China Trip – Thoughts

There has been a slight culture shock in the first few days I have been in China. The practices and the environment are vastly different.

First is the toilet. Although the maintenance of toilets has improved tremendously, the upgrade in the toilet facilities has not spread to some rural areas. Many toilets still are not equipped with toilet paper and the locks in the cubicles are not working. In the rural areas, there may still be toilets without proper cubicle or flushing facilities.

Second is the communal practice of some of the locals which may take some time to get used to, in terms of food and changing of clothes. During one of the breakfasts, we have seen some locals enjoying the food in common trays using their used cutlery. There is another instance where a local family squeezed with us for breakfast when it was a table for only four. There were four of ur and four of them. We were the first to be seated there. In the end, we had a rather uncomfortable and squeezy meal.

When I was trying a top in one fitting room, another girl has squeezed in and both of us shared the same tiny fitting room. I was not used to sharing a fitting room with another person. After I finished changing, I had just 'conveniently' pulled open the curtain to get out, totally forgetting that she had not finished changing. I had to immediately apologised but not before she threw me dagger stares and a look of wondering which planet I have come from.

For those who prefer smoke-free environment, it takes time to get used to cigarette smoke and smell in air-conditioned places, such as restaurants. Unlike Singapore, smoking in aircon environment is legal.

The locals value healthy lifestyles, especially the elders, who will wake up early and sleep early. They are also particular about food, as some food cannot be taken together, eg lettuce and tofu. Hence, hearing the local guides speak about how the locals manage to maintain good health was an enriching experience.

This is also the first time I have experienced such coldness where my teeth was chattering even though I was in sweaters. This is the first time I see mist coming out of my mouth when I talk and breathe hard. *Grin* This is already mid spring and summer is soon approaching. In climate terms, the worst cold has been over. Yet, we still felt frozen.

This is also the first time I have walked long distances in the rain without an umbrella. It was a good experience because we were never so liberated in Singapore. Every time we see a person without an umbrella in the rain, we will think the person in insane. Whereas in China, no one took a second look.

China is still very populous. Despite its vast lands, there are still many people in many places on weekdays. This helps us better appreciate the Chinese government’s one-child policy.

Chinese’ long history, being one of the oldest civilizations, is very apparent in the sites and attractions which we have visited. These ancient sites and structures amazed us with the strength and intelligence of the Chinese ancestors.

At the same time, there is massive development in many cities which again amazed us with the strength and determination of the current Chinese government. In the span of a few years, China is no longer what we used to hear and imagine.

Visiting a country is just a preview of the culture of the people. Nevertheless, it is indeed an eye-opener.

China Trip – Coming Back

After 9-day of feeling like Qian Long touring Jiangnan, but minus the luxury, it was time to come back to home. Although I was excited to be back in Singapore, I had started to miss the good weather and rich culture of China.

This trip was a good introduction to China and has enticed me to explore other parts of China. It also made me more aware of Chinese history, legends and literature where such learning was definitely more interactive and interesting than reading a history book.

On the flight back, I could see the stars very clearly as the plane was above the clouds. The stars were just next to us, outside the windows. Again, the most apparent star I have see was the orion. The rest are unrecognisable to me. *Grin*

China, I will certainly come back on another day. *Smile*

(Some of the souvenirs from China - Plums from Cai Zhi Zhai in Suzhou, Gui4 Hua1 and Sesame Cakes, Thousand-layer sesame and peanut sweets and sesame crackers from Cheng Huang Temple in Shanghai)

China Trip – Second Glimpse of Shanghai (2)

Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road was the shopping street for many local Shanghainese. The old colonial buildings can also be seen along Nanjing Road.

Xu Jia Hui
Xu Jia Hui (徐家汇) aggregates many shopping malls and restaurants in a district. The buildings are linked by well-connected underground walkways and to the metro station. It is almost like the Orchard Road of Singapore.

There are big departmental stores, such as Oriental Commerce Building (Dong1 Fang1 Shang1 Sha4), IT malls, such as Pan Pacific IT Complex and restaurants where Shanghai’s Bi Feng Tang outlet can be found. We were very excited about the IT Complex as low-priced MP3 and MP4 and memory cards can be found. The lower priced items are those manufactured in China. For imported goods, they are pricier than Singapore because of the higher import tax.

Xu Jia Hui did not used to be so prosperous until it has tried to enhance its fengshui by placing 2 large Cloud Lions (Pi2 Xiu1; 貔貅) in front of the Oriental Commerce Building. Pi Xiu are magical beasts which can draw in wealth and fight off the ill luck. It is one of the three magical beasts, together with the Lion and Horned Lion (Qi1 Lin2; 麒麟). This is another evidence of the Chinese’s belief in fengshui.

(The statute represented the working class of Shanghai)

There is also a nearby food street where the Shanghai's Bi Feng Tang outlet is located. The Bi Feng Tang here has nice ambience and food at affordable prices.

Cheng Huang Temple
There are many little shops surrounding Cheng Huang Temple. The famous Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao is also located here. Xiao Long Bao are sold on the first level at lower price than those sold on the second level. The first level caters to take-aways while the second level caters to sit-down patrons.

As it was raining on the day of our visit, the queue for the Xiao Long Bao was shorter than usual. We did not try the Xiao Long Baos as many who had tried it commented that those from Singapore Crystal Jade’s were better.

