Back to Shanghai

We have been to Shanghai a number of times, and returned this time with the main purpose of attending Expo 2010. We had purchased a 3 day pass in Australia, had selected an hotel near the subway, and were ready to experience what Shanghai had to offer.

We arrived early the first morning at the Expo entry gates. It was still 45 minutes before they opened, but there was already a massive queue. Once we were in, our first job was to sign up for tickets to the China pavilion (an entry ticket to expo does not ensure entry to the China pavilion). By the time we reached the pavilion area, a notice was broadcast that all the tickets for the day for the China pavilion had been allocated! We did finally gain entry to the China Pavilion,but it was quite a saga, The pavilion massive, magnificent, and very well presented.

The expo site itself is huge (over 5 sq km). It runs along both sides of the Huangpu River and there is very good transport within the site to get around. We found that most visitors were Chinese, with relatively few westerners to be seen. All pavilions had big queues - but some were bigger than others. We spent a lot of time in cattle crush arrangements. Some pavilions had signs along the queues with expected time limits for waiting, with lines reaching the '3 hour wait time' in some. If it looked to be more than an hour or so we bypassed that pavilion. Germany was hugely popular, so we did not see that. But then, there are many pavilions, and there were quite a few we did not see.

The pavilions could be judged both by their exterior and what was inside. A gorgeous exterior did not necessarily mean that the inside was impressive, and vice versa. We were amazed at the effort and expense that went into many of the pavilions, and wondered if the countries gained equivalent payback from their efforts.

Overall, the expo is very well done - the site is beautiful, there is heaps to see, and much is well worth seeing. At night the pavilions took on a whole new view, so that was good to see as well.

The crowds can be challenging. We feel we are quite good at managing in crowds, being not too harassed by lots of people, but the queuing was at times a challenge. There are differences between our ideas of the unwritten rules of personal space and queuing and those of the locals. After two days at expo we had a day off, and this made our last day there more manageable.

We had three days to explore Shanghai as well. Continuing the theme of 'water towns' , we took a bus to Zhujiajiao, about 30 kms away but still part of Shanghai. It is very touristy, but lovely still. We visited Qibao (a similar canal area) as well, but found this area to be totally overloaded with visitors, and so spent little time here.

Of course we did the usual - walked the Bund, which has had a makeover since we saw it two years ago, wandered up Nanjing Road, and generally enjoyed the food and everyday goings on in China. This is the part we love, and are happy to do over and over again.

Suzhou - the Garden City

Suzhou is one of those places that is so widely photographed that you feel as though you have already been there. It is widely known as a 'water town' i.e. built around canals, and also for its gardens. Of course the reality is that the well known part is only a tiny fraction of a huge city.The taxi driver had a lot of trouble finding our hotel, the Ping Jiang Lodge. Described as a Chinese courtyard hotel, it is down a small street and right beside a canal. Once found, we were very happy with our room – or rooms I should say. One large room had a dining table for 8 and the second room a canopied bed, a table for 8 and a desk. It seemed we needed friends and family around to make use of all the sitting places. It was also in a good position for walking to the sights.

We loved the magnificent new Suzhou Museum, designed by IM Pei, and opened in 2006. Pei's family was originally from Suzhou. We could certainly see similarities in style with the beautifulMuseum of Islamic Arts (also Pei designed) which opened in Qatar while we were living there. This museum is in black and white, with stark angles and corners softened by glimpses of green bamboo or maples through a variety of glass windows or walls. It was worth queuing for.

As we wandered through the sights of Suzhou, it became obvious that this was a place where scholars, writers and poets had gathered, as there were often references these people. The famous Humble Administrator's Gardens is the largest and one of the best preserved of Suzhou’s gardens. The garden was laid out in 1500s for the imperial inspector Wang Xianchen when he retired from public life. The name Humble Administrator's Garden was inspired by the essay 'To cultivate my garden and sell my vegetable crop is the policy of humble man'. However, other references say that the garden ‘was named after the not-so-humble administrator, who, upon his retirement, purchased the property with money extorted from other officials during his time at court ‘.The garden is divided into the middle, eastern and western parts and a house is at the south end of the garden. Some of the spaces in the garden, like the ‘Listening to the Sound of Rain Pavilion’, and the ‘A Pure Mind Thinks Deep’ illustrate the garden’s purpose of refreshing the mind and soul.

We enjoyed the garden, but were amazed at the behavior of some visitors to the gardens. It seemed that taking photographs was a priority regardless of where one was standing. A continuous procession of visitors walked over the grass and into the gardens for a spot to take that perfect picture. As a result, the lawn was concrete hard dirt. The (fairly aged) women who were busy hoeing the ground must have felt they had a hopeless task as the vandalism continued. This behavior was in stark contrast to the actions of the security people in the huge parks in Hangzhou, where one foot on the grass would result in immediate orders to move to the path.

The ‘Garden of the Master of the Nets’, the smallest of the gardens, was slightly more peaceful. It has buildings such as the ‘Five Summits Reading Hut’ and the ‘Viewing Porch for Looking at Pines and Studying Paintings’ which reflected the scholars’ interests. Other areas such as the ‘Chapel of Accumulated Emptiness’, ‘Shooting at Ducks Walkway’ and the ‘Pursuing Tranquillity Lodging’ are more whimsical. The peonies here were beautiful.

It is obvious these gardens have an important historical place in Suzhou’s history, but it is also clear that the gardens are suffering from the effects of large visitor numbers. A very difficult problem to solve.

We did enjoy Suzhou – there was plenty to see, the people were lovely, and the food was great.Now to Shanghai.