China - Shanghai, Guilin, Yangshuo & Hong Kong
Day 1
We arrived at the port in Shanghai relatively early in the day but there were a few complications with immigration and many people were not able to disembark the boat until noon that day. I had an all day field lab for my World Architecture class so I spent the first day in China on and off a bus trying to fit in as much Chinese architecture as possible. Our lab consisted of visits to the Urban Planning Expo Center, walk down Nanjing Lu Commercial Pedestrian Mall, the Bund, Yu Yuan Gardens, China Art Museum, Love Tunnel and the top of Shanghai World Financial Center (the photo above is the view from the top, by far the coolest place we went on the field lab). The late start to the day made our field lab extremely rushed and the lab ended up lasting from 9:30 am to 11:00 pm that night so that was about all I did the first day in China.
Day 2
The second day started at about 4:00 am because we had to get the Pudong airport, which is about an hour from the city center, for an 8:30 am flight to Guilin, China. Lucky I had asked the field lab guide from the night before if we would be able to catch a cab at 4:00 am and she had informed me that it would have been impossible. She was kind enough to set up a ride for us to the airport at 5:00 am and we ended up making it early to the airport and had no issues making it on our flight. Once we landed in Guilin we made our way to the hostel. On the cab ride there, I was extremely shocked by the amount of poverty I saw. I had not expected China to be so underdeveloped after seeing what Japan was like. It was a lot for me to take in and it definitely took me a few days to process it all. That afternoon at the hostel we met a son, Ringo, and his father that were traveling together. They were both originally from Hong Kong but had moved to Vancouver, Canada 30+ years ago. Since they both spoke fluent Chinese they offered to travel with us and we spent the rest of the day exploring the streets of Guilin.
Day 3
We spent all of day 3 traveling to and exploring the Longji Rice Terraces. I have been obsessed with the rice terraces in Longji for years now and finally being able to go there and explore made the trip for me. The drive there was a about 2 hours but once we got there we spent about 4 hours hiking up the terraces and taking in the entire landscape. There are no words to describe it and photos cannot do it justice, it was breathtaking. I want to go back there again during the actual growing season to see all the terraces flooded with water but the trip there was still amazing. The rice terraces were an all day trip so we didn't make it back to the hostel until about 8:00 pm that night.
Day 4
Early in the week after we had met Ringo and his dad, they had recommended we stay our last day/night in Guilin in Yangshuo so we switched our last night in the Guilin Wada Hostel to Yangshuo Wada Hostel. We left Guilin early and took at 1 hour bus ride to Yangshuo. All I have to say is bus rides in China are an experience and I don't recommend looking out the window ever. Once we got to Yangshuo we headed out on bikes to explore the countryside, it was well worth. Yangshuo was beautiful and the farming families were very tolerant of all of us taking tons of photos of them. We spent that night shopping around the Yangshuo night market before heading back to the hostel for the night.
Day 5
We checked out of the hostel in Yangshuo at around noon and started making our way to the airport for our flight to Hong Kong. Thank god we left for our flight 4 hours early because the bus ride to get to the airport, which is only supposed to be an hour, ended up taking about 3 hours because our bus got stuck on a one way road due to construction...it's a long story that I'll have to explain later but it was total chaos. We caught out flight to Hong Kong and were back on the boat by 11:00 pm that night.
Day 6
I got up early and went to explore the Ladies Market in Hong Kong which was an experience. I also went to a camera complex/building that Ringo had recommended I go to find camera lenses. I spent a couple hours in there about almost bought a lens but decided to save the money for something I can't buy in the US. I headed back to the ship early so I wouldn't get dock time and we headed out for Vietnam that night.
Day 1
We arrived at the port in Shanghai relatively early in the day but there were a few complications with immigration and many people were not able to disembark the boat until noon that day. I had an all day field lab for my World Architecture class so I spent the first day in China on and off a bus trying to fit in as much Chinese architecture as possible. Our lab consisted of visits to the Urban Planning Expo Center, walk down Nanjing Lu Commercial Pedestrian Mall, the Bund, Yu Yuan Gardens, China Art Museum, Love Tunnel and the top of Shanghai World Financial Center (the photo above is the view from the top, by far the coolest place we went on the field lab). The late start to the day made our field lab extremely rushed and the lab ended up lasting from 9:30 am to 11:00 pm that night so that was about all I did the first day in China.
Day 2
The second day started at about 4:00 am because we had to get the Pudong airport, which is about an hour from the city center, for an 8:30 am flight to Guilin, China. Lucky I had asked the field lab guide from the night before if we would be able to catch a cab at 4:00 am and she had informed me that it would have been impossible. She was kind enough to set up a ride for us to the airport at 5:00 am and we ended up making it early to the airport and had no issues making it on our flight. Once we landed in Guilin we made our way to the hostel. On the cab ride there, I was extremely shocked by the amount of poverty I saw. I had not expected China to be so underdeveloped after seeing what Japan was like. It was a lot for me to take in and it definitely took me a few days to process it all. That afternoon at the hostel we met a son, Ringo, and his father that were traveling together. They were both originally from Hong Kong but had moved to Vancouver, Canada 30+ years ago. Since they both spoke fluent Chinese they offered to travel with us and we spent the rest of the day exploring the streets of Guilin.
Day 3
We spent all of day 3 traveling to and exploring the Longji Rice Terraces. I have been obsessed with the rice terraces in Longji for years now and finally being able to go there and explore made the trip for me. The drive there was a about 2 hours but once we got there we spent about 4 hours hiking up the terraces and taking in the entire landscape. There are no words to describe it and photos cannot do it justice, it was breathtaking. I want to go back there again during the actual growing season to see all the terraces flooded with water but the trip there was still amazing. The rice terraces were an all day trip so we didn't make it back to the hostel until about 8:00 pm that night.
Day 4
Early in the week after we had met Ringo and his dad, they had recommended we stay our last day/night in Guilin in Yangshuo so we switched our last night in the Guilin Wada Hostel to Yangshuo Wada Hostel. We left Guilin early and took at 1 hour bus ride to Yangshuo. All I have to say is bus rides in China are an experience and I don't recommend looking out the window ever. Once we got to Yangshuo we headed out on bikes to explore the countryside, it was well worth. Yangshuo was beautiful and the farming families were very tolerant of all of us taking tons of photos of them. We spent that night shopping around the Yangshuo night market before heading back to the hostel for the night.
Day 5
We checked out of the hostel in Yangshuo at around noon and started making our way to the airport for our flight to Hong Kong. Thank god we left for our flight 4 hours early because the bus ride to get to the airport, which is only supposed to be an hour, ended up taking about 3 hours because our bus got stuck on a one way road due to construction...it's a long story that I'll have to explain later but it was total chaos. We caught out flight to Hong Kong and were back on the boat by 11:00 pm that night.
Day 6
I got up early and went to explore the Ladies Market in Hong Kong which was an experience. I also went to a camera complex/building that Ringo had recommended I go to find camera lenses. I spent a couple hours in there about almost bought a lens but decided to save the money for something I can't buy in the US. I headed back to the ship early so I wouldn't get dock time and we headed out for Vietnam that night.
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