There is also a huge snack shop which offers many local snacks – such as the Gui4 Hua1 Cake and Peanut sweet. We were simply swarmed by the variety of sweets available. There is no trying of the sweets. To try, we can just buy one as purchase is based on weight of the sweets.

Duo Lun Road
Duo Lun Street is a street with many old houses. We can even find an old church along the street. There are also many temporary stalls along the street selling books. Although it was a cold and rainy day on our visit, many Shanghainese has braved the rain and wind to browse through the books.

This is also the first time I have walked in heavy rain with no umbrella, but only a cap. While we were admiring the rusticity of the old houses, my teeth was chattering from the cold.

Qi Pu Street & Hong Qiao Shopping Centre
Qi Pu Street and Hong Qiao Shopping Centres are wholesale centres for bags, clothes and shoes. Some of the stall owners of the previous Xiang Yang market have moved to these 2 places after Xiang Yang’s shut down.

There are many fake branded bags, shoes and clothes sold in these 2 malls. Many shops offered similar products. Shopping can be both a challenge and an experience as good bargaining skills are required for one to secure their purchases at best values. If one is buying several items from the same shop, wholesale prices can also be negotiated. Hence, it may be good to go with at least another person, so that if both like items from a certain shop, there is greater bargaining power.

Si Chuan Road
Si Chuan Road is another street which the local Shanghainese frequent for their shopping. It is a long street with many shop houses and a few Departmental stores. The layout and the range of merchandise are similar to that of Nanjing Road.

There are a few casual wear boutiques which offer good quality clothes at reasonable prices. They are the Metersbonwe (with Jay Chou and Angela Chang as spokespersons) and Semir (with Nicholas Tse and Twins as spokespersons) outlets.

Shanghai Acrobatic Performance
Shanghai is very well-known for its world-class acrobatic performances. We managed to catch one of its performances. The stunts that the acrobats pulled off were simply amazing. The flexibility, the strength and the courage of the performers were admirable. Some of the best performances included 10 motorcycles circulating in a round cage, see-sawing to balance more and more acrobats on one another, etc.

Unfortunately, during of the performances, one of the acrobats had fallen off and met with an accident. Initially, we thought this was part of the performance, ie to create more thrills for the audiences. When the performer continued to lie on the floor and the crew members rushed to him, we realized that the fall was real. Many viewers were concerned about his injury.

When the performances ended, we were eager to see more. It was an eye-opener.

Local Fare
Dai Tribe is one of the biggest tribes in Yunnan. The people are characterized by fair skin and beautiful features. The tribe has similar culture and customs to the Thais, in terms of the food (spicy and sour), its traditional costumes, its dance and festivals (Songkran Festival). Dai Tribe Village Restaurant offers Dai Tribe cuisine with Dai Tribe’s performances.

We have heard that many of the waitresses are recruited from Dai Tribe and Yunnan. As they have led a very secluded life and are ignorant of the temptations in the city. The Restaurant owner has provided the girls free lodging and food but have withheld their salaries until their completion of one year of service. This is to ensure that they do not splurge and will have enough to save and bring home to their families after one year of work.

We had claypot chicken in one of the eateries along Si Chuan Road. It is a claypot which serves like a steamboat where there are side dishes such as golden needle mushrooms, vegetables, sausages, etc. Unlike steamboat where we can add anything as and when we like, there is an art to eating claypot. Certain dishes have to be added in sequence so as to bring the best flavour out of the claypot.

There was a Xinjiang satay man selling chicken wing sticks and mutton satays near the hotel we were staying every night. His satays were simply heavenly, especially in a cold rainy night. This Xinjiang man also act as the weather forecast, informing us about the weather for the next day. His forecast has been very accurate.

China Trip – Second Glimpse of Shanghai (1)

We reached Shanghai after a 5-hour bus ride from Nanjing. It was the longest bus ride. Our bums were so painful that we were so happy to be able to get down the bus for a walk.

Huang Pu River / The Bund
The night cruise along Huang Pu River (黄浦江) offers a panoramic view of the Bund (Wai4 Tan1; 外滩). Huang Pu River separates Pu Dong (浦东) and Pu Xi (浦西) (east and west).

Pu Dong is the new central business district characterized by high sky scrapers. It is touted to be the Wall Street of the East where many head offices of banks and financial institutions are situated. The tallest building is the Jin Mao Plaza, surpassing the previous Oriental Pearl Tower.
Pu Xi is where the older buildings stand erected. The lands in Pu Xi are the settlements of various countries, such as England and France (Zu1 Jie4). The buildings on these lands reflect the architectural heritage of the lessee countries. The landmark in Pu Xi is the well-known Peace Hotel (He2 Ping2 Fan4 Dian4; 和平饭店).


Oriental Pearl Tower
The Oriental Pearl Tower (东方明珠塔) is the landmark of Pu Dong, Shanghai. We have often seen Oriental Pearl Tower in the background when Shanghai is featured in any drama serial or documentary. Now, not only we were seeing it up close and personal, we were also ascending the Tower to have a 360 view of Shanghai.

Oriental Pearl Tower, with its unique architecture, is already very attention seeking in the day. In the night, its façade is added with a layer of glamour with lights that change colours every 15 seconds.

