Hong Kong

We finally made it to the end of our journey. Hong Kong is a fabulous place!! We only had a day here, but we really need more time to explore this city.

We took a cable car that hit all three islands all the way up to the Po Lin Monestary, or as we called it the Giant Budda in the Sky.

After a quick trip up and back, Jason and I jetted across the three islands, and took atleast two trains (during rush hour) to a taxi stand to hop a boat for an evening dinner cruise. We just barely made it, but we did make it!!

The dinner cruise was so you could see the light show the city does everynight. It was really neat.

I was highly amused with the way the cruise ship informed which bathroom was for males and females.

Guangzhou

We headed to Guangzhou for a little rest and relaxation.

Guangzhou is more famously known as Canton and Cantonese food.

We did happen to find a Papa John's pizzaria and couldn't resist the temptation. It was delicious!

break

I am in class this week and have a Girl Scout Conference this weekend, so I am taking a break from up-dating our travel portion of the blog. I will get back to it next week.

As for other things going on... a friend from high school was injured downrange and we were fortunate enough to see him, since they brought him to the hospital about 40 minutes from us. He looks good and seems to be healing well. We are asking for prayers that he recovers speedily and fully.

We are also asking for prayers for Jason's sister, Tammy. She is pregnant with her second child and we are praying that the baby is healthy and she has an easy pregnancy.

We are also happy to welcome Sophia Grace Spiriti into our family. Jennifer and Anthony adopted her on Monday. From what we understand, everyone is doing great, but ask for prayers as they undertake this life change. I am dying to get to Mississippi and hold Sophia!

Also, my grandmother turns 90 on Tuesday. I am super bummed I won't be there to celebrate her birthday with her. Praying she has a wonderful day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY OMI!!

Hangzhou

So, I am terribly behind on up-dating our China trip. And since then we've been back to the states and went to Berlin. Needless to say I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll try to get it all caught up by the end of the month.

After Shanghai we went to Hangzhou. Famous for its' beautiful lakes, gardens and green tea.

These are a few pictures from West Lake.

From West Lake we walked to another Buddhist Temple.

And then we headed over for a lesson in traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony. The Chinese Green Tea is a bit different than what we are used to, but it is incredible healthy and all natural. Jason enjoyed this so much he actually bought some tea. We bought two cannister and he's still working on his first. The packed it so tight and full and you can use just a pinch of leaves and it lasts all day.

Shanghai

(Shanghai's TV tower)

(Shanghai at night)

After Suzhou, we went to modern Shanghai.

We saw the Jin Mao Tower - which is fascinating! This amazing tower was China's tallest until 2007 when it was surpassed by the Shanghai Financial Tower (pictured below).

We also saw Jackie Chan when we were visiting the tower!!!





We also went to another Urban Planning Museum. Shanghai is the host of the 2010 World Expo and there was some great models of the area which they are building for the event.

The class Model of the city

Also we went to the new French Quarter the Chinese built. Here Jason and I decided to have a German beer. It was funny to see them in Dirndl's.

Of course, we did more shopping and at this point we both are really shopped out. But we really enjoyed the architecture of the stores and the streets.

We also went to Nanjing Road, which has more modern type of shopping. Jason and I ventured into the Samsung Mall where we found an ice skating rink inside and a huge arcade.

Suzhou

After Nanjing we went to Suzhou.

Suzhou is one of the places that has been described as heaven on earth. It is also considered the sister city to Venice because of their canals.

We started our adventure here by going to the Hanshan Temple. Here we got to ring a bell in the bell tower three times. One for good fortune, one for prosperity and one for long life.

Then we saw a traditional Chinese garden

We also toured a Silk Factory to see the process of how they make silk. It was the most interesting tour we did. The tour also included a fashion show at the end, before you had the chance to purchase items.



We also went to the Urban Planning Museum in Suzhou. Jason decided to unleash his inner kid and jump in the ball pit.

Before we left Suzhou, we went to a new Industrial park and the opportunity to walk around a bit. There were tons of people there taking their wedding photos. This is one of my favorites. (For those of you that know about Chicago and the Egg incident, I took a picture of Suzhou's egg. :) )

And of course, we did some more shopping. Here's the shopping street in Suzhou.

Tomorrow, Shanghai!!!

Nanjing

After Beijing we flew to Nanjing. Nanjing is a beautiful city and continued to do more shopping.

There are a few highlights in this city.

First, the Nanjing Massacre Museum, which I had just learned about in my Atomic Bomb class. In Sept. 1937, Japan invaded Nanjing and killed and raped the city. About 300,000 people died during the invasion. When the city was excavating for a project they found the mass grave of some of the people who died during the massacre. They abandoned the project and set up a museum instead.

Another highlight is Dr. Sun Yet-Sian's Mausoleum. He was the guy who overthrew the Imperial System in China. On his death bed, he requested to be buried in Nanjing. This place was beautiful and offered a great scenic view of the city.

If you go to Nanjing, don't forget to marvel at their bridge. The people of Nanjing needed to build a bridge, but did not have the technology nor the know-how and approached the Soviet Union for assistance. The Soviet's said ok, as long as they could gain control over China. China of course said "no. Thank you." They ended up building this bridge without any assistance and are quite proud of it. The top section is for cars and trucks. The bottom section is for trains. It was beautiful there. We also saw an artist who paints inside glass globes here.

We also visited the Confucius Temple. This had everyone on the trip confused. We thought we were going to an actual temple, but it was a market. I bought a fan for $.80 - what a deal!! I hate bargaining and Jason, thrifty as he is, loves it. So I would walk away and let him do his magic. 80 cents for a fan isn't bad considering they wanted about $10 for it.

Of course no trip to Nanjing would be complete without a trip to Wal-mart. That's right, I said it, Wal-mart. We were driving along the streets headed back to the hotel when I "Oh look, Wal-mart." Then the entire bus erupted and started screaming. Dr. Shen said we could stop to take a picture, but that turned into a 30 minute shopping spree. It was hilarious! It actually was a good thing for me to shop there because I had forgotten sunscreen and I was worried I was going to be a burnt tater by the time we got home. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to buy some and a pair of cheap shoes, which I love!