The package tour was
for four days, with schedules from early morning to late evening every day. We
went around on a tour bus that was too spacious for only 12 people. (If they
hadn’t arranged the package tour, we would’ve had a hard time going around the
city because we can’t all fit in a taxi.) The first day was visiting touristic
places in Shanghai, which was just a recap for me, but my family was surprised
at how similar the fashion, downtown, and everything was to Korea. They did
find one thing very different and interesting, and that was the Chinese culture
of having their laundry out everywhere. Like in Chinese action movies, washed clothes,
even underwear, are hanging from every window and even on the streets where you
can find any two poles to tie a clothesline to.
In Shanghai we visited
Xintiandi, Yuyuan Garden, and Waitan (the Bund). The good mix of new and old,
Eastern and Western, and the architecture of all different countries impressed
my family. We didn’t get to stay at one place for very long, since we had multiple
areas to cover in one day. Although the destinations in Shanghai were not very
new to me, getting to share some parts of my life in Shanghai with my family
was an exciting experience.
After getting a good
night’s rest at our hotel at the end of subway line 11, we got good food downstairs
in the hotel, and left early for Hangzhou. Hangzhou is a city that takes about
3 hours by bus from Shanghai. It’s a romantic city known for its beautiful lake.
It is told that the city was home to one of the most beautiful women in China.
We first were dropped off at a market, where small street vendors and shops
were lined up selling all kinds of goods ranging from scarfs to Chinese ancient
armors to traditionally made rice cake. My sister and I got bracelets from one
vendor and looked around the colorful shops. Then we headed to the lake where
we took a boat trip. The view around the lake was not very clear because of the
foggy and rainy weather (ugh, why is the weather always like this when I
travel). However, according to the travel guide, the ancient people of Hangzhou
used a phrase that went something like, “Hangzhou is better on a foggy day than
on a sunny day, even better when it rains or snows, and even better when it’s
dark at night.”
At that night, we went to see a famous Shanghainese show. The show had a little bit of everything mixed together: circus, fashion show, Beijing opera, drum performance, and a motorcycle show. We were all fascinated by the great coordination of all performances and the colorfulness of the stage.
Throughout the whole
trip, the travel guide took us to Chinese restaurants that were mostly filled
with tourists. They always had big round tables with big lazy Susans in the
middle, so that everyone could share all the food. My sister complained it
actually forces you to grab and eat food fast and worry about all the food
being gone before you can get to it. It was because all eleven of us in the packaged tour group sat
together, and we had to worry about when to turn the lazy Susan. Often, you
were trying to scoop some cabbage dish and suddenly someone from another family
would spin the lazy Susan without consideration. Some restaurants had better
food than others, but the overall quality of restaurants weren’t as good as that
of what I had been to in China with friends. No wonder we liked eating at the
hotel the most.
The third day was
spent in Zhujiajiao (朱家角), which is called “Little
Venice of Shanghai” or “the Eastern Venice.” It is the oldest water village in
Shanghai and has streets on either side of the waterway filled with Chinese
food and snacks, traditional clothes and crafted goods. There is a famous bridge
that marks the center of the Zhujiajiao, and where by tradition, you’re only
supposed to let go of fish and turtles, and not catch them.
On the way back to
Shanghai downtown from Zhujiajiao, I had to leave the group to take the subway
back to campus because I had an exam in class the next day. My family stayed in
Shanghai until the next afternoon and had a safe flight back to Korea. I feel
that I didn’t get to show them much of what I liked about Shanghai on this
short trip, but at least I had them try Coco milk teas—and they liked it as
much as I do!
