Photograph - from Left: myself, Wan Heng Kei, elder brother, Heng Wah, Nephew, Wan Wai Onn, younger brother, Heng Wan (Back) & wife, Rina (in front), Niece, Wan May Suet & elder sister, Wan Lai Meng.( Photograph taken at West Lake, Hangzhou ).
Another photograph of myself and my elder sister taken at the 9-turn zigzag bridges, Xiaoying Island, West Lake, Hangzhou
Group Photograph of Wan Family taken at the "Romance of the Song Dynasty' , Song Dynasty Town, HangzhouThis was our first travel via Air Asia-X. Once again, thank you Air Asia-X for providing us cheap and reasonable airfares to Hangzhou. After browsing the internet, we decided to conduct our "own tours" of various cities within The Yangtze Delta, i.e. Hangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou & Zhouzhuang. There were 7 (seven) of us from The Wan Family of Tiong Nam Settlement, Kuala Lumpur, namely, my elder brother, Heng Wah, elder sister, Lai Meng, younger brother, Heng Wan & wife, Rina, daughter, May Suet, son, Wai Onn and myself, Heng Kei.
Our flight to Hangzhou via Air Asia X Flight D 72602 departed LCCT on 12 September 2008 @ 8.10am and arrived at Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport within the scheduled arrival time of 13.10 pm. After immigration clearance, we proceeded to Gate 5 to purchase the bus tickets for the Hangzhou airport shuttle service to Hangzhou Railway Station @ RMB 15/person. On arrival, we enquired with the locals as we intended to purchase CRH (or China Railway Highspeed) train services to Shanghai. Unfortunately, we could not board the next train D 678 departing at 5.25 pm as the Railway station was packed with local commuters going back to their respective hometowns; that Friday being the beginning of the weekend and the coming Sunday a National Holiday (Mid Autumn cum Lantern Festival) with Monday being a replacement holiday. We were lucky to get the next CRH train D 680 leaving at 18.18pm. The journey from Hangzhou to Shanghai South Station with a distance of approx. 160 Kilometres took 78 minutes (as compared as the usual 3 to 3 1/2 hours by normal bus). The CRH train travelled as fast as 170 KM/hour and it was smooth ride all the way. It was so comfortable that I managed to catch some extra sleep for about 20 minutes during the trip. In fact, during the 5 hours flight from LCCT to Hangzhou; eventhough I was tired, I could not get more sleep than inside the CRH train. The CRH train took exactly 1 hour and 18 minutes to arrive at Shanghai South Station. On arrival, we walked to our pre-booked Shanghai O.K. Hotel located about 300 Metres from the Southern Exit. The Shanghai O.K Hotel (http://www.okhotel.cn/ ) was a reasonable budget hotel and cost us RMB 188/twin beds with full internet access. The free internet access was useful to me as I brought along my laptop and every available free time, I was on-line with the internet world and my working office clearing the outstanding workload. At times, I worked up to 2.00 am in the morning, thus for me, it was more like a working holiday (at my expense). The location of this hotel was perfect especially when it was so near to the Shanghai South Railway Station which was also the inter-change station for Shanghai Metro Station Line 1 & 3. At any Metro Station, you can travel to a total of 9 (Nine) different Metro lines within Shanghai as well as the 2 (two) Railway Stations, the Main and South Stations. Furthermore, the cost of travelling via Metro (for all lines) is reasonable at mimimum RMB 3/person and maximum RMB 6/person. Within 5 to 10 minutes walk from Shanghai O.K. Hotel, you can find cheap & reasonable food stalls. Also, the Shanghai South Bus Terminal as well as the Shanghai Long Distance South Terminal are less than 5 minutes walk away.
Night view of The Bund facing Pudong. My nephew, younger brother & wife and elder brother.
