China trip- more extensive blogging

It's been some time since I came back from China. Here's an account on what happened.

People Count
10 total
4 of us
3 uncles and aunties
3 cousins

Took SQ 801 to Beijing. Only one runway was working so spent a long time queueing up to take off. Reached Beijing at about 3 something pm. Beijing airport still quite the same as 2002. Had to wait for the Air China flight which only arrived about 1 hour later. We got out of the airport at about 5pm and it was dark already. Temperature about 3 degrees Celsius. Heard snowed a little that morning. Went for an acrobatic performance and then had dinner before checking into Jing Guang New World hotel. The room was small but was warm. Had ESPN there so managed to catch some Champions League action. Next three days went to the usual places one would go in China. Watched the famous Wushu performance there which was way cheaper than in Singapore or other places (180 yuan compared to 100 over Sing bucks). Managed to climb up to the fourth tower of the Great Wall, wasn't very tiring or hard. A lot better than the last time I tried to climb (only managed 3 steps). After that we had ice-cream which wouldn't melt. Went to Chengde on the way there. Watched Rob-b-hood during the bus ride there which lasted about between 3 to 4 hours. At Chengde, it was so cold that the inside of the window panes of the bus froze so we did some 'paintings' on the window. We stayed at the best (ironic) hotel in Chengde which was only 4 stars. Big room but the thing that was horrible about it was that the heater wasn't working. And when we called up reception, they only brought blankets. So we slept in almost freezing temperatures through the whole night. Next day went to some place which had the 'Hong(2) Lou(2) Meng(4) ' and 'skated' on the ice (not really skating lah) before visiting some thing which was very similar to that big Tibet red building. Then headed back to Beijing where we watched some lame 'Ju(3) Qi(2) Shou(2) Lai(2)' movie. Went to some swimming pool cum sauna cum hot spring cum dinner cum performance place (sounds like a country club) at night. Stayed at the Great Wall hotel at Juyongguan, just under the Great Wall. Pretty nice rooms and working heater. Managed to catch some Chelsea vs Arsenal action on BTV 6. Third last day went to the Ming Tombs (didn't manage to go into the tomb unlike the 2002 trip)Second last day was spent walking around. Supposed to go Tianjin but was cancelled bue to fog which closed the expressway there. Went to Tong(2) Ren(2) Tang(2), the TCM clinic and then to XiushuiJie for the second time and then some arts street and another small palace garden. The night was wierd, going to some unknown jade and jewellery shop called Jiu(2) Jiu(3) Fu(2) where there was the owner who claimed to be Singaporean and gave us crazy discounts on bracelets and stuff which were supposed to be real (200 yuan for jade necklace, 200 sing bucks for some diamond necklace and bracelet). The last day in Beijing was spent having steamboat for lunch and going to the airport very early and spent 3 hours in the waiting area playing cards. The Air China domestic flight was not bad, had personal television, bigger than SIA's but toggling through the menus was a nightmare and the video and game range was very un-wide. Landed at Shanghai Hongqiao airport where we met up with our friend and then took the 20 seater bus which would be the transport we would use for the next 3 days. Checked into Charms hotel which I thought was the best in all the hotels I have stayed in during this trip and then we took a walk down Nanjing Road. Dinner was freakingly cheap, about 150 yuan (30 bucks) for the 10 of us, and it was those 8 cai(4) 1 tang(1) type of food. The next day was spent at yu(4) yuan(2) where we walked around and ate xiao(2) long(2) bao(1). We ate at the higher class section but not the highest. Then we walked around and bought some Bread Talk there. Then we went to some shopping place which was horrible, bringing us through one small and cramped room to another with all the fake goods inside. Then went to our friend's house for dinner and then went for a walk with then down the Pudong side of the river, looking at the Bund. Next day went to Zhouzhuang where they had people living on the water (shui(3) shang(4) ren(2) jia(1)). Nothing much to see but their food was nice, especially their pork knuckles. Then went back to Shanghai for some shopping which was totally horrible and boring, completely unlike shopping in Beijing. The malls were either dark and crammy and smelly (of smoke), or were new and empty. Then had dinner at some Japanese restaurant in which the shabu-shabu was horrible. Then took the Bund Tourist Underground Tunnel and went up to the second level of Oriental Pearl TV tower. Then took an MRT back to the hotel. Last morning stayed in the hotel playing cards while the adults went to book city (shu cheng). Afternoon was spent ay yu yuan and we ate the xiao long bao for dinner, but this time eating the cheaper one (16 for 10 yuan (2 sing bucks)) and queued up more than 1 hour for it. After that went to Pudong airport very early, about 6 hours before our flight. Took about 1 hour to get to the airport which was about 40 km away from the city centre. Found out that the check in counter was only open 3 hours later so we went to a cafe while my dad and I took the maglev to and fro. It cost 80 yuan for a two way ticket and the ride was a little bumpy and the train didn't go very fast, only about 300km/h, way lower than the fastest speed. At about 9.30pm, we checked in and went into the waiting area where my uncle bought a can of coke for 18 yuan (3.60 sing bucks) from a cafe when about 20 meters further down, there was a vending machine selling the same thing for 8 yuan (1.60 sing bucks). Then we played more cards and waited till 11.40 pm when we entered the plane for our trip back. Spent most of the time sleeping but the Kris flyer on the way back was horrible.
Fun trip

Stuff I did with cousins and brother:
Play cards
Walk and Talk
Imitate Rusell Peters