The night view of Shanghai from Oriental Pearl Tower is spectacular. Many buildings in Shanghai are designed in accordance with good geomancy (Feng1 Shui3). For instance, the tallest Jin Mao Plaza (金茂大厦) has window panes which resemble knife blades. This creates aggressive Qi towards its surroundings. To mitigate this bad Qi, the neighbouring Westin Hotel has Lotus-like roof.

Song Qing Ling Mausoleum
Song Qing Ling was the second eldest sister among the Soong sisters. She was also the best known sister for her participation in politics and charity. She was the wife of Sun Yat Sen – the first President of China after the Qing Dynasty was overthrown. She was the first to set up a charitable fund to aid the women and children in China.

The place where her Mausoleum is houses the tombs of her other family members as it is the area of her ancestral tombs. Many Chinese still held a lot of respect for Song Qing Ling as we met many students on visits with their wreaths.

Tong Ren Tang / Foot Reflexology
Tong Ren Tang (同仁堂) is a famous medicinal hall which originates from Beijing. It has TCM consultation, sale of herbal cuisines and Chinese herbs under one roof. We were very impressed and satisfied with the herbal cuisines. My favourites were the black chicken soup and the dessert of watermelon with white fungus.

After the meal, we were treated to foot soaking and reflexology. The foot soaking is required before the start of the massage because we had just finished our meal and to relaxed us. The massage was relaxing but slightly ticklish. The diagnosis for me was that I had slightly bad blood circulation which caused me to have neck pains and bloatness after meal.

People’s Square
People’s Square is where the government’s administrative office is located. Near to People’s Square is the Singapore’s invested “Raffles City” where many Singapore’s well-known names such as Bread Talk can be found.



Shanghai New World (Xintiandi)
Shanghai New World is where the pubs and restaurants are housed in shikumen (石库门) residences. The place is crowded with yuppies and expatriates.

China Trip – Nanjing

Nanjing (南京) is the largest city within the Jiangsu Province. It used to be the capitol during in ancient China due to its superior geographical location and terrain. Nanjing is surrounded by Yangtze River (Chang2 Jiang1; 长江) and mountains which act as natural boundaries and protection against easy invasion.

Although Nanjing is the most populous City in Jiangsu Province, it is still less dense than Shanghai. As Nanjing is situated in a valley, it has extreme climate which is characterized by high temperatures of over 40 Deg Celsius in summer and up to negative 10 Deg Celsius in winter. When temperatures are above 40 Deg Celsius, the people will not need to report to work or school.

Nanjing is also a military base where the military offices are located. The standing guards outside some of the military buildings will also act as enforcement officers during the time they are not standing guard. They will patrol the Nanjing city to check on the behaviour of other military officers.

There are also many sports schools in Nanjing. Many of the renowned athletes are trained in Nanjing.

Mei Ling Palace
Song Mei Ling (宋美龄) is the youngest of the Soong Sisters and is also the wife of Chiang Kai Sek – the first President of Taiwan. The Soong family was one of the wealthiest families in China. The three sisters had the privilege of receiving their education in the States. Thus, Song Mei Ling was much influenced by the western culture and lifestyle. On the other hand, Chiang Kai Sek was brought up in a traditional Chinese family.


Mei Ling Palace is the residence of Song Mei Ling and Chiang Kai Sek while Chiang Kai Sek was the president of China, succeeding after Sun Yat Sen. It is about 3.5-storey high situated in lush greenery on a hill top. It hash Chinese architecture on the exterior, with phoenix carvings in the balcony and pointed roof. Its interior decoration reflects the influence of Western culture with even a room for praying as both of them are Christians.

(Her bedroom)

Square City
Square City is so named because it is square where the memorial template of Zhu Yuan Zhang (朱元璋), first emperor of Ming Dynasty, was erected.

The memorial template is a heavy slab of stone documenting the laureates of Zhu Yuan Zhang by his grandson. The memorial template was placed on top of the third son of the Dragon King - Bi4 Xi1. Bi Xi has a dragon head and a turtle’s body because he is known to carry very heavy things. Hence, the memorial templates or tombs of many emperors are placed on Bi Xi.

(The memorial template on Bi Xi)

The English engravings on the side of the stone slab are clues of China being invaded by the other countries previously, which resulted in the giving up of Hong Kong and Macau previously.

Opposite of Square City is the Da Hong Gate (Da4 Hong2 Men2). It used to be part of the City Wall as well. To prevent cheating on the materials used, the workers who constructed each slab of brick had to engrave their names on the bricks to identify them as the makers. In the event that the bricks were found to be dysfunctional, they could then be traced to the maker. Part of the wall has also been destroyed by the various wars.

(The engravings of the brick layer's name on the brick)

Confucius Temple
As Nanjing used to be the Capitol in olden times, official exams for the selection of scholars were held in Nanjing. Before entering the exams halls, they would visit the nearby Confucius Temple (夫子庙) and pray for good results.

Now, the streets outside Confucius Temple are bustling with activities. There are rows of shops in shophouses. Behind the shop houses is a huge night bazaar which sells low-price T-shirts, bags, shoes and CDs.

This is indeed a shopping heaven.

Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge
Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is the pride of many Chinese. It was originally meant to be designed and built by the Russians. However, the Russians decided to pull out of the project mid-way and took away all the blueprints. The Chinese had to take over the design, source for suitable materials and construct the bridge themselves.

