The Cube

The neighbourhood was originally built in the 1930s as a Shikumen residential district. (Shikumen is a traditional Shanghainese architectural sytle). Tianzifang is now one of a major tourist attraction with quaint little shops selling crafts, cafes, bars, studios. It has some small similarity to Melbourne's network of laneways. :)


We started day 2 in Shanghai with brunch in Kommune. I gathered my friend enjoys his big breakfast here, I think he would like brunches option in Melbourne. Kommune has a comfy and cosy setting, it does remind me of having a lazy brunch on weekend in Melbourne.

Did you see? The lady is using an iPad too...

Utensils and condiments hanging in a pouch under the table

Sugar and salt in test tubes

We had big breakfast and I had skim flat white.

Served in a milk bottle lookalike jar

Big Breakfast

What to do after a hearty breakfast? Walkabout to check out the area :)



It was a rainy day though...

Spot the bicycle

More bicycle.. haha.. I got soft spot for bicycles :P



A cafe

Souvenirs

Chopsticks

Err.. more bicycles

Painting studio?

I didn't try the cheese cake

Side note: Love my lunch break runs!

Lately don't have the mojo to blog, and.. where has the time gone?

Anyway, The Bund is the famous waterfront, a symbol of Shanghai. Since it is so famous, so it doesn't really need any introduction.. and hence, here are some pictures. Pardon me for slacking but am trying to pick up again.:)


And of course, me being a tourist wants some night shots too. Shame about the weather though. In fact, if it wasn't me insisted on seeing the place again at night, my friend would have just gone back to the hotel and curled up. LOL



It rained and rained, probably the only rainy day on my two weeks in China.



Side note: Addicted to peanut butter & strawberry jam = ="

Carving detail in Yu Garden

I had two and a half days in Shanghai, day 1 in Shanghai was actually Qing Ming Festival, which is a public holidays in China. Day 1 in Shanghai was done as a day trip from Wuxi but I opted to stay overnight for day 2, just so that I could see Shanghai at night and avoid the hassle of moving my luggage around on the last half day.

We (my friend and I) left Wuxi for Shanghai in the morning and made our way to Yu Garden area. Friend was most hospitable, he also volunteered to be my guide in Shanghai and even took a day off work. Friend knows his way around, and travel like an expat (nonetheless), therefore my knowledge of transportation in Shanghai is zero. He even passed me a metro card for the subway, so I didn't even queue up to get tickets for the subway. The part where I comment my friend travel like an expat? Ha, there were a few times we just take a taxi to get around, something that I usually avoid when travelling as I unconciously equate taxi to pricey (except to and fro airport, etc). I was told that taxi charges in Shanghai is one of the highest in China.

Anyway, I digress, back to Yu Gardens.


Yu Garden (or Yuyuan, 豫园) is a famous classical garden from Ming Dynasty. This garden was built by a government officer named Pan Yunduan for his parents as a place to enjoy a tranquil and happy time in their old age. A lot of restoration works has been done on this garden since it first built in Ming Dynasty. It was open to the public in 1961.


See, I told you.. it was crowded. It was probably the most crowded garden I visited in China. 

Huge rockery

Dragon wall

This dragon was said to have only four claws and not five, as so not to incur the emperor's wrath.


Next to the garden, one can find old-style buildings in the Yu Gardens bazaar. The shops in this bazaar are somewhat a tourist trap but there are heaps of things to see.



Our other destination in this area is 南翔馒头店 (Nanxiang Steamed Bun Shop). This place is notoriously known for its long queue for 小笼包 (xiǎolóngbāo) takeaway. Like I mentioned above, my friend travels like an expat (he is afterall an expat working in China :P) brought me to second floor. This restaurant has 3 storey - level is where they handle takeaway, level 2 and 3 are sit down diner, by different price range. This means that one has to spend a minimum of certain price per person. Price tier for level 3 is higher than for level 2.

Just as Peking duck is the thing to eat in Beijing, Shanghai is famous for it's xiǎolóngbāo. Great breakfast to kick start the day, washed down with a pot of Longjing tea.

蟹黄白玉卷 (Crab roll)

招牌小笼 (xiǎolóngbāo)

香辣蟹肉小笼 (Crab meat dumplings)

椒盐腰果酥 (Cashew flaky biscuit) & 蟹黄灌汤虾球 (Prawn & Crab ball)



干贝蛋丝盅 (Scallop and egg soup)

龙井 (Longjing Tea)

Side note: Of late, I feel like whistling.. wonder why.. LOL

This is a library

Travellers or tourists to Wuxi generally pay a visit to Tai Lake and Lingshan Buddha. Both the two attractions however is not within the city of Wuxi and needs a little travelling.

So, instead of rushing about to both the place, I make do with a casual walk around Wuxi instead. In a way, Wuxi is like my vacation during vacation. After my friend offered to bring me around Wuxi, I happily leave out planning on Wuxi. LOL :P

Around 崇安寺 (Chong An Si) area

南禅寺 (Nan Chan Si)

It appears that the two more 'happening' place or downtown area in Wuxi have a temple - 南禅寺 (Nan Chan Si) and 崇安寺 (Chong An Si). Both areas are within walking distance, probably 20-30 minutes easy walk from one another.



