Searching for Magical Moments

April 20

I woke up thinking about my camera and its shattered filter. I knew there had to be a replacement in this large city. I had first checked Google Maps to find camera stores, just I would do if I was travelling in North America or Europe. But that was not a great plan for Xian. All things Google are blocked by the firewall, so there is no incentive nor maybe even a way for local businesses to keep things current with Google. So, even though I was able to access Google Maps using my E-sim data plan, the maps were out of date. I would need help.

We went down to the breakfast buffet. It was not bad. I was happy to find a machine that made lattes. I continued with my new habit of starting with Chinese offerings such as dumplings and steamed buns as a first course. I then looked for cereal, my regular breakfast back in Newfoundland.

Walden was waiting in the lobby. I explained my camera issue and told him that I had to get it fixed before we did anything else. He began making phone calls. Since it was all in Chinese, I was worried that he might not be asking the right questions, but after a few calls Walden announced that he had found a place, and that we would take a bus to get there.

I was expecting to see a retail camera outlet, so I was a bit confused when we went into an office building and took the elevator. Then when I saw that it was a Nikon authorized repair shop, I knew everything would be fine.

The man showed me a new filter. I told him that his price (comparable to what I would expect to pay back home) was okay, and he took my camera into the back. I soon heard noises that suggested my camera’s sensor was getting a necessary cleaning. He came back and took my photo to show that everything was working, which did not surprise me since it was just a new filter.

I then took his.

I paid the bill with Alipay.

We took the bus back to the area of our hotel. We began a short walk to our first stop, the Muslem Quarter. We first walked past the Drum Tower which was erected in 1380 during the Ming Dynasty. It worked in conjunction with the nearby Bell Tower to announce the time.

The walk through the Muslim Quarter was not what I had expected. Yes, there were Muslims, and we did pass by a mosque, but it was mostly just a tour of amazing food outlets.

There were places to get your feet massaged or your ears cleaned. One even had little fish to help (for your feet, not your ears).

We were not able to visit the mosque inside these walls.

On our ride to visit the Xian city wall, we drove along a major road that led to the Bell Tower that sits in the middle of a roundabout. It was built a few years later than the Drum Tower.

We visited Xian on that 1985 trip. The four of us and Po’s cousin took a sleeper train from Beijing to Xian. Here are two photos we took of the Bell Tower at that time. The traffic was made up of bicycles and buses.

Just like the more famous Great Wall, ancient Chinese cities had walls as defense systems. Xian’s is the largest and best preserved. It is almost 14 km in length, 12 meters high and in places 14 meters wide.

These Chinese tourists were listening to a history lesson.

A small museum was built to protect the Tang Hanguang Gate in 2004. These city wall ruins are from the Tang Dynasty, over 1400 years ago.

We took an elevator to the top of the wall. Walden told us to meet him in an hour and left us on our own. We were serenaded while we walked by a recording in both Mandarin and English that gave a brief history of the wall. It might have been interesting, but it was the same short description on repeat. The wall is almost a World Heritage site since it has made it on to the “tentative list”.

It was not crowded. There were cyclists and the usual contingent of ladies in traditional dress.

The wall is fully contained in the city. We looked straight into residential buildings.

This was our view from the wall in 1985.

We were driven back to our hotel. After a brief rest we went out to get something to eat. I had seen the thick noodles being served in the market and decided that I wanted some for lunch. We walked into a small restaurant, and just as we expected, the menu was on the wall and all in Chinese. Po tried to read the characters. I held up my phone to use Google translate. We had little time to choose since the lady wanted our order.

I picked the one shown on the big poster. My noodles last night had been too hot to really enjoy, so I was still trying to confirm what I had been told by our server at our new Chinese noodle restaurant in St. John’s. She had bragged that Xian has the best noodles in China. I needed to find out.

I had my thick noodles. I also got some of Po’s dumplings. Yes, I can believe that Xian has the best noodles. They were wonderful.