Another photograph of myself taken with the colonial buildings in the background. The Bund, Puxi, Shanghai
Photograph of myself taken at Tiger Hill Scenic Area, Suzhou, JiangsuFor our first " on-our-own tour " , we decided to visit the famous garden city of Suzhou. It was so easy to travel there. Within the Shanghai South Railway Station, there are 2 other Metro Lines, i.e. Line 1 (which goes the the main Shanghai Railway Station) and Line 3. All you need to do is to take Line 1 to Shanghai Indoor Stadium (2 stops) and then inter-change to Line 4 for the next stop at Shanghai Stadium. Alternatively, you can just take Metro Line 1 only to Shanghai Indoor Stadium and then a slow 10 minutes walk to Shanghai Stadium. Our targeted destination was Shanghai Sightseeing Bus Centre (SSBC) which was located at staircase No. 5, Gate 12 of Shanghai Stadium. At SSBC, you can join the locals or foreigners for numerous cheap and reasonable tours (mostly Chinese guided tours). There are daily tours as well as 2 or 3 days tours to other tourist attractions within Shanghai and the nearby Provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui Provinces, etc. Tours of 2 days or more are inclusive of hotel accomodation. If you are in Hangzhou, you can join the equivalent of SSBC, i.e. Hangzhou Tourist (Yellow Dragon )Centre - HTC at No. 3 Huanglong Road, Yellow Dragon Sports Centre. Whether you are in Shanghai or Hangzhou, you can chose the tour supermarkets at SSBC or HTC to conduct your own tour.
On Saturday, 13 Sept 2008, we chose the 1 day Suzhou Tour from 8.30am and the tour ended at almost 8.00 pm (due to traffic jams all the way from Shanghai to Suzhou ) as the locals were jamming the roads to return to their respective hometowns due to Mid Autumn Festival. The cost of the tour was RMB 228/person and it is worth it.
The places we visited at Suzhou were:-
1) Ou Yuan Garden,
2) The Lingering Garden or Lui Garden
3) Hanshan Garden & Fengqiao Scenic Area
4) The silk producing factory
5) Suzhou famous landmark, Tiger Hill & scenic areas
By the time the tour completed at SSBC, it was almost 8.30pm and raining, so we miss our planned night tour of The Bund, Huangpu River and Pudong.
Photograph of myself taken at one of the scenic spots within the ancient water-town of ZhouzhuangThe next day, 14 September 2008, we decided to visit the Yangtze Delta famous ancient water-town of Zhouzhuang. It was perhaps one of the most visited watertowns in China. We were recommended to Zhouzhuang by a British lady whom we met at SSBC the previous day and she informed us that this place was the best picturesque tourist attractions within Shanghai suburbs. Moreover my Malaysian friends who came here before also recommended this place as the Movie, "Mission Impossible" was also filmed here.
The local tour cost us RMB 150/person, i.e. RMB 70 for the return bus ride and RMB 80 for the entrance fee. However, if your are an elderly age 60 years + (as my elder brother), you only pay RMB 50 as entrance fee. The actual entrance fee at the gate was RMB 100/person (if you go there with your own without going thru SSBC). There was no guide for the tour to this ancient water-town; you just spend freely for 5 to 6 hours on your own at Zhouzhuang ancient water town. The tour starts at 8.00am and ends at 3.00 pm (at Zhouzhuang) and thereafter, the bus will return to SSBC Shanghai.
Zhouzhuang lies between Shanghai and Suzhou and it is an ancient town within Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province bounded with rivers and lakes. It is said to be one of the best waterside town in China. This ancient town has a history of more than 900 years old (since the late Song Dynasty) with many houses built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are about 100 houses with courtyards, and 60 of them have arch gateways made by carved bricks.
With lakes on four sides, the beauty of Zhouzhuang was specially found along the waterside lanes and around a number of the stone bridges.
Zhouzhuang was a popular tourist destination within Taihu Lake. It was also noted for its profound cultural background, the well preserved ancient residential houses, the elegant watery views and the strong local colored traditions and customs. It has been called the "Venice of the East". There are various attractions here such as:-
- Twin Bridges built during the Ming Dynasty
- Fuan Bridge built in 1355 during the Yuan Dynasty
- Sheng House (built: 1742),
- Zhang House (built during Ming Dynasty and bought by Zhang Family in early Qing Dynasty)
- Chengzu Taoist Temple built 1086 - 1093 during Sung Dynasty
The tour ended at sharp 3.00 pm within the Zhouzhuang Bus Parking Bay. If you late, you will have to return to Shanghai on your own. Two of the locals were late for about 5 minutes and nearly missed the returned trip to Shanghai. The SSBC's driver was about to drive-off after getting cellular phone numbers from 2 other locals (as evidence in case of any official complaints).
We arrived at SSBC Shanghai at about 4.30 pm and walked to Shanghai Indoor Stadium, took Metro Line 1 to People's Square. On arrival, we were shocked as we have never seen so many commuters at this station which was also an inter-change for Metro Lines 2 & 8. The crowd looks like coming out of a "full-house stadium" and was packed everywhere. We have never seen so many people congested in a Metro Station (even in Guangzhou, Hong Kong or Singapore). After departing from People's Square, we took a slow casual walk all the way to The Bund. It was packed all the way especially at the tunnel where Chinese Police were controlling the crowds (not vehicles or other traffic). It took us more than 5 minutes just to cross the pedestrian tunnel beneath Zhongsan Road and get over to The Bund.
