I started a little late, but headed for the International Cruise Terminal by bus. It was lumchtime and everyone else had had the same idea – to go to Gulangyu island for the afternoon. After I got my ticket I went straight through the security check and sat in the waiting room on the other side, waiting for the ferry to arrive. The ferry to Gulangyu for tourists and non-locals takes around twenty minutes, plus time for boarding. I’m not sure how many people the ferries take at a time, but at an estimate it must be around a million. The crowds stack up immediately around the boarding gate and once the gate opens its a free for all with everyone rushing to get the best seats, dragging children in their wake. The best policy I’ve found so far is just to join in the scrum if you’ve any interest in where you sit, being alert and moving forwards into space wherever you can. If you can’t be bothered with the hassle, just wait until the crush subsides and be prepared to stand for your journey! 
This time. I ended up sitting in an inside cabin, which had screens on the walls showing the veiw. I’d prefer to be outside, but it all gets there so I wasn’t too fussed! 
There was even some blue sky when I got off on Gulangyu. 
I ditched the map again, and wandered vaguely away from the main drags. 
Following the greener paths I came across a grassy area on the edge of the island which was shaded by trees, and sat down to enjoy the quiet. There was hardly anyone around except one person reading a book. It was really relaxing to sit there and listen to the birds, and it’s probably the most quiet I’ve experienced since I arrived. After a while one of the many workers keeping the island tidy appeared with her brush to sweep up the leaf fall. 
I had seen a pottery on my previous visit which had wheels for visitors to try making a pot, and I knew it was somewhere in the commercial district. As I’d wanted to try it and was also getting pretty hungry, I headed in that direction via a coastal path, once again seeing lots of brides and grooms. 
The commercial district is very busy with open-fronted shops and stalls selling hot food, packaged tea and cakes, and souvenirs. It’s often really crowded and people thrust free samples of just about anything at you to get your business. 
My lunch choice, which had two free samples of cured meat dropped in it before I could even move away from the stand! I don’t know what these are made of, but they have a meatball texture and a slight meaty flavour. Very filling and with your choice of fresh chilli oil, ketchup or curry powder. 
A quieter corner of Longtou. 
This stand had a massive queue! I wasn’t sure if they were crepes, omelettes or pancakes but he was really drawing a crowd. Other people from the stand were waiting to take your order and payment to keep the place moving. This district is really fun, but after a while you do want to find some peace and quiet again! Happily, I found my pottery shop at just the right time! It wasn’t too busy, and between them the people working there helped me explain that I wanted to make a pot. The payment process was though a QR code link to a website to which you uploaded pictures of your creation, along with the delivery address, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I started by choosing the shape that I liked best, and then was given an apron and guided through the process of making the pot by an expert. He showed me how to shape the pot and kept everything from disaster – it was really fun to try! 
After the shaping was done he smoothed the surface and cut the pot from the wheel, ready for decorating. I almost didn’t want to put any marks on it as it was so pristine! In the end I settled for some flowers and wrote the place and date on the other side. Finally I was asked to choose a colour for the pot to be glazed. I picked up a ready made pot as well as they were so lovely. It’ll be a while before my pot makes it out of the kiln to Rob’s and then finally home, but I really enjoyed making it! I headed back towards the ferry terminal as it was nearly time to meet Rob for food. You can return to Xiamen island on the five-minute ferry that the locals can take which drops you by Zhongshan Road. I suppose it’s in everyone’s interest to get people off Gulangyu as quickly as possible as it comes under a lot of tourist pressure! I still had some time before meeting Rob, so I took a walk around the Zhongshan Road area. 
Zhongshan Road is pretty fun, and you can avoid most of the salespeople if you want to by walking down the middle of the road as it’s pedestrianised. Again there is lots of tea, cured meat, cakes and souvenirs available, along with the pearl shops where people sit outside hacking open the shells with cleavers. The other noise is the sound of the silversmiths hammering away.
I turned off the main street to find some more street stalls selling all kinds of food, but mostly seafood. This was just as busy as the commercial district on Gulangyu.
I was meeting Rob for food so didn’t buy anything to eat, but I did get a cold mango green tea to tide me over.
Rob and I converged in the same spot in Lianqian after a bus-race which I lost, badly. Still, we headed off to find somewhere to eat.
There was an open plaza with a fairground and massive ship in it nearby. We ended up going to Qin Ai De, a make-your-own noodle soup place, as it required the least language! The fridges are stocked with veggies, meat and seafood, with blocks of dried noodles to choose. You take a big bowl and some tongs, grab what you want and fill up your bowl. This goes on a scale at the counter and you pay by weight.