It can be summarized with digit 1 to 10.
1 – It is the first bridge across Yangtze River.
2 – It has is double decker – the upper level is for the vehicles and the lower level is for the train.
3 – There are 3 flags on top of the bridge towers which is one of the remaining clues of the Cultural revolution which summarized Mao Ze Dong’s Great Leap Forward vision for China.
4 & 5 – The vehicle lane of the bridge is 4.5 miles long.
6 & 7 – The train lane of the bridge is 6.7 miles long.
8 – The bridge tower is 80 meters long.
9 – It has 9 piers in the river supporting the bridge.
10 – It takes 10 years to complete the construction.

Bi Feng Tang
Bi Feng Tang is a renowned eatery from Hong Kong for Chinese cuisine. I have visited 2 Bi Feng Tang restaurants while I was in China – Nanjing and Shanghai. Personally, I prefer the Shanghai outlet as the food is more similar to what we normally see in Crystal Jade. Nanjing outlet offers more unique dishes which we do not see in Singapore.

(Pan-fried Dumpling with Tofu fillings and Jiu3 Cai4 Pancakes )

(Siew Mai – the siew mais are filled with glutinous rice instead of meat. )

(Har Kow have very fresh prawns as fillings. )

Reflective Art
The pictures that you have seen below are created by drawing into little glass spheres. The area that contains the painting is very small. The minuscule picture is enlarged from the double layer of glass. In order to ensure that the picture show the right way up, the picture has to be painted in a mirror image.

The greatest piece is the Along the River During Qing Ming Festival (Qing1 Ming2 Shang2 He2 Tu2; 清明上河图). The original piece is found in the National Palace Museum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:QingMingShangHeTu_Big.jpg

China Trip – Wuxi

Wuxi (无锡) is the second largest city within the Jiangsu Province. The largest city is Nanjing, which is our next stop. Wuxi means no tin as it is a land without tin. The mountains in Wuxi are not high but are picturesque. The waters in Wuxi are not deep but are wide..

Wuxi has undergone a rapid development where its city landscaping is one of the most structured and advanced. In fact, the roads and streets resemble Singapore’s. Trees and flowers dress up the roads. The traffic lights have timers to tell the motorists how long more are the green lights, like what we have in Singapore for pedestrians.

Ji Chang Garden (Ji4 Chang4 Yuan2)
Ji Chang Garden is a private garden of an old official who has resigned from his post after being demoralized by the politics among the various officials. After he returned to his old home, he missed the mountains and water in Capitol greatly. Thus, he asked his father to grant him 15 hectares of land where he attempted to replicate some of the mountains and waters he has seen in his backyard.

He has effectively adopted the approach of “borrow scenes” (Jie4 Jing3) where the beauty of Hui and Xi Mountains and the spring water are captured in his own garden. Hui Mountain is known as Jiangnan’s first mountain and the spring water is known as Jiangnan’s second spring.

When Qian Long emperor visited the garden, he was very impressed. To persuade him to return to the palace, his officials promised to rebuild a similar garden in the imperial garden. The officials took about 3 years from the study of the design to recreating the garden. When it was finally completed, Qian Long Emperor took a look and never visited it anymore. He commented that the garden was ugly which caused his officials to be very puzzled. They had followed every single detail of Ji Chang Garden dutifully in their construction. Qian Long Emperor explained that the replica did not have Jiangnan’s first mountain in the background or Jiangnan’s second spring following into the garden. Hence, the replica was not comparable to the authentic garden.

Daughters of the wealthy and noble families cannot venture outside the family compounds. To inform the public that there is a daughter of marriageable age in the family, the family will plant a Xiang1 Zhang1 Tree near the main gate when the baby girl is born. When the baby girl reaches a marriageable age, the tree has grown tall enough to show above the gate. Hence, matchmakers and other interested parties will know that there is a nubile girl in the family. If a baby boy has been born, a Ju3 Tree will be planted instead.

(Zhi1 Yu2 Jian3)

A pavilion with three sides in the pond and one side joined to the other parts of the building is known as a Jian3. The Jian is often the best spot to look at the garden and for chatting and playing chess with friends.

City of the Three Kingdoms (San1 Guo2 Cheng2)
The structures and sceneries are constructed by the Central TV Station solely for the filming of the TV serial – Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The settings have been so successfully constructed that they have subsequently been used for the filming of the other period dramas.

To complete viewing the whole area by foot, we would need 2.5 hours. Fortunately, there were small buses which can ferry us from one spot to another. There were ancient battle ships which can ferry visitors out for a tour of Tai Lake. There was also a battle scene enacted, where stuntmen played the Zhang Fei, Guan Gong and Liu Bei to fight with Lu Bu. The fighting on the horses’ backs was amazing and thrilling.

(A Battle Ship which ferrys visitors to Tai Lake)

(The Battle Scene)

Tai Lake (Tai4 Hu2; 太湖)
Tai Lake is the size of 4 Singapores. The people of Wuxi make their livelihood out of Tai Lake (Taihu) due to its rich resources – the water can be used for brewing good quality beer, the lake is rich in prawns and fish (known as the three whites) and can also be used for rearing fresh water pearls.

When we first saw a floating layer of green on the Lake’s surface, we mistook it to be a layer of oil and were slightly put off, especially associating this ‘contamination’ with the food which we have consumed in Wuxi. The green water and the floating layer is due to green moss which contains a lot of micro-organisms for the fish, the prawns and the clams to feed on.

