The next day in Shanghai wasn't in Shanghai at all. We ventured out towards Suzhou, a city you've probably never heard of. But nevertheless, it's been described as "The Venice of Asia", which oddly enough has been applied to Bangkok as well. Whereas Bangkok does use the rivers and canals for transportation, for Suzhou, it's pretty much just for tourists. The upside then, is that it's kept pretty clean. Anyway, after a quick train ride, we got out at Suzhou station and saw... snow! Wow! I've not seen snow in probably 6 years, so I had to build a little snowman to celebrate. The first stop was at Beisi Pagoda. A little temple with a big pagoda, it's pretty but overall forgettable.

We walked towards the Administrator's Garden, which I know sounds boring, but is reportedly one of the most beautiful gardens in China. Especially with the snow, I thought it would be really pretty. So did the rest of China, because ohhhhhhhh myyyyy gooooood. The line was bonkers, and probably would be a 3 or 4 hour wait. In the snow. Just... no. Why would anyone do that? Like, even if you came from the other side of the country, there are other gardens. Yes I'm sure it's pretty, but it's not like this is some world famous landmark. I don't get it, especially because Chinese people suck at lining up. It's not an orderly, 3 or 4 hour queue. It's a disorderly 3 or 4 hour battle to push to the front.

No. A million times no. I would rather walk back to Shanghai.

Instead we went through Pingjiang Road, the walking area of the town, which was quite pretty. We had a snack of crab balls (crab meat in ball form, fried... I think), before stopping at a restaurant I had heard about. This restaurant has a bit of a reputation, for being older than America is a country and serving the best squirrel fish in the city. Squirrel fish is a Suzhou specialty, or so I am told, that's sort of a diced and fried fish, laid out in such a way to look like a squirrel's tail. I... guess it does? Sort of? Anyway, it's basically sweet and sour fried fish, which I mean, you can't go wrong. Combined with eggplant, which has constantly been mom and dad's favorite food on this whole trip. I gotta agree, China does eggplant right. America has been utterly defeated in the eggplant war.

After numerous shops and photo taking, we took the metro over to another canal at Shantang Street. This one was a little more picturesque, in that the canal actually ran through the buildings, serving as a kind of street, and not just something for tourists - although it was that too. But honestly, that's about it for Suzhou. We just walked around, took photos, shopped, and ate. Nothing wrong with that.

Back in Shanghai for the last full day, there were some odds and ends to clear up. We began at Jingan Temple, maybe the most impressive in scale of the Buddhist temples I've seen. But because it was Chinese New Year, they were charging insane admission - 100 yuan. Even their regular fee of 50 is nuts. I mean, this is a temple. IMO if you're not letting poor people into your religion, you're doing religion wrong. Maybe one day we'll go, because it is an impressive building. But the extortionate pricing doesn't sit well with me.

Continuing the religious theme, the next few places were churches. Something Ella really digs, the best one was probably Xujiahui Cathedral, which is HQ of the Diocese of Shanghai. It's a really pretty building, and they were giving out flyers of stuff to do in that district. It's a bit out of downtown, so I was a bit surprised at how much there was to do around there. Nice of them to do that, and I'm sure one day we'll be back and have a chance to explore the area.

Maybe a combination of Ella fighting a cold, but at that point the two of us were exhausted. We went back to the hotel for a nap, something I hardly ever do, to get ready for the evening. We had booked a cruise up and down the river, which, is something only tourists would do in the middle of winter. It was cold for sure, but that also made the air much clearer. We got some pretty great views of the skyline at night. Ella said she liked it more than Hong Kong. I admit it's good, but I don't know - I still maintain The Peak at night is the most beautiful place in the world.

And for mom and dad, that was it for Shanghai. The next morning, we took them to the airport. Ella and I had a flight that evening, so we had some more time. Still exhausted, we tried to do the Art Museum - closed for CNY. There was a pedestrian area I had heard about called Tianzifang. As soon as I walked in, I remembered "OH, I've been here and love it!" It's a network of alleys filled with coffee shops, boutique stores, and bars. A bit touristy, but nonetheless pretty, it's too bad mom and dad didn't get to see it. It's a great part of town, provided you're not claustrophobic, because the side alleys are quite narrow. But it makes for neat photos, anyway.

We had thought about going to another art museum, but at this point, after weeks of constant traveling... we had both had it. We went to the airport very early, and just sort of decompressed from a crazy whirlwind of a holiday. Back here in Guangzhou, I have a newfound appreciation for Shanghai. I like it there. It's much more international, which is odd considering Guangzhou's history as the only port open to the west. But times have changed, and maybe we'll change too - who knows, next year we may be calling Shanghai home.

Last time, I talked about how my first year in China was kind of a blur - how I was so focused on trying to live a new life and a brand new job, I didn't really have time to stop and "smell the roses", so to speak. So despite coming to Shanghai nearly a dozen times, this was the first time I actually felt like I got to see the city. We had a few days to explore, which honestly is enough to get almost everything. There are a few other sites here and there, so perhaps four or five days are warranted if you're on a holiday and a bit more leisurely. Instead, we took some time for a detour to Suzhou - finally, a place I had never been!