You can choose the spice level (the only food adjective I’ve learned in Chinese so far aside from delicious) and you get offered other things like minced garlic, sesame seeds and chopped spring onions. You take your seat and the chef then adds stock and cooks your bowl. You get a beautiful bowl of soup! In retrospect we should have perhaps added a little spice, but the soy sauce on the table brightened up the flavours.
We headed to a bar next, and enjoyed a few drinks while watching the kareoke. There was a compere on for a while, who was talking to the audience, encouraging people to sing, and filling in any gaps himself. As the evening drew to a close, we were able to vote for the winner of a trophy and sash!
The noodles were thick and a bit chewy – I couldn’t finish mine! Rob worked out the bus route on his phone and we manage to get to the right spot to go into the main entrance of the botanical gardens. Before we went in we visited this monument commemorating a battle in 1954. We couldn’t translate the inscriptions, though… 
It was all on a very grand scale but there weren’t many other people around. We managed to find the entrance to the gardens after a little bit of searching. The gardens are another highly rated tourist attraction with lots of As to their name. The entry fee was about £4 and we got a free postcard and a map. The place was enormous. 
Rob only had about 4 hours to spend in the gardens, but as neither of us had anything in particular we wanted to see, we decided to ditch the map and just wander. We quickly found ourselves surrounded by greenery, and came across a series of small ponds and streams, with stepping stones and bridges. There were lots of water lillies, and a few kids dipping nets in the water, despite the ‘no fishing’ signs. We continued further and went through a walkway carved into a series of massive boulders, squeezing through the gaps between them before we came out the other side. The paths all started leading upwards, and after a quite a bit of climbing we found a temple. 
The buildings are beautiful and lots of well-cared-for plants and bonsai trees are all around. 
There was another big character carved into the stone here, not as big as the one at Nanputuo, but still huge and painted with gold. 
The temple had its own enormous boulder on the edge of the hill, and a ladder of steps carved into it. Happily there was also a handrail to hold onto! We climbed up and got a nice veiw of the complex. We did think we might be trapped there forever as a family had ambitiously decided to go back down forwards and were running into some difficulties… Rob was keen to go down the ladder quite fast to show them how it was done – he found this easier than he expected! 
We left the temple and carried on up the hill, through a creaking bamboo forest. The sound of the leaves in the wind and the bamboo stalks creaking and knocking into themselves was very eerie! The bamboo was really tall here, easily as tall as a tree. Continuing up the path we found another temple. This one was still under construction, though the main buildings were compete. There was also a statue garden with a lot of charismatic figures captured in marble. 
After we had looked around for a while, we carried on further up and found… You guessed it… More temple. 
This one had a round central part where the god statues were, and was crisscrossed with hundreds of bright striped flags. The monks and the others working there were fixing up more of these flags, and also hanging lanterns and other decorations in preparation for the new year. One group were hanging a metre-diameter lantern high on the corner of the building, and greeted us happily as we went by. 
It was about time for Rob to head off, so we walked back towards the entrance to say goodbye. 
Once he had left, I went off a different way into the gardens, again going uphill. I went up through the vine garden and rainforest, where lots of couples were having their wedding portraits taken in the pretty surroundings. In the rainforest there were lots of ponds and streams as well, no doubt making for the perfect backdrop. These are another highly rated tourist attraction with lots of As to their name. After climbing through the rainforest I came out at the cacti and succulents garden, which was covered in shells and had a huge range of spiky things ranging from the giant to the tiny. There was also a huge mass of red flowers that were being eaten by some tiny green birds about the size of wrens, who darted about quickly from flower to flower performing their acrobatics. At the top of this garden there was a small cafe selling snacks and coconut water, so I treated myself to a sausage on a stick. If it’s not on a stick it’s not worth having. They also had a greenhouse full of more succulents and cacti, as well as tiny ones that appeared to be growing from seed. Coming out of the succulent garden I decided to head for an exit, and as I thought I was mostly up the hill already I opted to go for the exit that lead out through Nanputuo Temple, over the hill and down back towards the University. I followed the signposts back towards the Wulao gate, at the top of Wulao peak. I still had some climbing to do, and I finally got to the top to see the lovely view over the strait, which was clearer than the first time I’d climbed it from the temple side. Decending via the staircases on the other side was quicker than climbing, but still, it’s a lot of stairs. I was pleased to get back into the temple complex. As I got back to ground level someone was banging a sort of wooden gong and lots of monks seemed to be busying around going from place to place. Maybe it was time for tea, prayers or a class. After that long day’s walk it was time to find a bus and head home. The bus takes about 45 minutes and costs about 10p for a ride. You don’t get a ticket, you just pay in the box when you jump on. About halfway through the ride I spotted a shop advertising my favourite style of dumplings – steamed bread ones, so I jumped off and got some with the help of my translation app. I also treated myself to a bottle of Qoo, orange flavour. By the time I got home I was ready to eat.