Pearl Factory
Wuxi’s pearls are fresh water pearls and are produced differently from sea water pearls. Wuxi’s pearls are produced without having to introduce an irritant to the clams, unlike sea water pearls. In addition, there can be many pearls in each clam, unlike sea water clams which can only have one as introducing more than one irritant to the clam will kill the clam.

Due to the minerals in Tai Lake, Wuxi can also produce purple-coloured pearls.

Our tour guide shared that regardless of the colour of the pearl, when you crush the pearl, the powder will always be white. If the powder is not white, it shows that the pearl is not real. The most expensive pearls are those which are at least 7 to 8 mm in diameter.

Purple Clay (Zi3 Sha1; 紫砂) Factory
Purple Clay is a rock extracted from Yixing (宜興)City. It contained a high level of minerals and thus is believed to be suitable for making pots for tea drinking. It is often brownish or purplish in nature, so it is known as purple clay. Within the sedimentary rocks where purple clay is extracted, there is also a very thin layer of green clay (Fei3 Cui4 Sha1) which is more superior clay due to its rarity.

Both the purple and green clay supplies are depleting and extraction is currently controlled by the government to reduce the rate of its depletion.
When a purple clay tea cup has exceeded its capacity, the liquid will form a dome instead of spilling out immediately. This is due to the porous nature of the minerals. Moreover, after using the teapot for several years, if one were to pour water into the pot without any tea leaves, the water will still contain tea fragrance. Its porous nature means it is very absorbent. Hence, extraction cannot be done with explosives to prevent the rock absorbing the explosive smell. Extraction is done manually by workers.

We were also introduced to replicas of the Flat Light Teapot (Bian3 Guang1 Hu2) made by one of the renowed Teapot masters. The original article was auctioned off at a high price in Hong Kong. To commemorate this great master, his students had made limited editions of the replicas of the famous teapot. The teapot does not have tea flowing down even when we stop pouring. It floats in water no matter how hard one presses it into the water. The liquid that flows out when one pours forms a beautiful arch.

San Yang Parksons (San1 Yang2 Bai3 Sheng4)
San Yang Parksons is the shopping belt of Wuxi. Parksons shopping centre is one of the landmark.

(The view opposite San Yang Parksons)

Local Fare
Silver Fish (Ying2 Yu2) in Wuxi is big and fat, unlike those we see in Singapore. They are sweet especially when used in omelets. White Prawns are small prawns with very soft shells and are extremely sweet.

Another specialty is the sauced ribs where pork ribs are stewed with a sweet sauced. Personally, I feel the ribs are tender but the sauce is slightly sweet.

China Trip – Suzhou

The Jiangnan has been well-connected by highways so that time taken to move from one city to another has been shortened relative to the past. Suzhou (苏州), in the Jiangsu Province, is about 2 to 3 hours away from Hangzhou. The Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces are separated by a river – natural boundary.

Suzhou used to be Wu Country about 2,000 years ago. Suzhou has always been touted as the land of beauties where girls in Suzhou are believed to be the prettiest in China. When we look at our local tour guide, we can truly understand why. Not only does she have a fair complexion, her voice is equally gentle and sweet. Her every sentence is punctuated by her addressing us as the Singapore VIPs (Gui4 Bin1).

Suzhou Industrial Park
This is a joint venture between Singapore and the Suzhou Governments to develop a world-class industrial park in Suzhou. Currently, there are still many Singaporeans living and working in the industrial park. There is also a growing population of expatriates from other countries. Hence, there are many cuisines which can be found in Suzhou city.

The park is very structured with residential, industrial and recreational space. At the central park, the country flags of all investors were erected. A tidy Merlion found at a corner of the park provided strong reminder of Singapore’s contribution towards the building of the park.

Singapore used to have a greater stake in this park than Suzhou government. However, Suzhou Government’s investment gradually increased. Hence, the park’s name has changed from the prvious Singapore-Suzhou Industrial Park to the now Suzhou-Singapore Industrial Park. The Suzhou government has even set up a new park known as Suzhou High Technology Park in a neighbouring site to develop semiconductor industries with investments from many Taiwanese companies.

A waft of pride rose up when we stood in the park to admire the achievements of Singapore.

Cold Mountain Temple
Our next stop was Cold Mountain Temple (Han1 Shan1 Si4; 寒山寺). It is named after a famous monk – Hanshan who used to be in charge of the Temple in the Tang Dynasty. This temple has become well-known because of a poem – A Night Mooring Near Maple Bridge (Feng1 Qiao2 Ye4 Bo2; 楓橋夜泊) written by Tang Poet Zhang Ji (張既).

(The bridge outside the temple)

Zhang Ji was waiting outside the City Gate near the Cold Mountain Temple one night on his return from the Capitol after failing the official exams. The ringing of the bells seemed to reflect his loneliness and failure which led him to pen the famous poem.

In the poem, both Wu1 and Feng1 were used. Many had misinterpreted Wu to refer to the crows (Wu1 Ya1) and the Feng to refer to Maple Trees (Feng1 Shu4). Both the Wu and Feng refer to the names of the 2 bridges near the Temple instead.