To start off our half day, we went to the Shanghai Zoo. It's pretty nice overall, but the main draw was that dad wanted to see a panda. I've seen them before in Taipei, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou, but I can understand the appeal. Those stupid bears are pretty cute, despite being really dumb. This time, a fully grown one was sitting on top of a throne of bamboo, surrounded by piles of leaves that he was just going to town on. This is the most I've seen one move, as honestly they just sort of sit there most of the time. He was pretty funny in selecting the leaves he liked, and would just toss the ones he didn't like to the side. If you said it was a guy in a bear suit I may have believed you, because they're quite good with their hands. Ella and I talked about a famous video online of baby pandas causing a big ruckus for their zoo keepers, so here it is in case you haven't seen it (and you really should).

My favorite though, were the monkeys. You know all those signs at zoos that say "Don't feed the animals"? Well, if you've ever been to a Chinese train station in the countryside, you should know rules mean nothing here. People threw oranges to the monkeys, who were no stranger to the idea, catching them right out of the air and peeling them in a flash. It was pretty cute, especially when one thought they were being delivered too slowly - he stuck both arms out of the cage towards the guy, and began clapping. I guess I should at least be happy that people are feeding them oranges and not potato chips or something. I don't know a lot about monkey nutrition, but I have to imagine oranges are pretty good for them overall.

But to start off full day one, we went to Yu Garden. This is a famous place in Shanghai, a really pretty garden surrounded by a temple and, you guessed it, lots of traditional style buildings, snacks, and souvenirs. Also, again, because Chinese New Year, it was packed. We sort of navigated the crowd, and just looked and took lots of photos. The garden itself was much quieter, given that you needed to pay to enter. We also looked at the City God's temple, a common thing in China. A lot of cities have their own gods. Does your city have a god? Didn't think so. Ella found a cat there, which would be the first of many that day. A maintenance worker said that she bites, but Ella is half cat, so I think there was a connection there.

After we took the ferry across the river, and took a look at some skyscrapers. Specifically the Shanghai Tower, which did not exist last time I was here. That building is damn tall. I thought it was the 3rd highest in the world, but it's actually the 2nd. We talked about going up, but the past few days had been rainy - there wouldn't be much to see. It's actually the worlds highest observation deck, since the Burj Khalifa doesn't put theirs at the top for some reason. Anyway, maybe one day, if Ella and I wind up moving there.

But there's something near the Shanghai Tower that is far more impressive, believe it or not. Tall buildings, pfft, those are everywhere in China. But just down the road is something unique, and only one exists in China. In fact, up until last week, you had to travel to another country just to experience it. The amazing, the majestic...

Taco Bell.

Yes, pick your jaw up off the ground. This is the only Taco Bell in China, and aside from the ones on American military bases, one of the only ones in Asia besides Manila and recently, Bangkok. It was everything I had hoped for and more, because they had beer and mojitos. I really wish America would lighten up on their alcohol rules, because Taco Bell mojitos are actually really good. There's virtually no alcohol in them, but it was one of the tastiest drinks I've ever had.

Alright, we saw the Pearl Tower too. I guess that was impressive. After, we went back across the river with the Bund sightseeing tunnel. I wasn't sure if I had done this before, but after we got on, I was like "Yup, definitely been here." The Bund tunnel is weird, ya'll. It's like, this little aiport terminal shuttle that goes through a tunnel, accompanied by nonsense English words and lights. I would say you need to be high to experience it, but I think the people who made it were already high. It certainly is a unique way of crossing the river, but eh, I'll stick with the metro.

We braved the crowds in Nanjing Road before calling it a day, and heading back to our hotel - which was near a place called Foreigner Street, actually. While mostly closed, the Shanghai Brewery was open. This place... Ella and I like this place. I mean, first, outside were four cats, who were very friendly. But also, their IPA is probably the best IPA I've ever had. Like honestly, China is probably the last place I'd expect good craft beer, but it shocked me with how good it was. And they had German, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and American food. Usually you'd expect a weird mix to not be great at any one thing, but honestly, all four of our meals were super good. Shanghai Brewery - you're doing stuff right.

Day two in Shanghai was much more chill, in that we only went to three places. The Shanghai Museum was at the top of the list, which had a crazy line to get in. We arrived about 20 minutes before it opened, and waited maybe 45 minutes. But we saw the line getting longer and longer, and I'm sure by the end people had to wait 2 or 3 hours. The museum itself... hmm, its alright. A lot of art, which is not usually my thing. The different clothing of ethnic groups was neat. But overall, you're not missing much if you skip it IMO.

Next was the Shanghai History Museum. Now this place is cool. First of all, the building is beautiful. It looks like it was straight from D.C., sort of colonial in style with a lot of white marble and polished wood floors in the exhibits. But also, they had lots of interactive computery stuff for kids and people like me who never grew up. It covers prehistory up until present, and definitely worth your time.

And finally, the Urban Planning Museum. I had been here before, but for some reason never wrote about it in my blog. Anyway, it talks about how Shanghai became the city it is today, along with other Chinese infrastructure projects and a look at the future. The big draw though, is the city model partway through the exhibit. It's an exact replica of the city, building by building, within the inner ring highway. It's about the size of an apartment, and just impressive as heck. I mean, look at this thing... wow.

Anyway, let's cut it here before moving onto the next part of the trip - Suzhou, and the last two days in Shanghai.