Meet Ah Bing

The above place is a library, and the sculpture in front of the building is Ah Bing. Ah Bing or his full name Hua Yanjun was a folk artist born in Wuxi. Ah Bing lost sight in both his eyes following syphilis and earned his living as a street performer. Ah Bing's signature piece is 二泉映月 (Erquan Yingyue - Moonlight on the Second Spring) is a classic in Chinese erhu and pipa music.


Friend bought me a hot bubble tea, I like the naming convention - 奶茶三兄弟 (Nai cha san xiong di, 3 brothers in Milk Tea). Cute eh? There's a similar tea by other bubble tea shops but the one here is translated as Milk Tea with 3 Jellies. 3 brothers - pearls, jelly and pudding. :P

Around this two areas, there are many shops selling souvenirs, trinkets, food, etc. Also, the shop selling Wuxi's famous spareribs is also in the area. It is really good, the meat just fell off the bones. Yumm.

Friend's home cooked noodles with Wuxi pork spareribs

Here are some pictures around the area, unfortunately the photos has some noise and kind of blur. All photos in Wuxi were taken with mobile phone, somehow both times when we went out walkabout in Wuxi, both my cameras ran out of batteries. Hmm..







Side note: How come all the sleep is not enough? Zzzzz

Tongli is easily accessible from Suzhou, an easy option to see one of the canal towns around Suzhou. I took a bus back from the Humble Administrator's Garden to Suzhou bus station, which is just outside of Suzhou train station. Buses to Tongli depart Suzhou bus station via the long distance bus station.


Bus ticket inclusive of entrance fee to Tongli Old Town costs RMB 80 for two days (the day I arrived and the day after). This entrance fees includes admissions to the exhibition houses around this little town. Of course, I read somewhere that if you enter after 5 pm, entrance fee no longer required if you just want to walk around the old town. There is also an alternate entrance somewhere but of course there are separate checks for each attraction entrances. RMB 80 is not cheap, a local who took the same bus as me (he got off the bus before Tongli) also commented that it is expensive, so I tried to make the most of the exhibition houses. *kiasu-ism at work*

Bus from Suzhou to Tongli takes about 30 minutes, and stopped in Tongli bus station. The bus station is not inside Tongli old town, one can take a shuttle to the old town but it is about 20-30 minutes walk away. Please be mindful not to travel with the touts hanging around the bus station. I didn't see any shuttle upon my arrival, and I avoid haggling if I can, so I made my way there walking. It really isn't that far away.

Walking to Tongli Old Town

Tongli is an old but well preserved water township with more than 1,000 years history. Once you crossed the archway to this canal town, there are many shops selling pork knuckles and some asian cake/biscuit. Those pork knuckles are big, and not something in the line of food I like, so I didn't get any, didn't want to throw it away if I don't like it. I tried some of the biscuits though.

I get one each

This was the hidden one on the photo above

The elongated one is 袜底酥 (wa ti su), literally translated as 'bottom of socks' flaky biscuit. So named due to the shape of the biscuit. The round one is 退思饼 (tui si bing), not sure if it is associated with the Tui Si Garden, a famed classical garden in Tongli. The elongated one taste has some salty taste to it while the round one is like regular biscuit, on the sweet side but just mild. Not overly sweet. This last one, with sesame seeds on top, is 松子枣泥饼 (I translate it as Pine Nut Jujube/Date paste biscuit). The paste is like what one finds it mooncake. The strange thing with food in China, they taste ok in China but the one packet I bought home tasted different, somehow subpar compared to the one I had in Tongli.

I checked in to Jingyitang which I booked after asking Paul for his recommendation. After much contemplation, I decided to only get the standard room due to cost as I was traveling solo. He wrote a good review of the hotel here. By the time I reached Tongli and ready for a stroll, most day trippers have already left, or on their way to the bus station. I visited one of the preserved traditional residences, 耕乐堂 (Gengle Tang, Gengle Hall). Gengle Hall once owned by a Ming Dynasty nobleman.


A leisure stroll around this little township, I can see how it would be a nice short weekend getaway.






On my stroll, I found two different shops with similar concept - sending mail/postcard cum cafe.


Maybe I shouldn't use the word found as they are easily noticeable. The reason why one of the shop caught my eye the in the first place was because of the shop's name. In English, it is just simply - Momi Cafe, but the mandarin name, 猫的天空之城 (my direct translation as: Cat's Castle in the Air) reminded me of Studio Ghibli's movies - The Cat Returns and Laputa. I checked out the shop, just because of the name. Haha, I'm so gullible like that.


It has nothing to do with the water canal township, but it's a cute little shop selling postcards and help to post them out at a cost. So technically, you could write to yourself and set a receive date that you wish. I didn't post any, but got a couple of postcards.

Dinner was one of the supposedly famed 3 dishes of Lake Tai (太湖). The eateries has similar menu, and one of them would be 太湖三白 (Taihu san bai, or Three Whites of Lake Tai) referring to 白鱼 (white fish), 银鱼 (silver shrimps, this refers to whitebait) and 白虾 (white shrimps). I had the simple stir fry eggs with whitebait and soup for a cold night.


After a night stroll to walk off the food, the portion was quite big and I stuffed it all down myself. I called it a night and aimed to wake up early to enjoy a quiet morning before it got busy again. :)






Side note: One week in Kansai... should I, shouldn't I, should I, shouldn't I? *pull hair*