Three Weekend Trips From Shanghai – Episode 227

categories: asia travel

around-shanghai

The Amateur Traveler talks to Lee from Atlanta about side trips that you can take when you travel to Shanghai this year for Expo 2010.

Lee is currently living in China and talks about 3 different weekend trips to destinations that are located near Shanghai.

Lee starts us in the history-rich city of Nanjing the site of “China’s Holocaust” in WW 2. Nanjing has been the capital for 6 different Chinese governments and still retains its ancient walls in addition to modern shopping and the tomb of Sun Yat-sen. It was also the location of the world’s worst civil war, the Taiping Rebellion.

After Nanjing, we explore the many gardens and the canals of Suzhou. Finally, Lee takes us to Hangzhou with its beautiful West Lake which the Chinese compare to heaven.


right click here to download (mp3)
right click here to download (iTunes enhanced)



Booking.com

Show Notes

Expo 2010 Shanghai China
Travel to Shanghai, China – Episode 26

Nanjing
Nanjing, China
Nanking Massacre
John Rabe – a German businessman and Nazi party member who is best known for his efforts to stop the atrocities of the Japanese army during the Nanking Occupation
Sun Yat-sen – “Father of the Chinese Nation”
Ming Dynasty
Cheongsam or Qipao – traditional Chinese dress
Taiping Rebellion – largest civil war in history started by Hong Xiuquan who declared himself the brother of Jesus.

Restaurants
Skyway Bakery and Deli
Les 5 Sens
Tairyo Teppanyaki

Suzhou
Gardens – Master of the Nets, Lion’s Forest, Humble Administrator
Mingtown Suzhou International Youth Hostel

Hangzhou
Tea Museum
A History of Chinese in California
Braised Pork Belly – Hangzhou Dongpo Pork
Sweet and Sour Pork Recipe
Wushanyi International Youth Hostel

Shanghai
Captain Youth Hostel

News

Spirit Air to experiment with carry-on bag fees
Airlines losing 3000 bags – every hour of every day
Women try to smuggle dead relative onto flight
Paying to use the plane potty?
Ky. Judge Rules in Favor of Online Travel Sites

Community

Egypt Photo Tour
Amateur Traveler Newsletter
Does Amateur Traveler work for you at work?

Traveling Soon? These useful links will help you prepare for your trip.
Share this:
Chris Christensen

by Chris Christensen

Chris Christensen is the creator of the Amateur Traveler blog and podcast. He has been a travel creator since 2005 and has won awards including being named the "Best Independent Travel Journalist" by Travel+Leisure Magazine.

11 Responses to “Three Weekend Trips From Shanghai – Episode 227”

tom lohrmann

Says:

Access site just great from work.

love the show.

Keep up the good work.

andrew

Says:

I can get to Amateur Traveler website from work, http://www.ftpsllc.com I know in the past some of our corporate filters would not allow websites with the word ‘podcast’ in them.

chris2x

Says:

Weird, I have not seen filters for podcast before. Huh.

Josh

Says:

Another great show. Unfortunately, I am one of the ones that can’t access the site from work (a city fire department). For me, it’s not the end of the world. I have episodes on my iPod and if I want to take a look at the site I just wait till I get home.

chris2x

Says:

Do you know what about it is blocked? Is because it has “amateur” or “podcast” or something else?

Sam

Says:

Able to load at work.

Chase Henderson

Says:

Loaded fine for me. I’m surprised it wasn’t blocked actually. (This may change next week.) Not because of any keywords, but our firewall keeps out blogs in general.

Alberto Mangones

Says:

Great show!
The site works just fine for me. I have “Websense” as a filter program.

Agagooga

Says:

Around 15:27 you showed a picture of a train speedometer going up to 431 km/h.

While the train from Shanghai to Suzhou is quite fast, it isn’t *quite* that fast – that honour belongs to the Maglev which takes you from the airport to the outskirts of Shanghai!

Agagooga

Says:

More stuff to add:

1) Suzhou is traditionally famous in China for its beautiful women
2) There’re many interesting sights around the West Lake in Hangzhou, though your guest mostly talked about the scenery

It’s quite surreal: on one shore of the lake is the modern city, and around the rest of it is the ancient buildings.

Kathy

Says:

I spent a couple of nights in Hangzhou and Suzhou – haven’t made it to Nanjing yet. A few additions:

Hangzhou – a boat trip to the islands in the lake is definitely worthwhile
– I took a bus to Lingyin Si, the Temple of Inspired Seclusion, big, with elaborately decorated statues, and a huge pavilion housing imaginative statues of the arhats.
– I was there on National Day and the town was absolutely packed with Chinese tourists – if you want a quiet time probably better to go mid-week on a non-holiday week

Suzhou – there are several gardens to choose from – I found the Humble Administrator’s too big and not as interesting as the Garden for Lingering and Master of the Nets, or even the less-famous Yi Yuan and Canling Ting
– When I was there the Master of Nets was open in the evening, with performances of Chinese music and dance. Rather touristy, but the garden was magical at night.
– I particularly enjoyed visiting the Museum of Embroidery – not really a museum, but a workroom with women doing silk embroidery that looked like paintings. The Silk Factory can be skipped if you’ve seen silk production elsewhere.
– I found the bus system in Suzhou particularly easy to use, as the stops on the main street had maps.

Leave a Reply

Tags: , , , ,