Walden came to get us at our hotel, and we were driven to the Da Cien Temple, which was a famous Buddhist sutra translation site during the Tang Dynasty. The highlight of a visit to the temple is the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. Walden asked if we wanted to get our photos taken in Hanfu, the traditional dress of royalty. Po was quick to say no. That gave me the excuse to also opt out.

This is Cousin taking a photo of my mother-in-law in 1985. The flowers on tables were common at all the tourist sites, set up for everyone to get their souvenir photos. This photo credit should go to my mother.

Walden then took us to the most popular coffee outlet in China, luckin coffee. They expect customers to order through their apps. Walden gave me his phone number to finish the setup. I then paid with Ailpay.

Walden said that he had told the other guides about us, this old couple in their 70’s who were taking a tour to tour to Everest Base Camp in Tibet. They all gave us a thumbs up. I had mixed emotions about that. It was great that we impressed people with our active life style, but should we be worried?

It began to rain as we finished. We walked a bit in the drizzle.

'

We passed up the chance to see the area’s light show. It was raining and we were tired. We skipped supper since lunch had been so filling.

It was time to pack again. We had another train to catch in the morning.

April 19

I slept better, but I was still awake by 5 am. I was getting close.

We packed and then went down to breakfast. We were checking out again today. My wife was already complaining about the itinerary. Some people try to spend several days in a city. I keep moving since there are more places to see, more trains to ride.

Zella met us in the lobby. We had a long day of sightseeing ahead before our afternoon train ride. The first stop, the Shaolin Temple, required an hour and a half drive.

The Shaolin Temple, also known as the Shaolin Monestery, is recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddism (which later evolved into Zen Buddhism) and Kung Fu. The temple has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We first passed this Kung Fu demonstration which turned out to be the only Kung Fu that we saw. Since we planned to see a show later, we did not stay long.

This is the Pagoda Forest. The pagodas are erected over the graves of revered monks. The pagodas dimensions are determined by the monk’s status based on his knowledge of Buddhism and virtues during his lifetime.

From there we visited the temple complex. Although it was not as crazy as the day before, it was quite busy.

The Shaolin monks are known for their devotion to the perfection of Shaolin Kung Fu, and a highlight of our visit was to be a Kung Fu Show at the Shaolin Wushu Hall. But when Zella informed us that we would have to go there at least 30 minutes before the start, and then likely sit on the floor, we discussed whether we should skip it. I left that decision up to Po, since she is the one who has been known to binge watch Kung Fu movies. She instead asked about Luoyang’s peonies. Zella told us that it was part of the complex with the White Horse Temple, our final stop. Po chose flowers over martial arts.

We did manage a coffee break.

It took us about an hour to drive to the White Horse Temple.

We went to the peonies first. Zella wanted to take our photo.

I am not the biggest flower fan, but they were beautiful.

There was a clown, and this guy who did not care about the flowers.

There were lots of places to buy food. Zella had told us that she wanted to buy us a hamburger. It was not what I expected. It was shredded meat in a flakey pastry and was quite delicious.

Po had told Zella that she wanted to buy two bracelets, one for her and one for a friend. They spent some time choosing. Then Zella gave her instructions for getting them blessed. Po dutifully did it twice, one for each bracelet.

I do not want to be skeptical about the power of the blessings but will note that Po’s bracelet did not make it home. It came off her wrist one day in Mongolia, likely when she pulled her sweatshirt over her head. Maybe the blessing is working for the person who found it.

The White Horse Temple was established in 68 AD, so over 1900 years ago. It was China’s first Buddhist temple. The main buildings were reconstructed during the Ming and Qing dynasties and after the Cultural Revolution.

Zella took us to the silent tearoom. The tea was free. You just had to keep quiet. Nothing was said about taking selfies.

The International Zone features Indian, Burmese, and Thai Temples.

I was walking behind the ladies when a man tapped me on the shoulder. He wanted a selfie with me. This old white guy was quite popular.

