Categories
in china photography

north temple pagoda, suzhou

last weekend we finally gathered the courage to brave the crowds and buy a train ticket to suzhou… actually, the ticket-buying experience was quick and painless, much unlike what i had anticipated – especially in this time of the year.

anyway, the trip went smoothly, the weather was gorgeous, and the city was actually quite friendly. i lack the vocabulary to describe architecture, but you know the tranquility that comes with a “coherent” architecture? that’s how the city center looked to me, with its white walls and dark roofs, more or less aligned till the horizon. un-chaotic.

the choice of things to visit is quite large, so we picked one of each: a pagoda, a unesco garden and a museum, all more or less close to each other … the rest of the day, we spent geocaching :)

north temple pagoda

so, for the first stop, we chose the north temple pagoda. it’s an octogonal pagoda, 9 floors height, filled with best wishes scribbled all over the yellow walls. and naturally, from up there you can see all of suzhou in a glance.

here is the mini photo-report:

suzhou

L O V E

miss taiwan

speaking of suzhou, jonna writes a great blog from there. i never get tired of reading her adventures in learning mandarin and trying to understand the way chinese people think. we’ve been through more or less the same situations, so it’s a very accurate description of our “expat life” as well :)

Categories
in china

chinese new year madness

…explained in video. observe:

isn’t it surreal? the whole city just explodes in fireworks, everywhere you look! :D

so, happy new year of the ox!

Categories
in china

a visit to the shanghai museum

in a sort of new year resolution, we decided to make an effort to visit a “touristy” destination in shanghai every week or so, to get to know the city a bit better.

this week we went to the shanghai museum. you can learn about all sorts of art-related aspects of chinese culture in there, and there’s enough of it to keep you entertained for hours – a clear overdose of information to our jetlagged minds. anyway, here are some pictures:

chinese bronze works

chinese bronze works

chinese sculpture

chinese sculpture

chinese ceramics

chinese ceramics

calligraphy

calligraphy

chinese seal

traditional chinese paiting


all in all, this would have been better if we were less tired – or had a special interest in any sort of ancient art.
still, there are some lovely pieces in there, and the entrance is free, so if you fancy stuff like calligraphy, chinese paintings, currency, bronze works, sculpture, ceramics, chinese furniture, jade carving, etc. give it a go!

Categories
in china traveling

the ride back

ah, portugal. i’m missing your blue skies and cozy food already, but it’s good to be back to our shanghai headquarters, with two spoiled cats under our blankets.

the flights were long but thankfully uneventful, and i think i might have stumbled on the trick to flying reassurance – get the seats in front of the air hostess. they always smile to you and their air of someone who has done this a million times will do wonders for takeoff/landing stress. coincidently, they’re usually the best seats on the plane, so it’s a lovely two-in-one.

between our trip to portugal and the one back, ba changed their flight entertainment system to include many more programs that you can start/pause anytime you want. they now include tv series like dexter, the big bang theory, flight of the conchords, etc. which make a 11 hour flight much more pleasant.

also on way home, i’ve shot my first video with the neat little camera i got for xmas! it’s a tiny sony that makes me feel like the intrepid reporter i always dreamed to be :)
anyway, the video is from the maglev ride here in shanghai: a 30km stretch between the shanghai pudong airport and longyang metro station, in 7:30 at a top speed of 430km/h. it’s the fastest i ever traveled on earth, so i thought it might be fun to share!


ps – at 2:45, another maglev train crosses the one i am riding, so watch out for that. also, my editing skills are non-existent, since it’s the first time i actually “make” a video, so bear with me :)

Categories
in china in portugal rants

here we go again

x marks the spot

one of the happiest days of the year is the one i get to say my mom “see you tomorrow”, knowing that i will really see her the next day. :)

have a nice christmas everyone, and see you on the other side of the planet!