I’ve only been here for about a month and I’ve already been to so many places in Shanghai. I visited some places through my classes and some because CIEE has their own field trips on certain Fridays, but now I just want to travel everywhere!
A model of Shanghai at the Urban Planning Museum
One Friday we went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall and I couldn’t even believe how big Shanghai actually is. If you can just imagine how small a person is compared to the buildings in this model….it’s just amazing! Sometimes I still can’t grasp the fact that I’m in China and I have two months left to explore as much as I can.
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Look at that Skyline
Some of the field trips held through CIEE are called “Old Shanghai” where on our free days we can learn more about the older and more historic areas of Shanghai. Although it is awesome to see all the new, modern things here I actually like exploring the older areas. I think that it’s more interesting to see what life in Shanghai used to be like compared to all the tourist areas. Don’t get me wrong, the tourist areas are awesome, but it’s nice to also see areas where there aren’t so many tourists.
A market in old Shanghai
And with that said, this past weekend I went to Hangzhou with some classmates and our teachers and we went to all the areas where there are all the tourists. We went to Leifeng Pagoda, a boat tour on the West Lake, Linying Temple and also a tea farm.
Leifeng Pagoda
A view from the top
An ice cream break after climbing all those stairs up the pagoda
(When it’s 75 degrees out and you’re walking around all day, an ice- cream break is obviously needed.)
And flower crowns because why not?
On this trip we actually had a decent amount of time to go explore the area on our own. I think one of my favorite pictures from this trip is from Saturday evening when the sun was setting. I was told that Hangzhou is beautiful and I can also confirm that so if you ever have a chance to go to China, check out Hangzhou!
A sunset in Hangzhou
On Sunday we went to Linying Temple and I was mesmerized by all the carvings in the side of the mountain. I always think, “Wait, someone actually carved all of this by hand…..”
Linying Temple
A tea farm in Hangzhou
So I can say I’ve seen a little bit of China, but I really want to see more. I still have so many places in mind and I’m so excited that it will happen sometime in the next two months!