We left the complex. It was time to move on.

Zella escorted us into the train station.

She found us seats and then found us better seats, gave us our gate number, and each a bottle of tea and some snacks. We said goodbye.

We waited patiently for train G1925 which would leave at 5:28 for Xian. These are the fastest of the high-speed trains. People began to move so we got into line on the right side, the “Kind Help” line or my preferred translation, the “Love Channel”. It was always the one with a scanner for passports.

Everything was quite calm and nice until boarding started. Then all the niceties were forgotten as the masses pushed forward.

Po went through, but my passport would not scan. The official just motioned me to the side and let the people pushing from behind go through. She finally turned back to me and asked for a copy of my reservation, the copy that I had luckily asked for two days before. She let me through.

I looked for Po, but she had gone down to the track level, somehow thinking that she might stop the high-speed train from leaving without me. I raced down into the masses and found her.

Luoyang was an intermediate stop on this train from Shanghai to Xian. The train would only stop in Luoyang for a few minutes while some passengers disembarked and the new ones boarded. There were hundreds of them. The passengers leaving the train were walking towards us as we fought through ones boarding at every car. Our first-class car was at the front. We made it with a minute to spare. The train left exactly at 5:28.

It was another amazing train. These first two Chinese trains have been comparable to the best ones I that I took in Europe in 2024. Of course, the European trains, except for the Swiss ones, did not run like clockwork. Another big difference has been the large modern train stations. Compared to all this the North American train system is a joke, a very sad and embarrassing one.

There was an information screen that showed the speed. The highest I saw was 312 km. They gave us another snack which we combined with the tea and snacks provided by Zella. I felt compelled to photograph the windmills which a crazed president tells everyone that China does not use.

It was a short ride, just from 5:28 pm to 7:00 pm. I think we arrived a couple minutes early.

Zella had been communicating with our Xian guide so we knew the meeting place, South Square Meeting Point 1. We needed it. It is a big station. Xianbei was opened in January 2011 to serve high-speed trains and is one the largest stations in China, which makes it one of the largest in the world. It has 18 platforms and 34 tracks.

We wandered a bit before finding the meeting point and a minute later met Walden. He is not your typical guide. Although we ultimately found him to be a conscientious and quite competent guide, we had to step back a bit, literally, as he is a bit loud and aggressive.

We began the long drive into the city from Xianbei. Zella expressed his surprise that we were not visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors. He guessed correctly that we had seen them before.

We arrived at our hotel, the Four Points by Sheraton Xian Bell Tower Hotel, and checked in.

I had my pack sitting on top of Po’s suitcase as we entered the elevator. My camera was inside. It fell off. There was a cracking noise. I tried not to think about it until we got to our room.

Our room was nice. I continued to be pleasantly surprised or maybe just quite satisfied by the quality of our hotels. This one had just been renovated.

There was one funny little exception to the quality. The hotels all seemed to be bit stingy with toilet paper. We were always close to running out when we left the hotels. Perhaps Chinese tourists take the extra rolls?

Everything was automated. The curtains opened when we walked in. It was hard to understand the lights which was a recurring theme on this tour.

Walden had suggested restaurant chain around the corner, next to KFC. My noodles were hot, just at the level that they were hard to really enjoy. We were learning that spoons had to be requested, and unlike Cantonese restaurants back home, tea was not readily served. The main reason for a spoon was to help with the noodles. I have been using chopsticks for over 40 years, but those noodles were long and heavy. It took some time to learn to eat them like the locals. You have to slurp. But I still needed a spoon.

We walked back past the KFC which is the largest fast-food chain in China with over 11,900 locations, which is three times the number in the US. It is independently run and has many local menu options.

We returned to our fancy hotel where we discovered that there was another free laundromat for guests and that we could track their availability on our big TV screen.

