china part ii - wuhan, suzhou and shanghai

after passing the three gorges dam the ship docked at yichang and we travelled by bus to wuhan, which took almost the whole day. the next day we visited the guiyuan temple and after this we took the train to suzhou. here we saw the ruiguang pagoda, the master of the nets garden, a silk factory, suzhou museum and finally sailed down the canals after dark.

after our day in suzhou we went by bus to shanghai, our final destination. first we visited the shanghai museum and then walked around the yuyuan-bazaar and down smaller streets to see how the people lived there. it was very different from anything i've seen before so it was very fascinating. we also stopped by nanjing lu for a quick look, and then went to the jin mao tower where we went up to the 88th floor to look at the view. unfortunately it was foggy so the view was a bit limited, but you could still feel how high up you were. the next day was the final day of the trip, and here we took the maglev train to the airport and back again, just to experience traveling 431 km/h (we'd be taking the bus there the next day). we also took a small trip on a tourist boat out on the river to see a bit more of the bund. it was sad to leave for oslo, i felt there was still so much i wanted to see. but i did get to see a lot while i was there, we pretty much went from one place to the next with hardly any breaks in between. i was exhausted by the end of the trip. not that i am complaining!

near the three gorges dam


between yichang and wuhan







sunrise over wuhan











the guiyuan temple











view from the ruiguang pagoda







at the silk factory



the master of the nets garden. so beautiful, but i would have loved to see it during the summer.



bonzai-tree inspiration! makes my bonsai hannibal look like a weed (yes i named my bonsai hannibal. i had an archibald too but it died)



sailing down the suzhou canals by night.











a cat at the people's square in shanghai



walking down some of the smaller streets in shanghai. someones dinner?







view from the jin mao tower



seen from the boat, with the jin mao tower in the middle



view from our hotel



shanghai by night