Jumani's Travelogue : Shanghai - Yixing - Hangzhou,- Shaoxing

Railway is definitely a better choice when compared to long distance buses. Its not because traveling by bus is uncomfortable or dangerous but railway is cheaper, comfortable, faster and safer. But railway tickets are needed to be booked in advance. Because usually the earliest train is booked and the earliest ticket that we can get is mostly after 2-3 hours.

Booking tickets for train

Buses depart exactly on time.

Inside the train

Platform

Waiting area inside bus station

Yixing

Two hundred kilometers from Shanghai is a small and infamous city of Yixing. It has several tourist sites but normally even Chinese don't know about Yixing. I visited a famous cave in Yixing only and took a two days stay over there.

Before the cave

Cable car 80 Yuan ticket included four activities.

Statue built in olden days

A very big Buddhist temple. Actually a place with many many temples and one grand temple.

Hangzhou

On second day I moved towards Shaoxing and reached Hangzhou which is a big city and very famous among tourists. They call Hangzhou and Suzhou as heaven on earth. While I reached Hangzhou at 8 pm, I came to know that there was no bus to Shaoxing. It was quite a adventurous situation as no one could understand english and there was no guidance at all about where to spend night. I had no accommodation and wasn't wanting to afford an expensive hotel. I called a CSer who was supposed to host me in Shaoxing. Luckily he was on his way to Hangzhou and invited me to surf with him in Hangzhou at that time.

They were bunch of cool guys and I stayed with them that night. We had awesome having street food, watching movie at their home, talking, exchanging knowledge. It literally felt like we had been old friends.

Having street food

Getting her make halal foof

Having fun at home

Next day me and my host, Nenad, went to west lake which is one of the most famous sites in Hangzhou. It was extremely beautiful place although with some artificial beauty and efforts to make it more beautiful and comfortable for tourist. But still its a must visit place in Hanghzou.

West lake, Hangzhou

Pagoda

West lake, Hangzhou

West lake, Hangzhou.

Yiwu

In Yiwu, I was received, entertained, hosted and guided by a very nice person named Claude. We had a party with his friends on the night I reached Yiwu. I always wanted to see Yiwu's big and very famous Futian market where shopkeepers mostly don't understand english and still conduct millions of dollars of business everyday. Sometimes people talk business and bargain with the help of calculator only. As there's no verbal communication possible in english.

With my host in Yiwu

Suzhou

One of the most beautiful cities in China and very close to Shanghai, Suzhou is very famous for its gardens and temples. One of its famous street in Ping Jiang Lu where I stayed with my hosts as well as in hostel for a day. I visited a famous lake and Ping Jiang Lu in Suzhou and couldn't explore more as it was raining all the time with very cold weather. This is, like Hangzhou, is said to be heaven on earth.

For people who like adventure like me, can rent a bicycle from hostel or any where for as cheap as 2 Yuan/hour and go for exploring Suzhou on bicycle. Its fun exploring city and having different kinds of food on streets.

Construction in progress near lake

Suzhou lake

My hosts in Suzhou were a Polish couple who lived on Ping Jiang Lu in a well decorated house and who had a separate room for guests. As their house was on Ping Jiang Lu, there was no point of getting bored.