I finally checked my camera. The UV filter was broken. Part of it was in little pieces, the rest was still there. I could not turn the filter, so could not get it off. I checked the camera which seemed to be fine. Po was more upset than me. This was not my first broken filter. One reason to use them is to protect the actual lens. It had done that. I was in a city with 12 million residents and assumed that there had to be a camera shop. But I knew that our first item of business in the morning was finding a replacement.

I still could not figure out the lighting, so I left a light on in the bathroom so the room would not be totally black when I inevitably woke in the night.

I managed to sleep until 4 am, a great improvement. Once I was awake, I spent some time answering a request from YoWangdu Tibet for information on the Chinese digital arrival card and payment apps. YoWangdu is a husband-and-wife duo who provide advice on Tibet travel. They had referred me to Explore Tibet, my Tibetan travel agency.

Both the arrival card and the ability to use the payment apps with foreign credit cards are relatively new. I am a big believer in sharing travel advice and since I had timely experience with both topics, I replied. In the end I was mentioned in two separate newsletters.

Arrival Card- “Bob filled his out the night before his flight through the Alipay app and added his wife as an accompanying traveler. There was a bit of a delay before the QR codes arrived, but everything worked at the airport.”

They gave great advice to avoid scam sites-“One important reminder: there are reports of scam sites impersonating the arrival card system. Only use the official NIA source or a trusted route like your airline's check-in flow or the verified Alipay mini-program.”

Payment apps- “Bob is traveling through China on his way into Tibet and writing in with real-time reports. His bottom line: the apps are how businesses want to be paid, and you need them – but they can be a pain.”

Their advice-“Bottom line: Get both apps set up before you go, link them to different accounts if you can, and carry cash as a backup.”

I had an eclectic breakfast as I tried to adjust to morning Chinese buffets. I had rice porridge and donuts, a Chinese bun, a banana, spicy tofu, some salads, and shared a few of Po's wontons. There was one other non-Asian diner. Although Luoyang is a bit off the normal foreign tourist path, we soon learned that it is quite popular with Chinese tourists.

We met our guide Zella in the lobby and walked out to the waiting car. As I got in, I noted the water bottles and made a mental note to be careful when opening them. We had a short drive to our first destination of the day, the Longmen Grottoes. After a short walk got into an electric cart for a ride down to the Yi River.

The Longmen Grottos is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is home to thousands of statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples that were carved as outside rock reliefs and inside artificial caves excavated from the limestone cliffs that date to the Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties (316-907).

We had to show our passport to get into the park. We had already learned that we needed to have our passports handy at all times.

I had seen photos of massive crowds at Chinese tourist sites and had wondered if we would encounter them. It was busy along the river, and then got crazy as we approached the Fengxian Temple.

We were supposed to visit a cave but decided to skip it due to the big crowd. I fought to take photographs as I was jostled by the people and then had to deal with exposure issues-dark caves and bright sunshine.

The Vairocana Buddha stands 17 meters tall.

During the ten years of the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 until Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, many cultural and religious sites throughout China were destroyed. Zella told us that some sites, including this one, were saved by the efforts of local residents. Others were saved under orders from Zhou Enlai.

We walked across the river where we had a great view of the Fengxian Temple.

It was not as crowded on this side so we visited a cave in the Leigutai Cave Complex which was built during the Tang Dynasty.

We passed on the chance to return to the parking lot on a boat, instead getting our second electric car ride.

We returned to the city. Our first stop was for lunch where Zella helped us order but declined Po's invitation to dine with us. One of the dishes was a taro root which I did not love. The soup was good.

We were entertained by a young dancer.

I paid with WeChat pay. At this point I assumed that everything was fine with my payment apps. I would soon learn.

Our next stop was the Luoyang Museum. There was art from 13 dynasties that dated back to 475 BC.

The museum was crowded and hot. I began to feel the effects of my lack of sleep and asked to skip one room.

Women in traditional dress seemed to be everywhere. Some were just checking out the exhibits but most were posing for photos. Some were doing selfies or posing for their friends. Many had hired a photographer. Most seemed to be under thirty, but there were older women and a few men, some dressed as women.

