Shanghai: Hangzhou and Suzhou

End of the week, I just finished a presentation on the 2008 Anti-American beef protests in Korea. I have seen just about every combination of evil cow, sad looking Koreans, American flags, and skull and crossbones that Korean political cartoonists could dream up.

My report on my trip to Shanghai this past summer is long overdue, but consider this post the world premiere, it should be more exciting that way.

I traveled to Shanghai and some nearby cities during my last week before coming to Hawaii this past August. I'd been invited by a friend of mine who was working at the American pavilion at the Expo being held in the city, I figured it was a great opportunity to see this China place everyone has been talking about lately.

In a way, I'm glad I had six months before I uploaded this, the interval has given me time to parse what I saw and gather some conclusions. Obviously, my time in the country was limited to eight days and I did not stray far from Shanghai, but I did try to walk a bit off the beaten path.

To be honest, as my plane took off from Pudong International Airport to return me from whence I came, my impression of Shanghai was this:



I, like thousands of other tourists on the river that night, saw the bright lights and the glitz. On one side I had the Pearl Tower



and on the other, the magnificently restored line of art deco buildings that survive from the era of foreign domination of Shanghai



Suffice it to say, China does a very good job of cleaning itself up for visitors. I got a real kick out of this familiar piece of sculpture, covered with tourists posing for photos.



I had to travel out to one of the satellite cities to see any shred of the China I heard more about as a kid, social realist and authoritarian.



This was part of a little park in Hangzhou, a mere satellite city to Shanghai at 4 million residents. I had a fun day riding around the city and the surrounding tea plantations on these great little rental bikes that you could have for the whole day for a nominal fee, (you can see it below).







For all of my preconceptions of brusque locals and a difficult time traveling alone, I have to say that I had a pretty warm reception wherever I went. I'm sure one reason for the friendliness was the intense push to welcome international tourists during the Expo, but the help I received figuring out the bike rental, getting a room for the night, and figuring out internet cafes seemed genuine and spontaneous.

Hangzhou is also famous for the lake which lies in the center of the city, rightfully so.



From Hangzhou's cavernous train station I took what was supposed to be a two hour trip to another nearby city, Suzhou. With images of Suzhou's famous emerald gardens in mind, I took my seat and got a lot more than I bargained. An hour in, my train came to a slow stop and then stood still for two hours, for what reason I still do not know. As people stood jammed shoulder to shoulder in the aisles and the car gradually grew hotter, I began to feel the strain of my travel schedule. The exit into the darkened Suzhou station convinced me to take the high speed train back to Shanghai twenty-four hours later.

My complaints were forgotten the next morning as I enjoyed the gardens though, one of the few sights I have ever seen where the original beauty has survived decades of tourist overexposure. I regret not taking better photos, but it was hard to capture the attraction of these gardens. Rather than stunning with bright colors or impressive symmetry, their charm lay in their ability to present well-composed views with each new vantage point.









I sincerely enjoyed Hangzhou and Suzhou and appreciated the differences between their relatively raw environments in comparison with Shanghai proper. I'll give a full treatment to my time at the Expo and in the city in the next update.