Monday, January 28, 2008
20 January 2008: Bowling
Today we manged to get our last minute shopping out of the way. We revisited Qipu Lu market (the copy market) to empty our wallets of Chinese RMB. We ventured up a little further than level 2 this time, and found out some of the real prices for copied goods. The levels above level 2 were just like a regular shopping mall! Nobody hassling you to buy their goods, and nobody being too pushy! I liked it. I bought a pair of jeans from a small shop where the lady said "This price. No argue! You want argue, go level 2!" The price was only about AU$20, so I didn't argue. I found a pair I liked, and bought them.
I also went downstairs and bought a new bag to put my laptop in. When we got back to the hotel, I was tired. I started packing everything we had bought into our suitcases. Tomorrow morning we leave for Hong Kong, so I wanted to be all packed.
Chris and I went to the "Sports Bar" in the basement of the hotel later that night. We discovered that they had a pool table, a foosball table, and a bowling alley to play on. We asked how much it was to play some bowling, and the bartender said we just have to buy some drinks. Chris and I bought two drinks and played two games of bowling! it was really fun.
The bowling alley was fun, but not that well maintained. The balls had chips out of them, and the surface of the alley had not been polished. I guess it's a classic example of "you get what you pay for".
I also went downstairs and bought a new bag to put my laptop in. When we got back to the hotel, I was tired. I started packing everything we had bought into our suitcases. Tomorrow morning we leave for Hong Kong, so I wanted to be all packed.
Chris and I went to the "Sports Bar" in the basement of the hotel later that night. We discovered that they had a pool table, a foosball table, and a bowling alley to play on. We asked how much it was to play some bowling, and the bartender said we just have to buy some drinks. Chris and I bought two drinks and played two games of bowling! it was really fun.
The bowling alley was fun, but not that well maintained. The balls had chips out of them, and the surface of the alley had not been polished. I guess it's a classic example of "you get what you pay for".
19 January 2008: Back to Shanghai
Today it was raining in Hangzhou. We didn't mind, as we had planned to catch the train back to Shanghai today. After packing everything into our bags, we headed down to the train station. There were heaps of people lingering outside the train station. They all had packed bags like they were about to head somewhere, but none seemed too interested in entering the train station. I found this very curious. I'm not sure weather they planned to enter the station later, or if they hadn't bought tickets, or what.
Chris and I had no problems getting to the train station and finding where to board our train. We had to wait in a little waiting room, which was very similar to the boarding lounge at the airport. Chris and I were almost the only westerns on the train.
Once we boarded the train, the trip was fairly quick. It took two hours to travel from Hungzhou to Shanghai with one stop in Jiaxing.
When we reached Shanghai, we took the subway to our hotel, which was located right near the main Shanghai railway station. It was rainy and wet and cold outside, so Chris and I checked into the hotel and decided we should stay in tonight and watch some DVDs. We went to try and find some drinks and snacks, but didn't have much luck finding the drinks that Chris was looking for. We ventured out again later that night for some dinner.
We watched some of the copy DVDs we had bought when we were with Ryan. The quality seemed pretty good, so with any luck, the others will be ok too.
Chris and I had no problems getting to the train station and finding where to board our train. We had to wait in a little waiting room, which was very similar to the boarding lounge at the airport. Chris and I were almost the only westerns on the train.
Once we boarded the train, the trip was fairly quick. It took two hours to travel from Hungzhou to Shanghai with one stop in Jiaxing.
When we reached Shanghai, we took the subway to our hotel, which was located right near the main Shanghai railway station. It was rainy and wet and cold outside, so Chris and I checked into the hotel and decided we should stay in tonight and watch some DVDs. We went to try and find some drinks and snacks, but didn't have much luck finding the drinks that Chris was looking for. We ventured out again later that night for some dinner.
We watched some of the copy DVDs we had bought when we were with Ryan. The quality seemed pretty good, so with any luck, the others will be ok too.
18 January 2008: Haircut
Today is a little warmer than yesterday. There is not snow all over the ground anymore. Chris and I only just made it downstairs in time for the last 5 minutes of breakfast! The food options were not that exciting though, with mostly Chinese style foods available for breakfast. I get the feeling that Hangzhou must be a destination for many domestic tourists, but not so many international travelers.