This has become a big cultural sensation, as well as a big business as the fad requires the shops to rent the costumes and photographers to take the portraits. According to Zella, it really took off from 2018. This is all thanks to the influence of TikTok and another platform called Xiaohongshu.

All day Zella had been extolling the great beer at a microbrewery that was near the museum. That was enticing for me, but not so much for Po, since she does not drink. The bar was in the shade and even though it was open air, it was quite cool and comfortable. The beer was good, and we both appreciated the break.

We enjoyed talking to Zella. We compared the youth of China to that in Canada and discussed health care systems. She was surprised that we did not need to pay for doctors or hospital visits.

Our final visit was to Luoyang’s Old City. The city was the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty after northern China was unified in 439. The city was rebuilt in 605 by Emperor Yang of Sui. The Old City was listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2014 as part of the Silk Roads.

Based on its status, I had thought that it would be a historic place.

At least the gates were interesting.

But after that it turned out to be a tour of the market.

Zella bought us some food to sample including this spicy tofu.

I loved the shops that specialized in chilis.

There had to be a stall with bugs. We were still not tempted to try.

We stopped outside a restaurant that served its food from a conveyor belt. Zella urged me to go inside to take my photos. The staff seemed okay to be photographed.

Chinese consumers enjoy a variety of tasty snacks, all packed in plastic. They can even visit stores that only sell snacks.

Things were getting busy as vendors set up for the night market.

We were too tired to stay for the night’s activities and made our way back through the gates.

Scooters are very popular in China.

So were full-face masks. These are not for protection from viruses but instead are to protect the wearer’s delicate skin from the sun.

We crossed the street to get to our car. We were learning that street crossing could be challenging. Traffic lights would stop the cars going straight, but then you had to watch for the cars that were turning. Scooters and bikes never stopped, no matter what direction they were going. We always tried to stay with the crowds. There was never a shortage of other pedestrians.

We were happy to get back to the hotel. Between our big lunch and the many snacks, we decided against going out again for supper. We instead took advantage of the hotel laundry where I had a nice visit with a woman from Suzhou who was in town with her parents to see the peonies. This was the peak time for flowers. We now understood why everything had been so crowded.

I carried our clean clothes back to the room. We had to pack since we were checking out in the morning. We had some daytime activities scheduled before taking another high-speed train ride.

This was our last night in Shanghai, and I was awake at 2 am. Was it the excitement since we would be boarding our first high-speed train in the morning? No, I was still adjusting to the change in the time zone.

I gave up on sleep and worked on my notes and photographs. I was still fighting with the mobile version of Lightroom. It insisted on storing things in the cloud which made everything quite slow. I finally decided to just use Google photos for basic editing during the trip and then redo everything in Lightroom at home. I really missed my computer.

We had our breakfast and returned to the room to finish packing. We were downstairs by 9:15 am where we were met by our nice little guide from our first day.

It was a forty-minute ride to the station. I had a moment of panic when we approached an airport. I thought, "Surely, they know we are taking a train!" Of course they knew. The train station was next door, all part of a huge complex with the Hongqiao International Airport and the Hongqiao Railway Station.

I was quite happy to have our guide with us for our first time through Chinese train travel.

At the entrance we went to the side since we needed an officer to scan our passports. Train tickets in China are all digital and are linked to identity documents, which for foreigners are passports. Then it was security, which was like boarding a flight but less onerous. We did not have to remove anything from our bags before sending them through the scanner.

The station is quite impressive. It was opened in 2010 and serves as the terminus for several high-speed trains.

Our next step was checking the big electronic board for our gate.

The guide led us across the terminal where he asked some passengers to move so we could sit together. He gave us our instructions. Of course, he did not speak English. This was done with his translation app and some hand gestures. He showed us the gate for passengers needing help, which included us since we needed our passports scanned. In English, it was labeled the Kind Help Channel.

