Honeymoon
A trip to China was our honeymoon trip. Our guide met us at the airport and took us to the hotel in a minibus. On the way to the hotel, our acquaintance with Shanghai began. We were driving with our mouths open, majestic skyscrapers of unusual architecture, a lot of flower beds blooming with various flowers, some high-tech buildings, local residents moving on bicycles and motorcycles, all this and much more left us in a state of delight and shock.
Having settled in the hotel, we went in search of some place to have a bite to eat from the road - 10 hours of flying was very tired. The search was not long, our hotel was located near the railway station and so we quickly coped with the task. We were greeted warmly and offered a menu. For tourists from different countries, choosing dishes is not difficult, because. All menus are illustrated with photographs and signed in Chinese and English. The ordered portions were so large that it was possible to share with someone. We quickly mastered eating with chopsticks, which even then refused the forks offered to us. We really enjoyed Chinese cuisine. We tried frogs - they taste like chicken, sushi in different versions, eel, octopus - all this is served with different sauces and vegetables. True sauces often have a very unpleasant aroma or taste. Eating for two is usually $ 15-25 - this is without savings.
At the airport, you can take special tourist cards, in which all the sights of the city and the metro map are marked. After studying these maps, we made a plan for seven days in order to have time to see everything we had planned. It is elementary to organize all excursions on our own, without the participation of a guide - we were not tied to anyone. The help of the guide was needed 2 times. These were individual excursions to Hangzhou and Suzhou. Each took 1 day. We highly recommend!! ! In Hangzhou, it is interesting to see a huge park with Buddha temples, take a boat ride on a picturesque lake, climb an 80-meter pagoda and, of course, taste tea on a cloudy day. You can talk about all the beauty of these places for hours....
In Suzhou, be sure to visit the silk factory, where you can get acquainted with all the details of silk production, from silkworm caterpillars to finished products that you can buy directly at the factory. The most vivid sensations and emotions were given by the "Garden of a modest official" - this is generally a heavenly place.
In the evening, be sure to see Shanghai at night! Going down the subway, you will find yourself in a stream of thousands of Chinese. It felt like we were in an anthill with a specific smell. You can buy a ticket both at the box office and in the machine. On the touch screen, specifying the route and paying, you get electronic tickets. Do not be afraid of the Shanghai subway - absolutely everything is dubbed in English! Having a scheme - never get lost!
On the first evening we decided to visit the TV tower Pearl of the East. Climbing to the very top of the tower, an unforgettable view opened before us. On the ground floor is the Shanghai Old Museum, where you can stay for hours.
The next day we went to the zoo. I had to get not only by metro, but also by taxi. Here I would like to note that a taxi is not very expensive - you will pay strictly according to the meter and not yuan more, which cannot be said about our taxis, which are ready to make money on a foreigner without a twinge of conscience. The zoo is amazing! ! You can easily spend a whole day there, but we cut our stay short. the plans were still to have time to ride a maglev - a train on a magnetic cushion. Arriving at the station and buying tickets, we took our seats. It was something cosmic!! ! : ) The train gradually picked up speed. The increase in speed can be observed on the scoreboard, in which the numbers replace each other with extraordinary speed. The city flashed before our eyes in separate pictures, but when the speed became 430 km / h, it was something. : )
One day, walking along the embankment, we accidentally wandered into the quarter of old Shanghai. There was a feeling that we were in the last century or became participants in the shooting of the film "The Last Samurai". All the houses really corresponded to Chinese architecture, and the contrast of antiquity and modern high-tech made me dizzy!! ! This is a mecca for tourists who want to buy souvenirs and gifts. And don't forget to bargain!
I also advise you to visit the Museum of Science and Technology, an aquarium of immense size with a variety of species of mammals: from a juvenile to a shark. But the China Museum in Peolpe Square is a boring place. Buying a ticket to any place is very simple - everything is duplicated in English. And the cashiers know him well too.
The Chinese are very cheerful and friendly people. Enjoyed the trip a lot! That's just, having arrived home, we got back - to the Stone Age.....
