Jerald and I made a 6D5N trip to Hangzhou, Wuzhen and Shanghai during the June holiday (15 June - 20 June 2015)! We spent the first day in Hangzhou, made a day trip to Wuzhen on the second day and spent the remaining 4 days in Shanghai (upcoming post).
Day 1
We took a China Eastern flight to Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 12.55 a.m. Well, I have a love-hate relationship with night flights! Love it when my day begins once I land on the island but hate it when I don't get to sleep properly on the plane.
My travel buddy. :)
Thank you camera for making us look refreshed when we're not.
Caught these beautiful rays shining on a small area before descending.
Upon reaching the airport, we went to the bus terminal to search for Airport Busline No. 1. The bus fetches us from the airport to Hong Qiao Hub of the East Transportation Center, which is the train station linking to the other provinces. It operates from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.. The bus ride took us an hour. I was so tired that I slept throughout the journey!
Upon reaching, we followed the 'train' sign and found our way to the ticket counter. It may seem a little empty here, but wait till you see the ticket counter! Madness.
Cabin 5, Seats 11C and 11D.
Look at the large crowd!
It was chaotic and the noise level was high.
There were several restaurants and cafes located on the 2nd floor so we went to grab a bite before boarding the train.
Finally found our cabin!
Le boy pushing our luggages.
The entrance, with a lot of timings of the trains departing!
This is their ticket machine which requires an IC in order to purchase!
This means that we have to join in the long queue, as seen in the picture below. :(
Luckily, Jerald did some research beforehand and we knew which train to take! There are many different classes of seats.
It was chaotic and the noise level was high.
Long taxi queue, again.
Hangzhou (杭州)
Finally, we reached Huachen International Hotel at Shang Cheng District. Well, we did not have a pleasant stay there so I'm not recommending this hotel! The rooms were not very clean and service wasn't that good either.
After checking in, we roamed the streets and visited West Lake (西湖), which is located near our hotel.
Lunch at a restaurant near my hotel.
The huge Apple Store.
West Lake (西湖)
Escape from the bustling city and head over to West Lake to get a closer touch to nature. West Lake is a fresh water lake and is one of the most beautiful sights in Hangzhou. Nature lovers, this is a place for you!
Address: West Lake Scenic, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310000, China
Look at the crowd waiting for the Music Fountain to start. The show times are 10.00 a.m., 3.30 p.m., 7.30 p.m., 8.00 p.m., 8.30 p.m. and 9.00 p.m.. We reached there around 7.00 p.m., so we decided to give it a miss.
There are many chairs for visitors to sit so be there early if you wish to grab one!
Not-very-nice view because of the weather.
Saw 2 squirrels on the tree and everyone started crowding around and feeding them! So cute!
Photography services!
You can see the pretty music fountain in these pictures.
That's a restaurant on the boat. The lightings on the boat is so pretty!
Lastly, it's a flower pond filled with lotuses! :)
I'll recommend this place to nature/lake lovers and couples! Nice place to chill and enjoy the scenery. For more information about this place, you can visit this website: Hangzhou West Lake.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 2
We booked a 1-Day tour to Wuzhen (乌镇) at our hotel lobby. The tour also includes a trip to Quenya Titania - a crystal/jewelry shop and a silk factory. I won't be posting photographs of both places because it's kinda boring. Anyway, a mini-van came to pick us up early in the morning!
Wuzhen (乌镇)
Wuzhen (乌镇水乡) is a historic, scenic water town, located in northern Zhejiang Province, approximately 2 hours van ride from Hangzhou. It is divided into 6 districts and there are 2 entrances, i.e. West Gate (Xi Zha) and East Gate (Dong Zha). This place is very scenic and picturesque. It is highly recommended to go there when it is not so crowded and when it isn't raining! Unfortunately, I was there when there were many tour groups around and umbrella 'fights' took place as it was raining. Nonetheless, I really love this place. It reminds me of how simple life can be, and the residents were contented with what they have. :)
This is the umbrella chaos.
A quick snapshot of one of the residents living in the house.
Then, we entered the former residence of Mao Dun, also known as Mao Dun Museum!
Mao Dun
Mao Dun's study area
One of the restaurants in Wuzhen. Love the flower decorations!
Our boat ride!
Spotted a man washing his laundry.
Old medical shop. It looks so cool and exactly like what we watch in shows!
& we visited the Wine Distillery Workshop.
Candid shot.
There are many shops that sells food and souvenirs too!
We came across the Kungfu Boat, where masters of the martial arts fight to the accompaniment of clamoring gongs and drums. As time was running out, we gave this a miss!
That pretty much sums up my trip to Wuzhen and I'll probably visit this place again if I have a chance to, but I'll not sign up for the day tour because of the time constraint. There are many more attractions here (check out the website I displayed above) to explore so I'll recommend this place, whether you're in Hangzhou or Shanghai. :)
I'll be blogging about my remaining days in Shanghai in another post! Till then.
Love,
CY
No comments:
Post a Comment