Our time in China has come to an end. After a week in Hong Kong and over three weeks on the mainland we have had a good opportunity to get a taste of what China is all about. Speaking of taste, the food has been great but meeting up with Chinese friends whose country this is, was easily the highlight.
Clearly, (no pun intended) we didn’t see the country at its best. The weather conditions and air quality issues meant we haven’t seen a blue sky for a long time. Spring has been delayed so the leaves aren’t quite ready to start budding. But, we have seen many of the key sights – the mountains of Guilin, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square to name just a few, and they have not disappointed. We have spent the last few days in Shanghai. While Beijing is preoccupied with politics, in Shanghai, it is all about money. This is the commercial centre of China and its largest city with more than 23 million people. It has an impressive skyline, especially at night. Because of its unique history as a key port during the colonial period, it also has some very interesting neighborhoods. One of the more curious things we have seen here has been the flower, bird, fish and insect market. You will find all sorts of odd things in this market, but the most common creature is the cricket. You can buy numerous types and sizes. They are primarily purchased for fighting, as the Chinese love to gamble, and betting on cricket fights can be big business. Check out the newly posted photos from Shanghai. I have a video ready to go with highlights from our time in China but it appears that youtube is blocked here so that will have to wait until our next stop. Comments are closed.
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AuthorIn January, 2012, Curt and Char left their jobs in Canada to spend four months travelling around the world. Archives
May 2012
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