China, the Zhujiajiao Post

[przed]

Well, here I am, at the last China post. On our last day in China, we visited Zhujiajiao, one of the canal cities found outside of Shanghai. The weather had cleared up, and we had a glorious sunny day in the town.

Here are all three of us on the bridge that takes you into the main, touristy part of the town. It's very touristy, lots of restaurants and stalls selling souvenirs, but a very cool place anyway. I got a nifty sandalwood carving of bats for our entryway. (Bat is a homophone for prosperity in Chinese, so bats frequently show up in Chinese art.)


One of the smaller canals in the inner part of the city. You can see cherry blossoms on the left, and the small boats that you could take small tours on.


Another view of a canal from one of the many bridges.


The Sweetie and Ros in front of a magnolia tree in the Kezhi Garden, a sprawling garden that wasn't as impressively designed as the Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai, but was lovely nonetheless.


A water feature in the garden.


Ros in front of a water buffalo sculpture. We saw plenty of water buffalo on the trip, but generally from a distance.


Ros and the Sweetie engage in ritual arm wrestling combat again.


We took a short tour on one of small boats. This was the view from the canal.


Another shot from the canal.


Me and Ros on yet another bridge. You can see the panda purse she got in Chengdu that she then proceeded to take everywhere.


From Zhujiajiao, we drove straight to the airport and then it was home to Toronto.

Comments

[asilia.livejournal.com]

Again, loving the pics! Glad you had such a good trip! And that panda purse is adorable :)

[przed.livejournal.com]

The panda purse is pretty awesome, isn't it. She totally didn't need another purse, but neither of us could resist that one.

In non-China related news, new Markie music soon!!!

[halotolerant.livejournal.com]

one of the canal cities
There's more than one? Wow. Oh goodness I really must go there some day... Thank you for sharing more lovely pictures and letting us have your vacation vicariously! *g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

There are a number of water towns in the area. It's a very cool area. If you ever do go, I'd recommend Shanghai and area over Beijing.

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

More lovely pictures.

Ros is such a smiley little girl.

What a gorgeous panda purse.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Ros is definitely smiley. When she wants to be. ;-)

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

That was a lovely ending to our virtual trip! What a beautiful place! Toronto must have seemed quite strange after all that time in China.
Thank you so much for sharing it all with us.

And btw, we still haven't seen Ros's shoes. Maybe a post with those and your bats?

[przed.livejournal.com]

It was a nice ending to our trip to, not to much pressure to do much, just walk around a really lovely area. Getting back to Toronto was a bit strange, but also kind of a relief, not having to negotiate the language difference, differing cultural expectations and "interesting" toilets every day.

I forgot about the shoes! Shall try and get up a mini "things wot we bought" post later this week.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

What a lovely town! It's a part of China I think one tends to think no longer exists. I'm glad to see it does.

And what a great trip you had!

[przed.livejournal.com]

A lot of historical China has been knocked down, but there's still a lot of it left. Thankfully.

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

These have been wonderful. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!

[przed.livejournal.com]

It's been fun to share it!

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing your fabulous trip. It looks like you all had a great time. Love that little purse!

[przed.livejournal.com]

It's been fun to re-visit it. (The purse is undeniably fab!)

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting the photos. you all look like you're having a great time!

[przed.livejournal.com]

It was a nice end to the trip.

Just over three weeks to MWC!

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Ooh, a canal city! I love canals. I love the views from the canal, with the up-turning roofs.

What a gorgeous, wonderful trip for your family! Ros looks like she was enjoying everything so much--as were you all. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I had no idea these town existed, so it was a really lovely discovery.

We all had a great time, and this was a nice, relaxing final day for the trip. It's been fun sharing it!

[rangerke.livejournal.com]

I'm going to miss these posts! What a beautiful place to end your travels. Thanks for letting us enjoy this trip with you!

I can't help but mention this: how amazing is Mark's artwork and the fact that there will definitely be new music very soon?!!! I'm already freaking out a bit :p

[przed.livejournal.com]

It was a great final day to the trip. So glad you could enjoy it with me!

Mark's artwork *is* amazing, isn't it? Very, very him. And I'm freaking out a bit about the new music too! Friday! Can't wait! (I need to do a Markie post this week, clearly.)

[sunshine-2525.livejournal.com]

Lovely pictures again! It looks like a beautiful place. Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us and showing us all these different parts of China.

Also, looking forward to your Markie post *g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your lovely comments.

And I guess I really have to do a Markie post now, huh? (Not that it will be a hardship. *g*)

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

I've enjoyed all of your travel posts - gorgeous scenery and you all look like you're having a wonderful time. :-)

[przed.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the comments. It was a fab trip.

Are you coming to MediaWest this year?

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

I've just spent a lovely chunk of my lunch break looking back through all you China trip photos.

It looks like it was a fantastic trip and that you got to see quite a bit given the time frame.

[przed.livejournal.com]

It was very much a go go go sort of trip. The next time we'll visit fewer places and take our time a bit, but this one was a fantastic overview of the country.

[cyanne]

I've really enjoyed all of the pictures and your descriptions, so glad that you all got to go and had such a good time.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed the pics!

So, are you going to be at MW this year? Hope to see you there!

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

I've just returned from a trip to China and have enjoyed revisiting your posts!

[przed.livejournal.com]

I'll look forward to seeing what you thought of China.