In the middle of March, 2000, eight of us departed Hong Kong for a trip to Shanghai, China. Shanghai is inside the People's Republic and I needed to get a special entry visa stamp in my passport before we departed HK. This cost about $25 USD, much cheaper than it costs here in America. I was the sole American in our group; my travel companions were Chinese and could enter the PRC with only their passports.

I met my travel companions through Wendy, and they are a great group of people. The other guy in our group was named Sing, and he actually works as a tour guide. So he knew all the places to take us, the history of the places, and how to negotiate with the locals we met. We couldn't have been in better hands !

We flew into Shanghai. It was raining there our first day, but I was still impressed with how modern it was, much more so than Beijing (which I had visited last October). There seemed to be much more foreign investment in Shanghai, for one thing.

	"The Bund" is the name for the waterfront area along the Huang Pu river, where the early European traders established factories and businesses before the communist takeover in 1950. The buildings along the Bund are still there, now historical landmarks to a different era. At night they are highlighted with beautiful lighting, like in this photo.
	We visited other places in Shanghai, like gardens, temples, famous restaurants, and huge shopping areas. We also visited the other side of the Haung Pu river, and saw the Oriental Pearl Television Tower, one of Shanghai's most memorable sights. The bottom of it is just over my right shoulder in this photo.
We stayed at the Merry Hotel, which was nice. The taxi drivers in Shanghai were still too wild for my sedate American driving habits, but they were much safer than in Beijing. Shanghai is a remarkable place !
	We did alot of eating in Shanghai ! The food was wonderful, and tasted exotic to my western palate. One place we visited was called the Nanxiang Steamed Bun restaurant, and it was famous for its special dumpling recipes. As you can see in this photo, Wendy and I really liked those dumpings (notice the stack of "empty" dumpling baskets) !
	We also tried the "hot pot" restaurants. The restaurant in the next photo was a place where they brought us a deep-fry pot and all the raw vegetables and meats. We then proceeded to dip the food into the hot pot until it was cooked to our specific tastes. Great food, and loads of fun to boot !
Hangzhou, China We took a day trip to the city of Hangzhou (pronounced "Hwong-jo"). We rode a train and got a good look at the countryside. The view quickly turned into farms and villages as we left the suburbs of Shanghai. The countryside looked primitive to me, but also interesting. Many of the villages were situated on rivers, so the people could use the water to transport cargo in old boats and barges. We arrived in Hangzhou and Bossum negotiated with the local tour guides, who pounced on us as we left the train station. They easily zeroed in on our group because of me, the tall westerner with blue eyes. Nothing I could do about that ! Bossum easily handled them, and we were soon on our way, attached to a larger tour group.
	We went to West Lake, a lake famous for its beauty and tranquility. The overcast mist hid the view of the surrounding mountains from us, but it was still very lovely. Wendy and I posed for this photo, while behind us people went out on boats to touch the shrines that emerged from the lake at various points.
	The water was smooth as glass, and the reflections were mesmerizing, as you can see in this photo of Wendy standing in front of a smaller lake that teemed with giant goldfish.
	Even though the day was overcast and misty, I felt enchanted to be in this strange and beautiful place with my sweetheart. Moments like the next one were frequent for us that day.
	Our tour also stopped at some ancient temples in Hangzhou. They were hundreds of years old, and some were isolated in mountain valleys, like this one.
	At one temple we visited, there were ancient stone-carved statues of the warriors. They really captured my attention. To be able to reach out and touch something as ancient as these statues gave me an awesome and sobering feeling, as you might guess from my reaction in this photo. I was walking amid the history of China, and those moments will always be etched in my memory.
	Another famous temple in Hangzhou is called the Ling Yin monastery. It has amazing stone carvings and statues that the ancient monks sculpted out of a stone cliff. Just look at this photo of Candy, Koney and Wendy.
	Our final stop in Hangzhou was at a tourist attraction called 'Soong City'. It was a modern tourist attraction that had been constructed to represent aspects of ancient China. There were recreations of famous temples, customs, and daily life. We had some fun at Soong City. My friends talked me into dressing up in an ancient costume. I was reluctant to draw attention to myself at first, but then I got into the spirit of it :) It was easier when Wendy agreed to dress up as my bride !
Suzhou, China The next day we travelled by train to Suzhou (pronounced "Soo-Jo"). Suzhou is a much smaller town than Huangzhou, and this was reflected in the train we rode in. It was an older train, not nearly as nice as the one we took to Huangzhou. It was also very crowded. We had to buy "standing-in-the-aisle" tickets, which means we literally stood in the aisle the whole way to Suzhou (over 1 hour). This is not an experience I will ever forget ! It was wall-to-wall humanity with all that comes with that ! A policeman in uniform (or was he a soldier? The uniforms all looked the same to me !) fell asleep leaning against my side. People smoked in the crowded, cramped space. Vendors still squirmed through the aisle, trying to sell stuff. Babies cried, people coughed, talked, and yelled. Finally the trip was over, and it felt fantastic to get off the train. The first thing we did was to reserve regular, sit-down tickets for the trip back to Shanghai ! Once again we were pounced on by the local hawkers as we walked out from the station. Bossum negotiated with a guy and we got a private tour set up for the 8 of us in our own mini-bus.
	Suzhou is famous for its canals, gardens, and temples. We saw many of these. A very beautiful one is called Suzhou Gardens, as you can see in this next photo. The girls in our group posed in front of the lake. From front to back are: Candy, Wendy, Koney, Joyce, Doney, and Ah-lie.
	Another famous temple is called Tigerhill, and has China's own version of the "leaning tower". The tower at Tigerhill actual tilts just like the one in Pisa, Italy, but it's hard to tell in this photo.
	We had a group photo taken at Tigerhill. Here's our whole travel group. Front row: Tim, Bossum. Second row (left to right): Candy, Wendy, Doney, Joyce, Ah-Lie, Koney.
We hope you enjoyed our travel story and photos ! We would like to leave you with one thought: China is there, waiting patiently as it has for centuries, to be discovered again and again by each of us. We hope someday you will enjoy your own adventures there ! Warmest Regards from Tim & Wendy !

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