Our tour guide was sharing that there was a fallacy in the poem. There are 2 lines in the poem which read “Away from the town of Suzhou stands Hanshan Temple, the chime of its midnight bell reaches as far as my boat.” In a Buddhist temple, bells are chimed in the morning instead of at night. We can only hear the Buddhist drums at night. It is likely that Zhang Ji has heard the bells in his dreams in the early morning but mistook the time to be the night.

(The Night Mooring Near Maple Bridge Poem)

Qilishantang Street (山塘街)
This old street is so named because it is seven mile long. Many old houses line the waterway where the backyard of these houses open into the river. As we cruised along the river, we were given a peek into the daily lives of the people – young kids studying, womenfolks washing their clothes along the river, school kids playing balls and with dogs alongside the river.

The street added on glamour in the evening when the red lanterns were lighted.

Pan Men Attraction
Pan Men (盘门) used to be a city gate. Both Pan Men and the neighbouring Sheraton hotels complement each other to enhance each other’s beauty. This approach is known as “borrow scenes” (Jie4 Jing3) so that one seems to be part of another, ie Pan Men seems to be within Sheraton while Sheraton seems to within Pan Men when both of them are actually separated.

On the day we were visiting Pan Men attraction, it was the day of Spring Travel (Chun1 You2) for the school children. Spring Travel is a spring day designated for school children to do outdoor learning, by visiting parks or places of interests when the weather is warmer and more suitable for the outdoors.
Ou Yuan
There are many private gardens in both Suzhou and Wuxi. Private gardens are built by the rich of the ancient times so that they can view the mountains and the waters without having to travel far.

To compress the real mountains into their backyards, Taihu rocks are often used. Taihu rocks are porous limestone rocks found at the bottom of Tai Lake (Tai4 Hu2) in Wuxi. The more rocks that could be found in the gardens, the wealthier the family was. As these rocks were expensive and had no other use except for display purposes, they were also known as white elephants (Bai4 Jia1 Shi2).

In a typical house, there are 3 halls for the rich – the first is for the servants who bring in the sedans, the second is for the normal guests and the third is for the rich and officials. Often, the rocks and waters have different formation which can be subject to vast interpretation by different people having varied perspectives. The beauty of these formations lies in their abilities to bring out different images dependent on one’s imagination.

Guan Qian Street
Guan Qian Street is the shopping belt in Suzhou. The look and feel resemble that of Xi Men Ding in Taipei. Along this street, one can find hawker selling local food, shops selling the local produce, boutiques such as Baleno, Nike and other clothes’ chain.

Suzhou offers a great variety of preserved plums which are very different from Singapore’s. The plums are not preserved in sugar or salt but in vinegar. I like Crispy Plums (Cui4 Mei2) and Green Plums (Qing1 Mei2) best. Crispy Plums are slightly sour and crispy where one will like it increasingly. Green Plums are sweeter and less hard. They are all available under the famous chain Cai3 Zhi1 Zhai1.

The barbecued squids and mutton are also mouth watering. Both the squids and mutton are tender and even slightly spicy.

Silk Factory
Suzhou is a land of silk as the Sang trees can grow very well where the leaves are as big as one’s face. The big leaves are good nutrients for the silk worms so that they can generate high quality and quantity of silk.

Silk, instead of cotton or woolen, mattress protector and blankets are commonly used in Suzhou. This is because Jiangnan are known to be a region of high humidity as it is surrounded by many rivers. Silk can effectively separate the moisture from human skin and reduce proneness to rheumatism.

Silk cloth can only be made from cocoons where there is only one worm each in them. For those cocoons where there is more than one worm, the silk thread will be tangled up and can only be used for making blankets and protectors. The best silk is known as Qi1 Li2 Silk which is normally used for making clothes.

The production of silk is still rather manual where many labourers are involved from the selection of the silk cocoons, opening up the cocoons, spinning of the silk threads to laying the opened cocoons into sheets for blankets.

Hotel
This is one of best hotels I have stayed in throughout this China trip, not in terms of comfort or luxury, but in terms of the surroundings. The hotel is located away from the city. The rooms are located in 4 blocks which are not more than 6-storey high. There is a garden in the middle of the blocks. Its peace makes an ideal place for a relaxed stay, away from the hustle and bustle of the City.


The proudest moment I have felt in Suzhou was when I stepped onto Central Park in the Suzhou Industrial Park to admire what the Singapore Government and other fellow Singaporeans have done. After hearing it for so many years, I have finally been able to see for myself!

China Trip – Hangzhou (2)

Hangzhou Town Centre
The town centre is a small area where all the shopping malls are located. The merchandise in these large shopping malls is expensive – clothes are at several hundreds Reminbi (RMB), almost equivalent to S$100. The reason is the higher taxes on imported goods. Hence, imported goods in China are more expensive than the prices in Singapore.

There is a big square just in front of the shopping malls where groups of teenagers and toddlers gather to learn and show off their blading skills. Many parents will start sending their children to for in-ling skating lessons at a tender age so that these children can hone balancing skills as well as be toughened from the falls they need to endure to pick up the in-line skating.


Mei Jia Wu Village
Mei Jia Wu Village (梅家坞村) is a village where the entire village was in the Long Jing (龙井)Tea business and has the Mei surname. The people in Mei Jia Wu Village have income above average as many own the lands of the tea plantation. Hence, daughters of Mei Jia Wu Village are not married out, but the sons-in-law are instead married in.