The Bund is located within Huangpu district in Shanghai. The area centered on a section of Zhongshan Road which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River facing Pudong, in the eastern part. The Bund usually refers to the buildings and wharves on this section of the road as well as some adjacent areas. Some of the famous buildings are The Peace Hotel, The Bank of China Building, The Chartered Bank Building, The Customs House, HSBC Building and others.
The Bund is also one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai. Building heights are restricted in this area. It has dozens of historical buildings lining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from Britain, France, USA, Russia, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the consulates of Russia and Britain. It lies north of the old walled city of Shanghai and used to be a British settlement; later American and other International settlements moved in. A building boom at the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century led to the Bund becoming a major financial hub of East Asia.
The Bund is also one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai. Building heights are restricted in this area. It has dozens of historical buildings lining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from Britain, France, USA, Russia, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the consulates of Russia and Britain. It lies north of the old walled city of Shanghai and used to be a British settlement; later American and other International settlements moved in. A building boom at the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century led to the Bund becoming a major financial hub of East Asia.
By the 1940s the Bund housed the headquarters of many of the major financial institutions operating in China, including the "big four" national banks in the Republic of China's era. However, with the Communist victory in the Chinese civil war, many of the financial institutions moved out gradually in the 1950s, and the hotels and clubs closed or converted to other uses.
Pudong is a district of Shanghai that enjoys sub-provincial administrative status. It is named "Pudong" because of its location on the east side of the Huangpu river, on the opposite of Puxi, the west side. Since the beginning of its development in 1990 when plans were first announced, Pudong has become a New Open Economic Development Zone, and emerged as China's financial and commercial hub. Pudong is home to the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and a skyline that includes the symbolic Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jin Mao Building, and the Shanghai World Financial Centre, reflective of Shanghai and China's rapid economic development. Pudong now has China's 1st & 2nd tallest building, i.e. The 101 storey Shanghai World Financial Centre completed in 2008 @ 492 Metres and Jin Mao Building completed in 1999 with 88 storeys and 421 Metres high. However, another new tall building, i.e. Xujiahui Tower is being planned in 2010 with 92 storeys and 462 Metres high.
We left Shanghai on Monday, 15 September 2008 by CRH Train D657 leaving at 9.30 am and arrived Hangzhou at 10.48 am. On arrival, we took a 20 minutes walk to our pre-booked budget Hotel, Blog Inn which was about 1 kilometre away. Although the rates were almost similar to Shanghai O.K. Hotel but the condition was not as good. On the otherhand, it also has free internet access and the food prices around it was much cheaper than Shanghai, e.g. the usual small pork meat pau cost RMB 0.50 (RM 0.25 cts) each and a large size fritter cost RMB 0.60 (RM 0.30 each) as compared to prices in Malaysia being 2 to 3 times more. After checking-in, where else to go to Hangzhou - Shopping and Hangzhou's famous landmark, The West Lake, the musical fountain, etc.; we only returned at about 9.30 pm.
The next day, we arranged with Blog Inn for a full day Hangzhou City Tour (8am to 6pm). The visited places were:-
1) Tiger Running Spring at Hupao Valley
2) West Lake - Boat Ride to Xiaoying Island, Mid-Lake Pavilion and the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon
3) Temple / Mausoleum of General Yue Fei
4) Visit to the Silk factory
5) Romance of the Song Dynasty / Song Dynasty Town
6) Visit to Hangzhou's famous Longjin or Dragon Well Tea Processing Factory
7) Lingyin Scenic Area and Lingyin Buddhist Temple
8) Yellow Dragon Cave
We left Hangzhou on Wednesday, 17th September 2008 via Air Asia-X Flight D 72603 departing at 2.00pm and arriving at LCCT at 7.00pm. We really enjoyed conducting our own tours within the Yangtze Delta cities of Shanghai, Hangzhou, etc. It was fun and cheap and we are looking forward to return next year as we intended to visit other places such as Nanjing, Huangshan, Wuxi, Wuzhen, Tongli, Putou Mountains, etc. Also, with China's cheap and fast CRH trains and Tourist supermarkets at Hangzhou and Shanghai, we strongly recommend all travellers to conduct their own tours which would be much reasonable and enjoyable.
Happy Travelling
Posted on 10th October 2008 by HK Wan
Email: hengkei@gmail.com
