Ancient towns and shanty farms

Our trip to Hangzhou returned two and a half hours later than planned. I was supposed to meet Max and ToBen on the ship to spend the rest of my days with them, but because we were late I missed out meeting. I called Max and wanted to meet up with them, but I knew it would be difficult in this large city. In retrospect, I wish I had tried harder because I'm sure we would have worked out a spot to meet and I think the rest of my time in China would have been much more fulfilling had I been with them. Oh well though, I still had a great time and I proved to myself that I'm fully capable at traveling solo.
        Once I realized I'd lost my crew, I just tagged along with Colette and her friends for the evening. We stayed at a hostel in the Bund that was really more like a hotel, except the rooms were really cheap. I was in a dorm and it was only $8/night! Colette, Aleeza and Kristina stayed in a family room that looked just like a hotel. It even had towels imprinted with their logo for christ's sake! Totally unlike any hostel I've ever stayed in.
        Colette and I went to the top of the Jin Mao Tower (to the 87th floor) to check out the city scape. There's a bar there called Cloud 9 that is very swanky and provides great views (the view is the only reason we went). It was interesting seeing everything lit up, but I didn't really care that much. The Pearl Tower is very colorful and there are light shows on most of the buildings. Basically, the whole city looked like a rave. I'm just not that impressed by flashy lights and big buildings. I want to experience culture far more. Nonetheless, Colette and I had some good conversation and it was nice to bond with another woman because so far I've made few female friends.
        In the morning, the girls had to figure out how to get their train tickets. I didn't really want to tag along especially since everyone was stressing out, so I decided to trek out on my own. I booked a flight to Guangzhou through the travel desk at the hostel. While doing so this guy from New York (who was just checking in) stopped to talk to me and see what I was doing for the day. He had just arrived and had no idea what to do in Shanghai so I invited him to come to the Science and Technology Museum with me. Apparently he was here to start a business. We went to the museum, which was fun. They had lots of great exhibits! But I could tell his sense of curiosity wasn't nearly as strong as mine and he had this sort of “I already know it all” mentality and he would just rush through the exhibits while I wanted to take the time to really enjoy them.
        They had a great exhibit on wildlife habitats with life-sized recreations of the animals. The evolution of our understanding of matter was my favorite exhibit. Much of the information I had learned in my classes, but it was great to see it all laid out in a simple, concise manner. Plus, they had recreations of the actual experiments done to detect sub-atomic particles, which gives more of an insight into the creative process occurring in the minds of the scientists! They had a recreation of Thomson's Cathode Ray Tube, in which he placed a magnet near the ray and it bent the ray! This proved the existence of the electron and that it was indeed electrically charged particles that moved from one plate to the other. They also showed Rutherford's Gold Foil experiment, where he shot a ray of alpha particles (given off by a radioactive source) at a piece of gold foil and was shocked to find that some bounced back! Previously, it was thought that the atom was a ball of equal distributed charge and they particles should pass right through the foil. The fact that most passed through while some bounced back showed that the atom was actually mostly empty space with the positive charge concentrated in the center (the nucleus). I know this probably bores most of you, but these are the building blocks of the entire world around you! I find it fascinating to learn the experiments, the expectations and outcomes and then how the creative mind of scientist works its way around the issues and questions raised. But I guess that's why I'm studying science...
        There were also exhibits on cloning plant for food production, bioengineering more stable and productive plants. Even making ones that are tolerant of salt water! This could be very helpful since fresh water resources are limited and we all need to eat. Certain plants are naturally tolerant to salt water and scientists have isolated that gene and transmitted it to regular plants.
        So then we returned to the hostel and met up with the girls and went to the French Concession for dinner. We ordered way more food than we realized! Sichwan-style bullfrog, spicy crab, fried fish and some kind of mushroom dish. It was all delicious! The crab was a little difficult to eat, however, and it was VERY spicy! As we were leaving, we noticed there was a jazz club next door and there was a live band setting up, so we decided to stick around.