Most people could collect their tickets from machines by scanning their ID card, but as mine are linked to my passport I had to go to the counter. After waiting in the huge queue of people wanting to change tickets, I got to the front and got served. With a bit of help from my Baidu Translate app and a lot of help from context, I soon had my tickets in hand. Finally, I sought out a taxi and arrived at my hotel, which was spectacular. Normally I go for a pretty cheap place, but I knew I’d be tired so I went a bit more expensive. It was worth every penny. My room was well appointed, very comfortable and clean, and all the staff were very helpful. My room had a view of the train station and airport, which have massive red signs on top like real-life map labels. 
I slept for a few hours, ate my sandwich from Heathrow, freshened up and then headed back out into the city. Hotel staff gave me a map and some advice on where I was going and how to get there. They were keen to book me a taxi but I was ready to brave the ticket machines after my sleep! As it was possible to walk to the subway station at Hongqiao railway station, I decided to go for a wander. The trip to the station took me through a modern mall and office development. It was all huge and shiny but there weren’t too many people around. 
I got to the station and found the ticket machines. Luckily they have an English button, but I didn’t realise you have to select a line and then destination. Someone gave me a hand cheerfully and refused to be thanked. 
The lines are displayed along the bottom, and you select your destination by tapping it on the map. You can show it in English too, but the Chinese version looks cooler. My destination was Lujiazui for the Oriental Pearl, otherwise known as the ball on a stick tower. It’s about half an hour away from Hongqiao on the subway. Before you go down to the train platform there’s a security check like in the airport, with a bag scanner, and the platforms have a barrier between you and the train. There are also guidelines on where to stand on the platform. 
I had to wait ages for the platform to clear before I took pictures. All of the stations I used had multiple exits, leading to different streets and different places. I ended up getting out of Lujiazui into a big shopping mall, and after wandering around there for a little while I asked for directions and found the right exit. Again, the scale of these stations is amazing. I came out of the station to be confronted by downtown Shanghai in all its glory. Even if you’re not a city person, I don’t think you could fail to be impressed by these buildings. It was really cool to see them all lit up at night – some whole buildings were turned into dynamic displays for advertising. 
Shanghai’s defining landmark is the Oriental Pearl tower. The middle ball of the three contains a sightseeing deck as well as a second lower deck with a glass floor. I got a ticket (about £15) and went inside. In contrast to the brand new buildings and Hongqiao, the style of the inside was a little older. It was clearly built with high volumes of tourists in mind, and was decorated for new year. The tower also proudly displays the Chinese government’s highest rating as a tourist attraction. Again there is a security check and plenty of people in smart wool coats and caps to help you. You take the lift up to the observation deck and the view is spectacular. Some of the buildings are now below you, and some still tower above. You can get a full 360 of the city, and can look out over the river and the Bund, a riverside promenade on the other bank which has European style buildings. The full moon was orange and hung over the skyscrapers. The overall effect was like being in a city on another planet! 
The glass floor observation deck is not for the faint hearted, and there are warnings posted ‘banning’ people who are scared of heights, agoraphobics, pregnant women and ‘violent sports’. I did eventually manage to convince myself to go in the glass and look down, but it’s impossible to walk on it and look down at the same time. At least, it was for me… Kids in particular were delighted by their parents’ trepidation. 
I eventually came down and took the subway again (like a pro) just over the river to see the view from afar, and to explore Nanjing Road, famous for its bright lights and food. Most of the shops had open fronts and there were plenty selling souvenirs and snacks. 
I went for the biggest crowd and found kebabs. You could choose from beef or lamb, paid your money and were given a paper bag, proving you’ve paid. Once your stick was ready it was popped through the bag to keep your hands clean. I chatted with a fellow buyer in the queue, and she turned out to be a travel agent from Thailand, in town to sell her newest tours to the Chinese market. 
The meat was tender and a bit fatty, with a mildly spicy and sweet marinade. It was tricky to pull the meat off the stick as some of the pieces were quite well welded on! The other snack that was being sold all along the road was a glass jar of yogurt, sold under signage proclaiming its Shanghai provenance, unique slow fermenting method and health benefits for the elderly. I bought one and stuck it in my bag for later. There were loads of people on Nanjing Road, and everyone looked like they were enjoying the evening and the shopping and food. I walked along as far as the Bund, and was greeted by this unbelievable view of the skyscrapers once I got to the end. 
The full moon and the brightly lit cruise boats were the icing on the cake. It gave me goosebumps to see it in person. I got the subway back to the hotel again, and had my special Shanghai yogurt. It was thick and creamy, not as tangy as plain yogurt at home. When I finished I finally noticed how tired I was, and went to sleep. 
Sun and Cake 