Dragon Well Tea (Long Jing Tea), a form of green tea with a PH of 7.2, is one of the local produce of Hangzhou. To ensure that the PH is maintained at 7.2, the tea bushes could only be planted to at most mid mountain. Its slightly alkaline nature, relative to the acidic nature of other tea, means it will not be harmful to the gastric. In addition, green tea has not been subject to roasting like other red teas, so its antioxidant level is higher. Antioxidants can help to keep a person youthful and prevent cancer.

Dragon Well Tea is a government controlled business in China, in terms of its quality, quantity and prices. The other government controlled businesses include Suzhou’s Silk, Wuxi’s Zisha, Wuxi’s Tidbit, etc.

The best tea leaves are those that have a one-leaf one shoot (Yi1 Jian4 Yi1 Xin1) which are normally located at the top of the bushes. The tea is best in the spring season and before the Qing Ming festival, followed by spring season after Qing Ming until the rainy season and finally the spring season after the rainy season. Leaves in summer are considered poor quality and not used for drinking by the Tea connoisseurs.

(Mixing Tea)

In Hangzhou, the people have the habit of drinking cold-brewed tea in replacement of water. Cold-brewed tea involves mixing a smatter of tea leaves in a bottle of water. The beverage has a light fragrance and is very refreshing. The Hangzhou people believe that the cold-brewed tea helps to detoxify, reduce cholesterol and prevent cancer. It can even have slimming effect if one adds some dried orange peels (San1 Cha2).

Song City (Song4 Cheng2)


The introduction brief of the performance states that if one gives Song City one day, Song City will give one a thousand years. Song City is the venue where one of the most famous performances in Hangzhou will be held. Outside the auditorium, there are also activities and exhibitions to view. Both the performance and the place aim to provide the visitors an overview of the Song Dynasty and Hangzhou’s legends.

The place is a replica of the Song Dynasty, including the food and the activities. There is also a section devoted to introducing the four greatest inventions of China – gunpowder, paper, compass and printing techniques. We can find the well-known stinky Beancurd here – one will be able to smell it miles away. The red bean pancakes (pan-fried) is delicious. The hot sweet potato is very popular, especially in the cool weather. It smells very nice but the texture is slightly softer than what we normally find in Singapore.

The Romance of the Song Dynasty is a musical summarizing some of the legends known in Hangzhou which include stories of Yue Fei, White Snake and Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai. In addition to the beautiful songs and dance, it also has multi-dimensional stage which draws the audiences into the stories. While the performance is carried on in the centre stage, there may be activities in the small and high-level stages at the sides or middle of the auditorium. When there is rain, water will drop from the top. One word summarised the performance – spectacular.

West Lake New World (Xi1 Hu2 Xin1 Tian1 Di4)
In Jiangnan, the place where the pubs, cafés and eateries gathered are known as New World (Xin1 Tian1 Di4) - one in Hangzhou and one in Shanghai. The New Worlds are similar to Holland Village, Seah Street, or Boat Quay in Singapore.

In Hangzhou, some of these restaurants overlook West Lake, an idyllic place for catching up with friends over a cup of tea or fine food. The famous Taiwanese tea chain can be found here – One Tea One Seat (Yi1 Cha2 Yi1 Zuo4). Coffee drinking is not very common in China. The coffee tastes very watered down, unless it is one from the international coffee chain, eg Starbucks.

He Fang Street
He Fang Street is one of the oldest shopping streets in Hangzhou. The things sold are rather touristy and expensive. Here, we can find one of the most famous chopstick shop in China – Hangzhou is known for its good quality chopsticks.

Shopping here is more of an experience rather than a conquest as it is more of admiring the old buildings rather than being able to have a lot of purchases.

Local Fare
Hangzhou has many signature, centuries-old dishes – sugar-vinegared fish (Tang1 Cu4 Yu2), Dongpo Meat (Dong1 Po1 Rou4;東坡肉) and Beggar’s Chicken (Jiao4 Hua1 Ji1).

We were filled with anticipation for trying out these dishes’ tastes. Too high expectation leads to greater disappointment, especially when we have been too used to the Asean flavour.

We found sugar-vinegared fish to be too sour. The use of fresh water fish (as opposed to sea water fish) made it more difficult to eat because of the many bones. We missed our Singapore’s sweet and sour fish. The Dongpo Meat was among the best. It is made of black soy sauce stewed pork. It has a strong aroma. Unfortunately, the meat used was too fatty which slightly turned us off. The Beggar’s Chicken is made of baked chicken with preserved vegetables (Mei2 Cai4) in Lotus Leaves. The meat was tough and salty. My sister has even erroneously thought it was made of duck rather than chicken.

We also have had our lunch at one of the leading food franchises in Hangzhou – Red Claypot (Hong2 Ni2 Sha1 Guo1) Restaurant. The setting was elegant but the food was mediocre.

(The rooms surrounding the main dining area on second floor are the VIP rooms)

Hangzhou is undergoing rapid development. It has one of the biggest indoor stadium which can house 60,000 people. The property prices are also among one of the highest in Jiangnan region. I was impressed by the harmonious balance that the state government has achieved between preserving the natural landscape as well as urbanization.

China Trip – Hangzhou (1)

Hangzhou (杭州) is currently the largest city within Zhejiang Province. Hangzhou used to be a country – Yue Country, more than 2,000 years ago, before China was consolidated.