        The place was called the Cotton Club and it was clearly set up by foreigners. Everyone spoke English, the band members were foreign, at it had a very European vibe to it. Plus, the fact that it was in the French Concession region is a good sign that it has a European history. The music was nice and soulful but we didn't stay too long because we wanted to be able to get an early start the next day.
        I met with everyone for breakfast, but it was already established that I was starting my solo adventures that day. After eating I headed to the bus station at Shanghai Stadium to try to get a bus to somewhere in the countryside. I was originally thinking of Zhojiajiao, but there were no buses there (at least not through the bus stop I went to, I have a feeling that there were other, cheaper buses but I couldn't figure it out and everywhere people were pointing me to made no sense to me. This was the one place that I found where at least some English was spoken)
        So, I just asked where there were buses to and the woman told me the name of some town I had never heard of. At the time, I had no idea where I was going, I just hoped for the best. The bus left literally 2 minutes after I bought a ticket so I just hoped on and off we went.
        It ended up being an awesome adventure! The bus took me to this small water village called Zhaozhuang. There is an old town there that has been preserved much as it has been for hundreds of years (even a thousand years or so!). The whole place is just small alleyways and tightly packed buildings and canals. There are craftsmen all over the place making traditional crafts such as jade carvings, bamboo flutes, and bricks. There were also many local painters and small canoes that you could travel down the river on. It was a lot like a Chinese Venice. I stopped in small place for a tasty lunch of Wanshan-style roasted pig hoof, apparently the local specialty.
        There were also local fishermen. Some were sitting by the river with the same poles that are commonly seen. The farms also had fishing nets set up offshore to catch fish. There was a group of women sewing these nets in what seems to be the traditional manner.
        Some parts of it felt very touristy, especially the interior of Guanfu Temple temple. It was originally built in 1086, but everything inside felt very new. It was  filled with electronic lights and gadgets instead of traditional candles and incense; it felt very fake. Also, the statues were clearly painted gold-color and were rather tacky. At first, I didn't want to take pictures because I feel it is inappropriate (and often forbidden) to do so in a temple, but this didn't feel in any way like a real temple to me so I started to take pictures. The Daoist temple across the way was more enjoyable and less gotti.
        All the ponds and bridges were amazingly beautiful!
        “Zhouzhuang is surrounded and divided by lakes and rivers. Many stone bridges cross the rivers, showing distinctive views of the water-town. The Twin Bridges, which comprise of Shide Bridge and Yongan Bridge, are the most famous and are considered the symbol of Zhouzhuang. Built in the Wanli era (1573-1619) of the Ming Dynasty, the Twin Bridges are located in the northeast of the town. Shide Bridge is east-west and has a round arch, while Yongan Bridge is north-south and has a square arch. Crossing the two crisscross rivers (Yinzi Creek and Nabeishi River) and connecting at the middle, the Twin Bridges look like an old-style Chinese key.“
        Lots of people stopped me to take pictures of me. Clearly I am an anomaly in China, especially with my blond hair.
        Just outside of this area I could see some small family farms, so I made my way out there to walk around for a little while. I have to admit, it smelled pretty foul, like animal manure of all kinds and dying god-knows-what. I could hear the sounds of screaming animals. There were chickens and ducks and pigs all running around in their pens. I can guarantee, however, that these conditions are cleaner that most of the industrial meat facilities in the US. But I'm sure China has those kinds of things as well, or they must import meat from the US. Meat is far too common in all of their dishes for it all to come from small farms like the ones I saw. The contrast between the beautiful town preserved for tourists and the shanty farms just outside was interesting to observe.
        I had to return to catch the bus at 16:15 and was back at the hostel around 8. I read for a little but called it an early night, particularly because I wasn't feeling very well, I must have ate something that didn't sit well with me. In the morning I awoke and began my trip to Guangzhou