Little Pebble

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10.17.07 (Suzhou) - Mom, Eric, and I took a short train ride and spent the day in Suzhou. After arriving there, we waited in line for a little while for a taxi and went to Tiger Hill. The area has a number of historic sites, including a pagoda that has become known as China's Leaning Tower. We happened across a performance on our way up to the top of the hill (see video). After lunch, we went to Lion Grove Garden, one of the top four gardens in Suzhou. For more info about this garden, click here.

10.14.07 (Temple of Heaven) - Our last morning in Beijing, we had some time on our own to do what we wanted before going to the airport in the afternoon. We took a taxi to Tian Tan Gong Yuan (Temple of Heaven). It was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven. We bought a through ticket, which allowed us into all the different parts of the park. It was a pleasant morning and we enjoyed seeing the locals participating in all different types of recreation - dancing, singing, writing on the ground with a water brush, etc. My brother even joined a group of people who were playing Chinese Hacky Sack for a while.

10.13.07 (Market and Acrobats) - We spent the afternoon at a marketplace that had handiworks and goods from all over China. We negotiated for and bought a few different things and then took a break at a nearby cafe. The first video is of the "Bird's Nest," built for the 2008 Olympics. The second video is a traditional Chinese acrobat show. They performed some amazing feats!

10.13.07 (Forbidden City) - The first few pictures in this group are at Tian'anmen Square. There were special flower arrangements in honor of the 2008 Olympics. The thing that was most impressive to me about the square and the Forbidden City was how enormous the places are. We walked through the middle part of the city, with our guide telling us about some of the history of the place as we went along.

10.12.07 (Summer Palace) - In the afternoon, we went to the Summer Palace. The gardens that became the Summer Palace date from the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) and was continuously added to by succeeding emperors. We walked through and along the Long Corridor, the longest of its kind not only in China but also in the world. It features more than 14,000 pictures of landscapes, flowers, birds, and stories on its beams and ceilings. We rode the dragon boat on the lake for a different perspective of the grounds.

10.12.07 (Great Wall) - Mom, Eric, Brian and I went to Beijing for a few days over the weekend. It was a fun trip and we saw and did a lot in a short amount of time. We went to the Great Wall in the morning and it was a beautiful day to be there. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

10.07.07 (Night on the town) - Mom and Eric are here visiting for a couple of weeks. We took the subway to People's Square and walked the length of Nanjing Road. It is a pedestrian only street (very crowded at night) for part of the way. At night, this is the "Time Square" of Shanghai. Nanjing Road ends at the river at an area known as The Bund. We took the Bund Light Tunnel ride under the river to the other side and went to the top of the Pearl Tower.

08.19.07 (Play Time in Suzhou) - Brian and I spent the day in Suzhou with some friends and their two boys. We took a train from the Shanghai Station and arrived in Suzhou within an hour. We went to the Suzhou Museum (click here), which architect I. M. Pei designed. He is well known for the "Pyramide du Louvre" in Paris. We enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant. A short while was spent at our friends apartment, in order to cool off and rest before going back into the heat. There was a park nearby with fun activities for both kids and adults. The landscaping was very nice and it was a good break from big city living.

08.04.07 (Our First Guest ) - Joanna flew in from S. Korea to visit us for a few days. We saw a few different sights and did a fair amount of shopping (always bargaining for good prices of course). The first couple of pictures are at a local Chinese Restaurant chain called "Yi Cha Yi Zuo" (One Tea One Seat). It is a place we frequent often. The next few pics are at the Shanghai Aquarium. There's currently an exhibit called "Dangerous Creatures" that we went to check out. We spent a morning in "Old Shanghai" and visited the Yu Gardens (see 06.26.07 entry). Lastly, there's a video of our trip on the Maglev. It goes from Line 2 directly to the Pudong Int'l Airport and we've found it to be the quickest way. It had the top speed of 430 km/hr (267 miles/hr) when we were on it! It is able to move so quickly because it is levitating off of the track via a magnetic field (thus the name).

07.21.07 (Neighborhood) - The top four pictures are various shots of the grounds of our apartment complex. In the mornings, and evenings, music is pumped through speakers that are well hidden in the plastic mushrooms. The street sign is the road we live on. The next two pictures are at Hongqiao Park, a ten minute walk from our place. The bottom right is a short video compilation of various points of interest near and around our apartment.

07.15.07 (Scooter) - Here are some pictures and videos of our electric scooter. One of these videos is shot while riding the scooter around our neighborhood. Don't worry, I didn't drive and shoot the video at the same time. Jess drove while I rode on the back. It does not have a tremendous top speed, but there are very few places in Shanghai where you can go all that fast anyway. After we're done riding, we park it in the basement below our apartment. We bring the battery upstairs (heavy) and charge it right out of the AC from the wall. It's really quite fun and I'd love to see if we can get it home somehow.

07.08.07 (Night View) - One of the cool parts about living in a city as big as Shanghai is that the view at night can be pretty cool. This is a short video of what we see from our apartment after the sun goes down. This video is shot from our kitchen window. The dinning room and guest bedroom also have the same view.

06.26.07 (Yu Gardens, "Garden of Joy") - Today I (Jess) took time to tour Old Shanghai a little with a visit to the gardens. It was a beautiful place with pools churning with koi, bonsais, bamboo, and rock formations conjuring up images of mountains. The gardens were founded during the Ming dynasty. The following website has more information on the history of the gardens: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shanghai/yuyuan_garden.htm. One of the key features of the gardens is the "Exquisite Jade Rock," which was destined for the imperial court in Beijing until the boat sank outside of Shanghai. Another interesting feature is the dragon wall. The dragon has four claws and not five like an imperial dragon, so as not to incur the emperor's wrath.

06.18.07 (Tour) - Well, it's taken some time and effort, but here we are in Shanghai. Here is a video tour of our apartment. After a little over two months it's starting to feel like home. With the arrival of our stuff and some good decorating by Jess, we felt now would be a good time to show our family and friends back home our China dwelling. We will try harder in the future to post more videos and pictures of our adventures here in a more timely manner. Thanks for being patient w/ us and allowing us to share our lives w/ you. To everyone back home, we miss all of you !