There were many well-known and beautiful legends in this place, such as White Snake and Liang Shan Bo (梁山伯) and Zhu Ying Tai (the Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet). There are many legendary figures whose home towns are here or who have once stayed here, such as Yue Fei (岳飞), Xi Shi (西施) and Ji Gong (济公).

Xi Shi was one of the Four Beauties of ancient China, together with Wang Zhao Jun (王昭君), Yang Gui Fei (杨贵妃) and Diao Chan (貂蟬). The Four Beauties so pretty that fish had sunk, birds had fallen, moon and flowers had been shy (Chen2 Yu2 Luo4 Yan4; Bi4 Yue4 Xiu1 Hua1; 沉魚落雁,闭月羞花). Our tour guide also shared amusing gossips about the four beauties - their Achilles’ heels. Xi Shi had larger feet than the women of her times. Wang Zhao Jun was believed to have drooping shoulders. Thus, she always wore a cape. Yang Gui Fei had an odd smell from her body, so she had to constantly bathed in flowered water. Diao Chan had slightly long neck, so she cleverly camouflaged this shortcoming by wearing lots of jewelries around her neck.

Due to the fight between Yue Country and Wu Country (吳) (the current Suzhou), Xi Shi was sent by the King of Yue to seduce the King of Wu. In addition, the King of Yue laid low in Wu Country for a couple of years to spy on the enemy. In those years, he would sleep on straw and taste the bile in the gall to constantly remind himself the revenge he needed to take. This subsequently gave rise to the idiom – Wo4 Xin1 Chang2 Dan3 to describe a very hard life.

West Lake (西湖)

I vaguely remember reading a lot about West Lake in one of my Chinese Textbooks. West Lake is touted to be one of the most beautiful lakes in China. There are many poems and verses which sing praises of the beauty of West Lake, which was believed to the incarnation of Xi Shi, so it was also known as Xi Zi Lake.

There is a heaven in the sky.
There is a Su-Hang on the earth.
(Shang4 You3 Tian1 Tang2; Xia4 You3 Su1 Hang2; 上有天堂 下有苏杭)

These 2 verses aptly describe the picturesque Suzhou and Hangzhou where their beauties were comparable to Heaven. Poet Su Dong Po (苏东坡) was best known for his poem on West Lake. There was a famous local dish – Dong Po Meat which was named after this famous Tang Poet.

There are at least 10 scenic spots in West Lake. Some of which include Three Light Towers which reflect the moon (San1 Tan2 Ying4 Yue4; 三潭印月), Broken Bridge (Duan4 Qiao2; 断桥残雪), Su Bridge (Su1 Ti2; 苏堤), Long Bridge (Chang2 Qiao2), Lei Feng Pagoda (Lei2 Feng1 Ta3; 雷峰夕照) and Park of Willows (Liu3 Lang4 Wen2 Ying1; 柳浪闻莺), Nan Ping Bell (Nan2 Ping2 Wan3 Zhong1; 南屏晚钟) etc. Each of these scenic spots has a story associated with it. When the scenery is attached with a meaning, its beauty is enhanced.

The beauty of Three Light Towers reaches its epitome on the 15th day of lunar 8th month when the moon is at its brightest. Lights in the three towers will create the illusion of a total of about 5 moons (3 in the light towers, 1 moon and the moon’s reflection in the lake).

(The three light towers)

Broken bridge is a bridge which seems to be broken during winter when snow covers half of the bridge. This is also the bridge where the love story of White Snake and Xu Xian started.

Su Bridge is most beautiful in spring.

(Su Bridge)

Long Bridge is only an average 4 meters long. It has derived its name from the love story of Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai where they have sent each other off on this bridge. Arising from their reluctance to part with each other, this sending off took a long time as if the bridge was very long.

Lei Feng Pagoda was originally known as Huang Fei Pagoda. As it was built on Lei Feng Mountain, so it became known as Lei Feng Pagoda subsequently. The top of the Pagoda is plated in gold. It was the Pagoda where White Snake has been captured. The original pagoda has collapsed in 1924. The current pagoda was rebuilt in 2000. Some people actually believed that with the collapse of the pagoda, White Snake was finally released.

(In the Park of Willows with the Lei Feng Pagoda in the background)

The Park of Willows used to be an imperial garden due to the lush willows lining the lakeside and the happy chirping of the birds can be heard.

Nan Ping Bell is located in Jing Ci Temple. Jing Ci Temple is one of the temples where Ji Gong has once resided in. There was a fire which burnt down the temple. Ji Gong was tasked to rebuild the temple. He has transported the timber required via the rivers and through the well in the temple. However, when the abbot told Ji Gong that there was enough timber, he has left a log in the well. To this day, this log remained standing in the well. This famous well is the Old Well for Timber Transport (Yun4 Mu4 Gu2 Jing3).

(Nan Ping Bell in the Jing Ci Temple)

There is a Chinese saying which states that reading a hundred thousand of books will never be as good as walking a hundred thousand miles. Having read so much about West Lake, I am finally in this very place to experience for myself and be mesmerized by the magnificence of West Lake. West Lake offers different views in the various seasons and in the day and night. There is no one best season or time to admire it. Each season offers different views. However, many will agree that West Lake in the rain is more beautiful than on a sunny day as the rain added a cloud of sadness to its beauty.