沪杭 on a shoestring (Part #2)

Day 3
Took a reasonably cheap taxi to Hong Qiao Station in the morning. Waited almost an hour for a ride on the high-speed train. The CRH train 和谐号 outbound to Hangzhou 200km away departed from Shanghai at 12pm sharp. Experiencing the train smoothly slided out from the platform & watching the scenery slowly changed. We bid farewell to Shanghai and looked forward to 2nd destination of China trip.

This train has got empty business class, quiet 1st class & crowded 2nd class. A cafe car selling snacks & drinks is also available. Can't help reminiscing with our last ride on NEX between Narita Airport & Tokyo Shinagawa. Quite similar experience except we had a meal on 和谐号 - Morton's Prime Burger lunch doggy bagged yesterday.

As soon as we step out of Hangzhou train station, we walked straight to join the taxi queue to ignore tout. The Ibis Southern Song Dynasty Sreet Hotel is located along a walking street (步行街). Our taxi entered unintentionally. He make 1 extra round, exit the 步行街, reached our hotel but without charging us extra (we paid the flag down rate ¥11). What a honest man. The first I met in China.
Hangzhou, although is the capital of Zhejiang Province, is much smaller & less complex compared to Shanghai. Hangzhou was an important port in the past. Merchant from Arab lived here. During Qing Dynasty, Hangzhou was also populated by many Muslim. So there were some Islamic influence in local food & architecture.

Rice... Nice...

Grill mutton - The Muslim way

Mutton soup

Now I know "halal" in Chinese is 清真

That evening we walked along the 河坊街 pedastrian street night market & visited the Hangzhou Museum. Most of the museum in China are FREE. Because too many artifacts available easily. On the same street 50m away from our hotel was actually a site of ancient civilization. When development works was carried out a while ago, workers excavated the ground & notice signs of habitation. They unearthed some roofing material & identified some sort of irrigation system. And now this place is currently conserved yet entry is free.

The conserved site is the red shelter in the background

Day 4
I had my new insight into seasons. Spring is actually wet and chilly. It's drizzling most of the time and that's how the plant "awakened" from the Winter.
On this day, our trip focuses on West Lake, a lake so beautiful that poet ever made comparison with Xi Shi (1 of the 4 Beauties in ancient Chinese history). The 10 most attractive spots around West Lake are

Dawn on the Su Causeway in Spring (蘇堤春曉) - Yes

Curved Yard and Lotus Pool in Summer (曲院風荷) - Missed

Moon over the Peaceful Lake in Autumn (平湖秋月) - Yes

Remnant Snow on the Bridge in Winter (斷橋殘雪) - Yes

Leifeng Pagoda in the Sunset (雷峰夕照) - Yes but not during the sunset

Two Peaks Piercing the Clouds (雙峰插雲) - Missed. Very misty

Orioles Singing in the Willows (柳浪聞鶯) - Yes but the willows are not blooming yet

Fish Viewing at the Flower Pond (花港觀魚) - Missed

Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon (三潭印月) - Missed

Evening Bell Ringing at the Nanping Hill (南屏晚鐘) - Yes

If not for the wet weather, West Lake is quite a nice place to relax.

Yong Jin Tower 涌金楼 is located by a jetty. Most of the Emporers taking a trip to West Latke used to board the boat from here

金牛吐水

There is a story behind the golden buffalo.

"There was a golden buffalo residing at the bottom of the lake. During heavy drought, it will emerge & spit a lot to"refill" the dried lake. Once the corrupted officials were dying to impress the Emporer so they instructed the villagers to scoop out the lake water. Miraculously the golden buffalo emerged but it spitted too much and drown the corrupted officials. Since then the lake never dried up and the golden buffalo never appeared again."

Greenery

Must have KFC whenever we go. China KFC is not bad but very salty with soyabean :)

This weather reminds me of a song. "... Raindrops keep falling on my head...". No choice but stayed in hotel watching "Beyond the Realm of Conscience" (宮心計) in hotel that afternoon. Only went out for dinner.

 Wang Run Xing Restaurant. Our verdict - 四个字!

Last Day

The weather only turned slightly better on the last day of our Hangzhou stay. We returned to the walking street & catch up with the photo shoot. That concluded our tour in China.

We walked up & down the street trying to  buy some dragon beard candy (龙须糖)

We ended up not having any 龙须糖 :(

Hangzhou Museum

Drum Tower

Where we stayed

Bai Causeway

I walked so much. My 3-month old ecco is like 3-year old now.

For the 1 last time we took a 步步惊心 taxi ride. This driver was also very honestly sent us to Xiao Shan International Airport for ¥100 fare. We are so glad the trip is over...

half dead...

By the way, HIA is quite big & new inside. We also spent our time wisely investigated the budget airline shuttle bus service. After make comparison, it was concluded that AirAsia is still a better option.

