Traveling Within China - Rick and Debbie's Trip
Taking advantage of the Chinese holiday during our 4th week, we decided to seize the opportunity and do some traveling within China.
Rick and Debbie head to Shanghai and then onto the island of Putuoshan. Putuoshan is a small island 12km long and approximately 3 hours off the coast of Shanghai by fast boat. The island of Putuoshan is considered one of the most spiritual places in China and on the northern end of the island where the mountain is located, is where you will commonly find budhist monks carrying out their daily rituals.
Mitch and his friend Brian head to Taishan Mountain in Taiyan, Qingdao and Beijing.
Arriving in Shanghai - Monday
Our Monday morning starts off great. We get to the Jinan airport in record time and for the cheapest taxi fair yet because our taxi driver manages to somehow avoid the toll booth. Though we still don't quite understand how he did it or where we were, we appreciated the excellent service !
Our flight to Shanghai is quick and easy taking 1 1/2 hours along with a warm pork breakfast bun served on the flight.
Upon arriving to Shanghai we hail a taxi to take us to the port to catch a fast boat to Putuoshan. However, shortly after leaving the airport the taxi driver notices we are headed to the wrong port ! We know this because of the large quantities of spit flying from his mouth while in a deep husky voice he is telling us something in Chinese that sounds to us like: "yada yada yada....Putuoshan....yada yada yada.....Putuoshan" while he waives his arms indicating "wrong port"! After he makes some phone calls, we confirm the correct port and begin driving. However, wouldn't you know it, his clutch goes and we are now broken down along the freeway ! He hails us another taxi and gives them our new directions and we are finally on our way to the Wusong port to catch our fast boat. Needless to say we were entertained but thankful for the taxi driver's help !
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After arriving at the Wusong port, we discover that just for that Monday, there is no 1pm fast boat to Putuoshan....Only the slow boat that leaves at 8pm and arrives on the island 7:30am the next morning. Not much we can do so we buy 2 first class tickets on the slow boat.
With 7 hours to kill until our boat leaves, we cruise the same strip of road lined with shops and restaurants carrying our very heavy backpacks and stop in at McDonalds for a chicken sandwhich !
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Finally, we leave for Putuoshan !
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This was our room on board the ship.
It was an interesting experience to say the least with both of us sleeping fully dressed in socks, shoes, pants and shirts due to some of the "conditions" of the room and not getting a lot of sleep during our travel. It was an experience we'll never forget that's for sure !
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Finally, we arrive to a very misty Putuoshan. This is the walkway leading from the boat into the main port building.
We stayed on Putuoshan Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Departing Friday at 1pm on the fast boat back to Shanghai.
Not very long after arriving, the mist started to clear and it revealed to us a most beautiful and lush island ! We were happy to be there !
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After checking into our hotel called "Putuo Hotel", we walk down to the end of our road to find this....Pretty nice site that first misty morning !
As you can imagine, the solitude of the island was fantastic ! Few people, no smog, no honking cars and fresh air made this a perfect destination. The island remained quiet during our 1st and 2nd days here. Then began filling up on the 3rd day with tourists for the Chinese holiday.
This beach was called "100 step beach".
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This is 100 step beach after the mist had cleared. Looking left.
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100 step beach looking right towards the rocks where we hunkered down for a little R&R and read our books by the gentle rolling waves.
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The sheltered rock area where we read our books....Doesn't get any better than that !
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Rick enjoying himself.
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Debbie on the beach.
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Discovering artistic sand dunes someone had sculpted on 100 step beach. Very neat !
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A closer look.
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Exploring "town square". A really quaint market area with stores, markets and tree lined walkways that surround 3 large ponds in the middle of the area.
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Another picture of "town square" looking out over the large ponds.
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The market in "town square".
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Puji Temple located in "town square". 1 of 3 main temples on the island.
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Debbie at Puji Temple.
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Inside the temple, locals giving prayers to the budhist statue.
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Spotting monks at the temple !
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Walking through "town square" you enter "the village". A long road lined with shops, restaurants, hotels. Though hard to tell from this picture, it was very quaint, reminding us of a Canmore, Alberta kind of feel.
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Walking to a look out point for a view of the southern part of the island.
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Doing some sight-seeing. Debbie perched upon a large rock with the carving symbol for "heart" in Chinese character.
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Visiting the great bronze statue of Guanyin. One of the best sight-seeing spots on the island. 33 meters high and 70 tons, it is the largest bronze statue in the world. It represents the budhist kingdom.
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A closer look.
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Taking a gondola ride up to the mountain top of Putuoshan on the northern part of the island to see Fayu and Huiji temples and then a scenic walk back down.
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After reaching the bottom of our walk down from the northern part of the island, we see a path jutting off our walkway.....we enter....to discover yet another beautiful beach called "1000 step beach" !
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Debbie on 1000 step beach. Cloudy day but still fantastic !
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Capturing the length of 1000 step beach.
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More exploring 1000 step beach.
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Spotting a couple of monks enjoying their typical day !
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For our last night stay in Putoushan, we needed to change hotels due to the influx of people. As it turned out, our hotel called "Lu Yuan Hotel" faced toward 1000 step beach ! It was an extra special treat being able to hear the sound of crashing waves as your nodding off in bed !
This is a picture from the hotel balcony.
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After leaving the peaceful island of Putuoshan on Friday at 1pm on the fast boat, we head to Shanghai and arrive at our hotel called "Shanghai Dong Shi Hotel". Located a couple of blocks from "Nanjing Road" a lengthy main shopping street and a few blocks from "The Bund".
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A dramatic switch from island life ! A sea of people crowd Nanjing road. Though crowded, we still enjoy all the lights and people watching !
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Debbie discovers a Starbucks and that is a happy night !
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On our 2nd day in Shanghai and the day we fly out for Jinan, we do the bund sight-seeing tunnel. The tunnel travels under the river and crosses from the old Shanghai to the new Shanghai. While traveling the tunnel, we experience a physco-delic light show !
This is a picture of "pod" that we board to ride the tunnel !
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The Bund. The bund lines both the new and old sides of Shanghai and makes for a nice stroll along the river.
We spend a few more hours exploring Shanghai then head to the airport to catch our 9:30 pm flight back to Jinan.
All in all, we thoroughly enjoy our week of traveling ! We experienced so many new things, and made many new memories we'll never forget !