Chris and I desided to take advantage of the weather, and go for a walk to the "silk market". It turned out that the market was pretty much just a strip of shops that all claimed to be selling 100% real silk. It seemed that if we were going to buy anything that was silk, we should have bought it here. The shops didn't seem touristy at all, and many of the shopkeepers were busy filling orders, packing stock into boxes for shipping.
We stumbled upon Mau's old holiday house (I think). It was fairly large, and was set inside a walled compound. The buildings had now been converted into shops, but the external parts still remained in the original style.
My hair was getting long and a little out of control, so Chris suggested I get a haircut. We found what looked like a busy hair salon near the silk market, and asked for a haircut. Nobody in the salon spoke English, so it was impossible to tell them how I wanted my hair cut. In the end, they washed my hair, massaged my head, rinsed my hair, cut my hair, rinsed it again, then blow dried it. They put a big parting line down my left side... I don't think they understood that comb-overs are for old people in western culture. No matter, I managed to put some gel through it when we got back to the hotel room.
Chris and I wandered down to the West Lake for the afternoon. We stumbled upon an outlet shopping mall, which seemed to be good value, but Chris and I couldn't find anything we particularly liked. When we reached the West Lake, I could hear music, and there was a large group of people gathered in the distance. We made our way along the shoreline to where the music was, and discovered that there was a musical fountain show running near the edge of the lake.
We stayed to watch the fountains for a while. They were quite mesmerizing, moving in time with the music and making shapes in the air with the falling water. I can only imagine how impressive it would have looked if the day had been sunny. The day we were there it was quite grey and overcast. Sometimes the fountains of water looked like they blended in with the sky colour.
Near the fountains, Chris spotted a squirrel. We watched it playing in the trees for a little while, and I managed to get some photographs. We don't see squirrels in Australia, so it was pretty cool to be able to see one.
That evening, we went to the movies. We wanted to see if they had any English movies. The only one showing was "The Pursuit of Happiness". When we got into the theater, the movie had already begun. I guess they don't show advertisements at the beginning of the film like we do in Australia.
At the end of the film, the credits hadn't even began to roll, and they flicked on the lights! No dimming up of the lights like in an Australian cinema, but just hit the switch, and the fluros come on all at once! I was shocked. It was like watching the movies at someone's house, and someone just hit the wrong switch!
Outside the cinema, there were people trying to sell you the DVD of the movie you had just paid to watch. The cinema operators didn't seem to care.
Chris and I desided to take advantage of the weather, and go for a walk to the "silk market". It turned out that the market was pretty much just a strip of shops that all claimed to be selling 100% real silk. It seemed that if we were going to buy anything that was silk, we should have bought it here. The shops didn't seem touristy at all, and many of the shopkeepers were busy filling orders, packing stock into boxes for shipping.
We stumbled upon Mau's old holiday house (I think). It was fairly large, and was set inside a walled compound. The buildings had now been converted into shops, but the external parts still remained in the original style.
My hair was getting long and a little out of control, so Chris suggested I get a haircut. We found what looked like a busy hair salon near the silk market, and asked for a haircut. Nobody in the salon spoke English, so it was impossible to tell them how I wanted my hair cut. In the end, they washed my hair, massaged my head, rinsed my hair, cut my hair, rinsed it again, then blow dried it. They put a big parting line down my left side... I don't think they understood that comb-overs are for old people in western culture. No matter, I managed to put some gel through it when we got back to the hotel room.
Chris and I wandered down to the West Lake for the afternoon. We stumbled upon an outlet shopping mall, which seemed to be good value, but Chris and I couldn't find anything we particularly liked. When we reached the West Lake, I could hear music, and there was a large group of people gathered in the distance. We made our way along the shoreline to where the music was, and discovered that there was a musical fountain show running near the edge of the lake.
We stayed to watch the fountains for a while. They were quite mesmerizing, moving in time with the music and making shapes in the air with the falling water. I can only imagine how impressive it would have looked if the day had been sunny. The day we were there it was quite grey and overcast. Sometimes the fountains of water looked like they blended in with the sky colour.