沪杭 on a shoestring (Part #1)

The 3 most important questions to ask before taking a taxi in China, (出租车/打的)
1. How much roughly is the fare?
2. Are you using the meter? (按表计算?)
3. Do you issue receipt? (有发票吗?)
The common tricks adopted include driving you round & round or using a modified meter that enable remote adjustment to the distance travelled. Have to be very careful because unscrupulous people is everywhere in China. 啧啧啧啧啧啧

If you are wondering what is the meaning of this post title,
沪 (hù) is Shanghai & 杭 (háng) is Hangzhou. We went on a budget tour to Shanghai & Hangzhou. The first leg was a 5 hours BORING flight by Jetstar. If not for the promotional fare, S$430 incl tax(for 2), I won't take another no-frill flight for journey > 3 hours.

Already yawning way before the flight...

As soon as we got our luggage, we put on our winter clothes or snowman attire. Temperature range between 7°C - 9°C. At midnight, Jetstar kindly provided the last shuttle service from Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport to Shanghai Nanpu Bridge. The 200km road trip took us about 3 hours. By the time we reach our Ibis Hotel Yu Garden, we were half dead already. But the room was so cold that I almost blame it on our miserly lifestyle. Maybe we should have booked a better hotel.

The following day was ridiculously tiring. As usual (like what we did in Tokyo & Taipei) we took the metro around the city. But some interchange stations are VERY far apart... Sometimes we walked for >5min just to change a train. What an experience! Well... China is a huge country afterall. Shanghai population is at 23 million. It's like packing the whole of 1Malaysia people in a place the size of 10x Singapore. (一个大马挤在十个小岛)

1-day ticket at ¥18. The newly introduced 3-day ticket (¥45) was not available due to delay

After much walking, we reached our first destination, Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center at People's Square (人民广场). The exhibition is about infrastructure development in Shanghai. A 1:50 model display located on 3rd level is ONLY showcasing 1/6 of Shanghai. Imagine the actual size. If our tour is not well planned it's really going to be 步步惊心. We took a few hours in the exihibition center, much longer than I have expected. The entrance fee is only ¥30. What a low cost lawatan sambil belajar.

Financial district

1:50 scale model

It will be a nightmare if we lost our way. can you spot the Nanpu Bridge? :)

If I were the urban planner. My city shall look like this :)

As our trip will end in Hangzhou, we reckon with buying our train tickets in advance. So we went to Shanghai Train Station. Also take this opportunity to observe the magnificence of transport hub in China. To our disappointment, Shanghai Train Station is quite rundown, smelly, dirty & crowded. Luckily our 沪杭train departs from Hong Qiao Train Station, another (newer) station located about 20km away from the city center. We happily bought our 1st class tickets (¥124) at the ticketing counter. Kiosk sale is only serving the PRC with 2nd generation ID card.

She assigned 2 seats in different rows -_-"

After a 40min metro ride, we finally returned to Yu Garden. Din Tai Fung restaurant appeared in our mind & immediately triggered our sense of hunger. We only had 1 Calr's Jr burger for the whole day. Having heard so many negative stories about the unsafe food in China, eating is also 步步惊心. Sitting comfortably in Din Tai Fung, we saw some Caucasian patrons across the table was using some discount coupons. They kindly gave us 2 of their remaining coupons which allow us to enjoy ¥30 discount with every ¥100 order. What a great deal! As we return to hotel, the room was much warmer. We realized the window was ajar the previous night. So a cold sleepless night has got nothing to do with our "miserly lifestyle" actually so we started to like our trip.

Simple room at ¥400 per night

The next day we visited Shanghai Expo, 陆家嘴 financial district, The Bund & 石库门 at Xintiandi. Again involved a lot of walking. At Expo, Saudi Pavilion is the only hall open to public. Along the street leading to the exhibition area, there are ticket tout everywhere. They are also selling Expo Passport (fully stamped). I believed they imitated the actual stamps & mass produced in a printing company.

China Pavilion - CLOSED

Saudi Pavilion a.k.a. Moon Boat - Looks like a boat surrounded by desert & sea. The date palms planted on the roof garden to showcase the Middle Eastern uniqueness. Inside the pavalion, there is a huge cinema screen (1,600 sqm) screening the art & culture of Saudi Arabia.

 

Artist Impression

Arena for future vehicles during the 2010 Expo. Now there is nothing...

The highlight of Shanghai trip would be lunch at Morton's. Shanghai Morton's is the biggest Morton's restaurant outside USA. We are so pleased with the food, both portion & taste. Better still, total bill is only ¥400. To put into context, lamb chop costs S$90 per serving at Singapore Morton's.

Morton Lunch is only available (outside US) in Shanghai & Mexico City

Starter - the bread is topped with lightly toasted caramelized onion

Very nice... We doggy bagged half the bread.

Colossal Shrimps & Sea Scallops with grilled vegetables

We totally forgot about the yellow colour sauce - never tasted

Morton Prime Burger - with bacon, cheese, onion & FRIES!!

I am no longer hungry for an Apple. Just a stupid posture

Good food always rejuvenate & make wonders. That evening we continue to visit some other places.

The Bund

Later that day we went to 石库门 - A traditional architectural style for residential building. Usually 2 to 3 storey high buildings connected by narrow alleys (弄堂). The front door arch is commonly built in stone and that's how it got the name 石库门 literally translated into "stone gate".  This place in Xin Tian Di has been transfromed into a happening dining place.

That night we concluded our tour at Din Tai Fung again.

Shopping area near to our Ibis Hotel

On the 3rd day, we move on to Hangzhou.