Travelling to Shanghai 上海 and Hangzhou 杭州

大家好！

October 十月 started off with a week long holiday and taking advantage of the opportunity many of us decided to do some travelling around China 中国. While most of the scholars decided to go to Xi’an 西安 for the week, a few of us went for the option of going to Shanghai 上海 and Hangzhou 杭州 together. The trip started off with a 17 hour train 火车 journey to get to 上海. If that doesn’t already sound bad enough they were standing tickets. Once we got onto the correct carriage, we scrambled through the mass of other people to try and find comfortable spots to stand. We quickly found a space but by no means was it comfortable... trying to juggle your bags while letting people squeeze by is quite the challenge but after a while you sort of get the hang of it. Once the 火车started moving we managed to sit down in the aisle, having to get up every so often for people passing by and for the food trolley to make its way through. Since it was such a long journey we had to try and sleep 睡觉 at one point and by manoeuvring our legs under one side of seats and our head at the other we managed to get somewhat comfortable enough to get some shut eye. It sounds like a lot of complaining was done but honestly we looked at it as a truly Chinese experience and even now we look back on it and laugh about the craziness of it all.

After arriving in 上海 and getting settled into our hostel, we went to explore the city making our way to see the Yu Gardens. Heading to the gardens we stumbled across Yuyuan Old Street which was packed with souvenir shops filled to the brim with everything imaginable and also more than enough places to get some food, from fried crab on a stick to sweet desserts. The atmosphere was incredible, with tourists everywhere trying to haggle for the best bargain and the amazing architecture just added to it all. We also came across the City God Temple where many Chinese people come to pray to various Gods. Finally we got to the Yu Gardens, this is a place I’ve always wanted to visit and I can definitely say that it was not a disappointment. 中国 is known for its beautiful gardens and I was definitely in awe walking through the Yu Gardens. That night we decided to take a walk to the Bund, which is famous for its different European architecture, we took in the busy atmosphere while getting pictures of the famous skyline of 上海 and then took the ferry across the river to see the Pearl Tower and we also had ice cream, which was amazing! Early morning next day we set out and went to the Jade Buddha Temple, it was really nice to walk around in and was so peaceful. There were many different Buddha statues for people to pray to and the Jade Buddha is kept separate from them all and you’re not actually allowed to take any pictures of it. After that we headed to People’s Square which again was really beautiful.

上海 is completely different to Tianjin 天津, there are a lot more foreigners and I can honestly say it’s one of the most beautiful cities to see at night time. I’m glad I was finally able to see it for myself.

We then took the 火车 to 杭州 ready to explore a different side of 中国. On the first day we walked around the West Lake and took in the scenery, it was so peaceful and honestly reminded me so much of Scotland 苏格兰 being surrounded by so much nature. As we were exploring we walked past what seemed to be people drinking tea 茶 in their garden but as we were persuaded to come in, it turns out it was a little restaurant that sold some dragon well tea which is what 杭州 is famous for. So we sat and played cards, drinking 茶 while taking in the beautiful hills around us. A bit later we decided to head off to find a good place to watch the sun set, we managed to race to the top of a tea field just in time to see the perfect sunset and it was some of the most amazing views I’ve ever seen, pictures just couldn’t do it justice. The next day while walking around taking in the sights we ended up somehow hiking up a mountain, more of a hill in Scotland’s eyes, and since the weather was so warm it made it quite the trek. But once we got to the top it was worth it for the view and the feeling of accomplishment honestly. There was also a few Chinese children who were speaking some pretty good English to us and they made the experience even better. After taking a well deserved rest we decided to see what else we could come across and ended up finding another beautiful garden to walk around. Again pictures could not do this place justice, it was so breathtaking that I mostly just enjoyed walking around in the moment and getting lost in my thoughts. As the day came to an end we also managed to find a bamboo forest which one of the guests at our hostel told us about, it was a perfect end to a great week of travelling. 

October was a great month that brought many new experiences and I can’t wait to see what the following months bring! Classes are beginning to speed up and we have our midterm exams soon as well and they account for 20% of our overall grade. These two months have flown by and I’ve truly come to love living in China, so much so that I’m thinking of applying for further scholarships to learn Mandarin at university in Tianjin! More adventures lie ahead which I’ll be sure to share with you all soon.

Alyssa