Near the fountains, Chris spotted a squirrel. We watched it playing in the trees for a little while, and I managed to get some photographs. We don't see squirrels in Australia, so it was pretty cool to be able to see one.
That evening, we went to the movies. We wanted to see if they had any English movies. The only one showing was "The Pursuit of Happiness". When we got into the theater, the movie had already begun. I guess they don't show advertisements at the beginning of the film like we do in Australia.
At the end of the film, the credits hadn't even began to roll, and they flicked on the lights! No dimming up of the lights like in an Australian cinema, but just hit the switch, and the fluros come on all at once! I was shocked. It was like watching the movies at someone's house, and someone just hit the wrong switch!
Outside the cinema, there were people trying to sell you the DVD of the movie you had just paid to watch. The cinema operators didn't seem to care.
Monday, January 21, 2008
17 January 2008: Snow!
After getting so excited about the sunshine in Shanghai, one should note than I also got very excited about the snow in Jiaxing and Hangzhou.
Chris and I awoke a little later than we had planned, and started the day off with a brisk walk around part of the South Lake. We saw a couple of people practicing Tai-Chi by the water's edge, which was very surprising, given how cold the morning air was. While we were walking, a light dusting of snow began to fall. We started making our way back to the hotel to pack our things and eat some breakfast.
By the time Fion and Elane came to pick us up, the snow was coming down quite heavily, and some parts of the snow were starting to stick to buildings and plants. Elane was very excited about the snow, saying that it doesn't often snow in Jiaxing.
Fion and Elane took us to a mountain near Hangzhou, which was home to a Tibetan Buddhist Temple. The mountain was riddled with stone carvings in every possible nook and cranny. The carvings were very old and surrounded by legend. The legend claims that the entire mountain was flown to it's current location from India! I think it's more likely that the monks living in the temple thousands of years ago carved these out using rudimentary tools. It's hard to tell though, because the line between myth, legend, and truth in Chinese culture seems a little blurred.
The mountain was spectacular! It was like something out of a fairytale, with a light dusting of snow just for added special effect. I could have spent all day wandering in and out of the mountain paths, except that it was quite cold, and we were under a strict time limit.
After making our way through a couple of the winding tracks, Fion pointed out where the temple was. The temple was so big that I couldn't see all of it at once. Fion led us through a courtyard and into the first pavilion, which housed some gold plated statues. I was impressed at their size, being about 10m high (that's just an estimate).
We moved through several pavilions, all with beautiful gold statues, and huge inscents burning pots. Fion and Elane explained that there is a pavilion for each of the main gods, and that smaller (related) gods line the edges of the pavilion.
One pavilion was right at the rear of the compound, and overlooked the mountains and all the other buildings. Inside, was a giant gold Buddah. Again, I marveled at the scale of the statue; it was so big that I struggled to fit it into my camera's view. It almost felt like the pavilion was too small for this idol, and that the roof should be made higher, or that the Buddah was going to get cramped up in this small space.
On the way back to the car, Chris started a snow-ball fight, and managed to throw a big wad of snow down my neck!! It was very cold. Fion and Elane thought it was very funny, and started making snow-balls to throw at each other and at Chris. It was a lot of fun.
Fion and Elane stopped at one of the street vendors to buy some Chinese name charms. They gave me Chinese surnames, Chris' surname was to hard for them so they used his first name. My surname is "Whey" meaning hansom and strong. It's pronounced the same way as "Hello" when you answer the phone in Chinese, but Fion assures me that it's a different word. :)
We went to lunch at the most famous hotel in Hangzhou, It's right on the edge of the West Lake, and is over 100 years old. Following lunch, Fion took us out on a small boat to see the islands in the middle of the lake. It was very cold. After that we started heading to our Hotel, we took the scenic route around the lake, it was much warmer in the car! We did stop on the way to have one last quick look around the lake. We found some goldfish swimming in the lake, and a lady selling popcorn to feed them, I never knew goldfish ate pop-corn, but these ones did. It was great fun. We then continued heading to our hotel where we said goodbye to our new friends from Jiaxing Jackson.
Chris and I spent a couple hours getting settled into the hotel, and thawing out. Then we set out to explore Hangzhou by foot. I got us lost, and we managed to stumble upon the train station, then a night-market. The night market was good, and didn't seem like as much of a rip off as the markets in Shanghai. Chris saw a couple things he liked, so we bought them. Then we headed back to the hotel.
