Despite how busy all of this makes me seem, I did have a little free time here and there so on one of the first warm days of the month, I headed out to get myself a badminton racket so that I could play one of my all time favorite sports. When I got to the store, they only had a few rackets that were already strung. I didn't realize that there were so many options for a simple badminton racket so I decided to have one of the unstrung ones done up in a patriotic style of red, white and glorious blue. While playing in a nearby park, a seven year old Chinese girl noticed us and wanted to hang out with us by being our "gopher" and score keeper. So anytime the birdie fell far enough away that I couldn't pick it up quickly, she picked it up for me! She even knew some basic English ("hello", "thank you", "you're welcome" and 1-10) and seemed to enjoy getting to practice it with a foreigner.
I've really enjoyed getting to see so many different aspects of Shanghai this past month and hope that I can enjoy just as many, if not more, this month. My next post will showcase all the flowers in bloom around the city as well as whatever other adventures I can find.
Chinese phrase: 我很高兴认识你。Wo hen gao xing ren shi ni. Very nice to meet you.
Hong Kong
Shanghai Car Show
Tianzifang (田子坊)