China – part1
Before I jump into it, a quick note on the tour details… To cut a long story short, there are now tours available at most “Asian” travel agents providing an itinerary that is partially (mostly) reimbursed by the Chinese government with an aim to increase cultural tourism. Costs around $100AUS up for tours lasting for days to a couple of weeks, inclusive of 5 star accommodation, food and tour guides. Bargain to the max!!! The only condition being that you must be of Chinese ethnicity. Not sure how they would determine that, but I suppose it’s not that strict. Hmm
Following on from my unofficial first post for my China-trip (aka pre-trip post on Café Vue, Melbourne Airport), here is the first of many posts with a “small” selection of photos, stories and food adventures.
Leaving the dreary gloom of Melbourne weather to be greeted by the beautifully sky blue skies and summery wisps of clouds was a welcome change. Apparently the temperatures were scorching only days before our arrival.
A quick “rest” stop in the outer suburbs of Shanghai before we head Westward …
Hotel is almost brand new, built in preparation for the Shanghai Expo 2010. 5 Stars, with immaculate rooms – at least until we came in…
I must suffer from a bit of STML (short term memory loss), as I always plan to take photos of the food and plan to take photos of the hotel rooms and what not, but when the situation comes I forget. At least now I have managed to remember to photograph the food I eat, but this hotel-room-snapping business is still in its early days. When and if I do remember, bags are unpacked, jackets and hats are thrown all over, and decorative sheets tossed off the beds. Homely yes, stylish no!
The first of many, many buffet breakfasts’ to come… Rating: decent range, satisfactory quality, not enough fruit variety. Please avoid the breads.
A small detour on our fairly restful day to a privately owned recreational reserve-slash-resort. Nothing exceptionally exciting here, given back home we’re gifted with an abundance of recreational / national parks at our doorstep.
A little bit of monkey trouble. If you look closely (bottom left) there is a monkey seeking sanction on the roof, with a gaggle of people yelling, screaming and banging in attempt to chase it away. Unfortunately for them, these monkeys can swim, climb, and are pretty agile – monkey trouble indeed.
Watch your head (quite literally)… what a silly design.
Looking back at some of the photos, the angles and shadows give a somewhat eery look to them.
… Ok so I tweeked it just a little to exaggerate my initial impression of this image, but you can see what I’m trying to say right???
And here’s me trying to stay awake… jet lag! If the sun weren’t quite so scorching, I’d probably have fallen asleep in the gentle breeze.
Where is lunch you may ask? Well on this occasion there wasn’t any photos… sad I know. But luckily for you it wasn’t anything worth mentioning. Simple stirfry of locally grown vegetables, poultry and fish (probably from the lake). P.S. the lake didn’t look that clean, but look I ate until I was full and I still survived =P.
NEXT UP: Su Zhou.
You may also like: New Zealand travels, Lord Stow’s Portuguese tarts – Macao, Hong Kong eats.
Almost Always Ravenous 
i can’t wait for more food…
Re the bargain tours – REALLY?! How? What?? How did you hear about them? And do the tour guides only speak Chinese?
I suppose I could leave Alastair at home… haha.
HAHAHA, yeh pretty much in mandarin. just check out any asian travel agent / newspaper – its like on every second page.
yeh just ditch him HAHAHAHAHA. though even if he cant understand its not such a big deal. although there is surcharge for non-asians though, not sure how much