Chris and I awoke a little later than we had planned, and started the day off with a brisk walk around part of the South Lake. We saw a couple of people practicing Tai-Chi by the water's edge, which was very surprising, given how cold the morning air was. While we were walking, a light dusting of snow began to fall. We started making our way back to the hotel to pack our things and eat some breakfast.
By the time Fion and Elane came to pick us up, the snow was coming down quite heavily, and some parts of the snow were starting to stick to buildings and plants. Elane was very excited about the snow, saying that it doesn't often snow in Jiaxing.
Fion and Elane took us to a mountain near Hangzhou, which was home to a Tibetan Buddhist Temple. The mountain was riddled with stone carvings in every possible nook and cranny. The carvings were very old and surrounded by legend. The legend claims that the entire mountain was flown to it's current location from India! I think it's more likely that the monks living in the temple thousands of years ago carved these out using rudimentary tools. It's hard to tell though, because the line between myth, legend, and truth in Chinese culture seems a little blurred.
The mountain was spectacular! It was like something out of a fairytale, with a light dusting of snow just for added special effect. I could have spent all day wandering in and out of the mountain paths, except that it was quite cold, and we were under a strict time limit.
After making our way through a couple of the winding tracks, Fion pointed out where the temple was. The temple was so big that I couldn't see all of it at once. Fion led us through a courtyard and into the first pavilion, which housed some gold plated statues. I was impressed at their size, being about 10m high (that's just an estimate).
We moved through several pavilions, all with beautiful gold statues, and huge inscents burning pots. Fion and Elane explained that there is a pavilion for each of the main gods, and that smaller (related) gods line the edges of the pavilion.
One pavilion was right at the rear of the compound, and overlooked the mountains and all the other buildings. Inside, was a giant gold Buddah. Again, I marveled at the scale of the statue; it was so big that I struggled to fit it into my camera's view. It almost felt like the pavilion was too small for this idol, and that the roof should be made higher, or that the Buddah was going to get cramped up in this small space.
On the way back to the car, Chris started a snow-ball fight, and managed to throw a big wad of snow down my neck!! It was very cold. Fion and Elane thought it was very funny, and started making snow-balls to throw at each other and at Chris. It was a lot of fun.
Fion and Elane stopped at one of the street vendors to buy some Chinese name charms. They gave me Chinese surnames, Chris' surname was to hard for them so they used his first name. My surname is "Whey" meaning hansom and strong. It's pronounced the same way as "Hello" when you answer the phone in Chinese, but Fion assures me that it's a different word. :)
We went to lunch at the most famous hotel in Hangzhou, It's right on the edge of the West Lake, and is over 100 years old. Following lunch, Fion took us out on a small boat to see the islands in the middle of the lake. It was very cold. After that we started heading to our Hotel, we took the scenic route around the lake, it was much warmer in the car! We did stop on the way to have one last quick look around the lake. We found some goldfish swimming in the lake, and a lady selling popcorn to feed them, I never knew goldfish ate pop-corn, but these ones did. It was great fun. We then continued heading to our hotel where we said goodbye to our new friends from Jiaxing Jackson.
Chris and I spent a couple hours getting settled into the hotel, and thawing out. Then we set out to explore Hangzhou by foot. I got us lost, and we managed to stumble upon the train station, then a night-market. The night market was good, and didn't seem like as much of a rip off as the markets in Shanghai. Chris saw a couple things he liked, so we bought them. Then we headed back to the hotel.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
16th January 2008: Jiaxing Jackson
At 9am this morning, Helen and a driver from Jiaxing Jackson came to collect Chris and me from the hotel. After a 2 hour drive from Shanghai to Jiaxing, we finally reached the factory. Ray was there, so we stopped for a short chat over lunch. Ray had to get going to Yinshan, so he had to leave straight after lunch.
Following lunch, Fion and Elane took Chris and I to a small historic village. The village was the same spot they filmed parts of Mission Impossible 3. All the residents in the village try to live in the traditional way, as much as possible. The town had many rivers and canals, which could be used as transport of goods and people, however it was more common to walk along the banks of the canal instead, because the village was only small.
