Day 1078-1106: Shanghai to PingTan, China

 Cruising into Shanghai after floating on the sea for 2 nights

Hello China, I'm back again!

Shanghai

 

Out of curiousity she came up to have a chat and glad she left feeling inspired that she too can get through her tough times in life

The Bund

Oriental Pearl Tower

An old residential area now home to many unique shops, bars and restaurants

Into the Old streets

Raree show, the traditional way

Grandma begging for money... I asked my chinese friends and none will give her a penny as they say most of them earn alot or are swindler

Bamboo scaffolding probably a skill that will die out eventually

Nanjng shopping street

 

Chanced upon an old restaurant that has been going since 1878

Shanghai streets

Roast sweet potatoes by the street... will be perfect in the cold winter but not now when the weather is getting warmer

Into old district

Lack of space = they can only cook outside

This is only a small portion of what you can try in Shanghai... too many to name as usual
Wished I have the stomach to try them all

++++

Zhu Jia Jiao /  朱家角

Arriving at a traditional water town

Fang Sheng （放生） Bridge, the largest in town apart from the other 36 bridges with some dating back to Ming dynasty

Really wanted to say.. No granny, don't do your washing here! But everyone does it the same way

Romantic sunset moment

++++

Xiao Gao, on his day trip out of Shanghai, taking a break from his hectic work

Jiaxing

South Lake

Lunch treat with Dujie and her friend

Passing through this city to visit a friend, Jason, his family and his fun workplace!

Thanks Jason and DuJie for having me around for so long!
Hope to see them again back home...

++++

Hangzhou / 杭州

And the sign says: Hangzhou is recognized as one of the most beautiful, cultured and happiest cities in China.... what you reckon?

Going for a leisure hike

Almost crush this little thing

8 trigrams field

Leifeng Pagoda

Typical human traffic surrounding the west lake

West Lake sunset

West lake by night

Quick stroll into Hangzhou's old streets

Medical hall opened since 1649

The No.1 well in Hangzhou

It got me excited but peeking through the locked gate, all I saw was this 😅

Unique cafe

Longjing (Dragon Well) Tea Fields (龙井茶园)

Bored of the city, I went for a bike ride as recommended by an expat local friend

Drying out dragon well tea leaves

Into Old Dragon Well

First grade Dragon well tea field

Enjoying a cup of first grade tea since I can't afford to buy any when its fetching at 3600yuan/500g


Pierre from France...fantastic host who has been in China for years... he even speaks and writes chinese!

++++

Da Gang Xiang (大港乡）- 古堰画乡景区

Its free after 1700hrs but it also means shops are closing

烧饼 - Freshly baked!

++++

Opps... riding into sunset and yet to find a place to sleep

++++

Buns, glutinous rice and soya drink for breakfast

Double waterfall

Local farmhouse

Lots of rolling mountains in Fujian province

++++

Strawberries season in April

After a 206km mad dash without sleep, I finally reached Pingtan where I'll board the ship for Taiwan!
About 600yuan one way ticket reaching Taipei port the next day.