We stopped in a small museum with some more silk, calligraphy, and pottery. Most of the captions were in Chinese, so Fion and Elaine had fun trying to interperate some of the signs for Chris and I. We stopped for some traditional Chinese Toffee, and some smelly tofu. I had never tried smelly tofu before, but had been told about it by Ray, Peter and Mauris. I was very brave, and tried eating a piece. It wasn't as bad as everyone had made me think it would be!
Once we were sufficiently chilled to the bone, we jumped back into the boss' BMW, and headed back to the factory.
Fion took me on a tour around the factory, showing me where the Oates products were made. I got to see the handle rolling/welding machine, and the powder coating line. They also showed me a giant injection moulding warehouse that puts Oates to shame! They had so many dies and so many machines! I was very surprised by how large their operation was. Fion then showed me the assembly area. They assemble everything by hand, and have a big conveyor that carries all the products down through the crowd of assembly staff. I was a little disappointed that they were not assembling any Oates products while I was there, but I guess that's just luck of the draw.
Fion introduced me to Jiaqing, the engineer who I usually deal with for drawing approvals and such. He was surprised at how young I was, which made me a little flattered. He was very nice, and agreed to come to dinner with us.
Over dinner, Jiaqing taught me a couple Chinese words, and helped me figure out the correct way to eat some of the more exotic Chinese dishes. I tried eating duck's tongue, but passed on the chicken feet.
After dinner, Chris and I were dropped at the hotel. The hotel was really nice, and was situated on the main tourist attraction in Jiaxing, South Lake.
Chris and I said goodbye to our friends from Jiaxing Jackson, and took our things to our room. Then we headed out again, searching for a Starbucks. We knew there was one somewhere in the city, because we had driven past it. However, after wandering around for a couple hours, we had no luck finding Starbucks, and headed home to our hotel. The one good thing about our fruitless search was that we were able to catch a rick-shaw through the city streets while we searched for Starbucks.
Following lunch, Fion and Elane took Chris and I to a small historic village. The village was the same spot they filmed parts of Mission Impossible 3. All the residents in the village try to live in the traditional way, as much as possible. The town had many rivers and canals, which could be used as transport of goods and people, however it was more common to walk along the banks of the canal instead, because the village was only small.
We stopped in a small museum with some more silk, calligraphy, and pottery. Most of the captions were in Chinese, so Fion and Elaine had fun trying to interperate some of the signs for Chris and I. We stopped for some traditional Chinese Toffee, and some smelly tofu. I had never tried smelly tofu before, but had been told about it by Ray, Peter and Mauris. I was very brave, and tried eating a piece. It wasn't as bad as everyone had made me think it would be!
Once we were sufficiently chilled to the bone, we jumped back into the boss' BMW, and headed back to the factory.
Fion took me on a tour around the factory, showing me where the Oates products were made. I got to see the handle rolling/welding machine, and the powder coating line. They also showed me a giant injection moulding warehouse that puts Oates to shame! They had so many dies and so many machines! I was very surprised by how large their operation was. Fion then showed me the assembly area. They assemble everything by hand, and have a big conveyor that carries all the products down through the crowd of assembly staff. I was a little disappointed that they were not assembling any Oates products while I was there, but I guess that's just luck of the draw.
Fion introduced me to Jiaqing, the engineer who I usually deal with for drawing approvals and such. He was surprised at how young I was, which made me a little flattered. He was very nice, and agreed to come to dinner with us.
Over dinner, Jiaqing taught me a couple Chinese words, and helped me figure out the correct way to eat some of the more exotic Chinese dishes. I tried eating duck's tongue, but passed on the chicken feet.
After dinner, Chris and I were dropped at the hotel. The hotel was really nice, and was situated on the main tourist attraction in Jiaxing, South Lake.
Chris and I said goodbye to our friends from Jiaxing Jackson, and took our things to our room. Then we headed out again, searching for a Starbucks. We knew there was one somewhere in the city, because we had driven past it. However, after wandering around for a couple hours, we had no luck finding Starbucks, and headed home to our hotel. The one good thing about our fruitless search was that we were able to catch a rick-shaw through the city streets while we searched for Starbucks.
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