But he called it the “Love Channel”. We later checked Google translate, and it showed just that.

We said goodbye to our friend, which included a hug. We really loved him and would have gladly taken him with us, all the way through the Love Channel to the train. He could have stayed with us throughout our journey. We had many great guides in China, and they all spoke English, but he was the sweetest.

There were a lot of people. Chinese trains carry about 13 million passengers per day. This station sees off about three to four hundred thousand passengers each day.

We lined up early, and all seemed fine. Then it was time to board. Everyone crowded forward. People came from the side of the Love Channel and went ahead of us. There was a group of foreign tourists. Their guide pushed through and motioned for his group to follow. They did not get scanned. Although being among the first to line up, we were among the last to passengers to pass through the Love Channel.

Po went first, and her passport ticket was fine. Mine would not scan, but the agent motioned me through. I would not be so lucky in the coming days.

We went down to the track level and made our way to the front of the train. All our day trips were on high-speed trains in first class carriages, which are at the end of the trains. We never knew which end. Sometimes it meant a long walk.

There are three types of high-speed trains in China, and they are labelled with G, D, or C. G trains are the fastest with a top speed of about 350 kph. The D trains go 250 kph, and C trains are 200 kph. We would ultimately take five high-speed trains, two were G and the other three were D.

This train was a G, G1924. It goes between Shanghai and Xian, but today we were only going part way to Luoyang.

We were the only foreigners in our car. We had seen the tour group go through at the Love Channel, but they must have been in second class. There were hundreds of passengers on the train. Chinese trains can take over 1,000 passengers.

Our car was quite comfortable. Seats were two by two.

First class was not the best cars on the train. There was a business class at the front with these large pod-like seats. I thought about going inside but thought better and took my photo from outside.

They served us crackers with two kinds of snacks and a water, something that was only done on our two G trains.

Although it was not an especially scenic ride, it was interesting. There were few sections without people or large farms. There were windmills, fields of solar panels, and atomic power plants.

We passed huge housing complexes with seas of towers. They provide housing to the masses but are not beautiful.

We pulled into Luoyang station exactly on time. This was the norm; you could set your watch to Chinese trains.

It was a long walk to the exit.

Our driver was waiting. We had barely sat down before we arrived at our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Longmen. It was just across the street. We had walked further from the train to the station exit.

It was another nice hotel. We met our first robot as we walked to the elevator. Robots are used for room service, and we would see several along the way. We were a bit shy this time and let it go ahead without us, but eventually we just shared the elevators. They were just hotel staff.

Now that we were out of the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai, there was little English spoken, nor were there English signs. There was a list of local restaurants in the hotel lobby, but everything was in Chinese. I am not complaining. After all, there are no Chinese signs in Newfoundland, but we westerners are spoiled by the amount of English spoken and signage throughout the world.

We left the hotel and walked across the street to get some supper. With no basis for choosing, we walked into one of the first restaurants that we saw. It was just like our restaurant in Shanghai. There were a handful of tables, and you could see into the kitchen at the back where a cook was making fresh noodles. The menu was photos on the wall with the wording all in Chinese.

I had the longest noodles of my life. They were wonderful. It was great fun learning to slurp my noodles.

We walked around the block after supper. It was a most amazing area. There was one restaurant after another-three, four, five in a row. There were sidewalk BBQ places. This was all intermixed with a wonderful combination of spas, salons and pharmacies.

I had initially been a little disappointed when we arrived. I had thought that our hotel was closer to the Luoyang Old City and wondered if it had been changed. It had not; I had just seen the website for the other Holiday Inn. I ultimately decided that this was the more interesting area.

We returned to our hotel where I battled with the window shade so I could close the window and use the air conditioning. I then had my nightly game of turning all the lights on and off, trying to find what the many switches controlled. I wanted to get something to show a bit of light during the night, and once again had to choose between one bright light or total darkness. I hoped for a bit more sleep.

Simon met us in the hotel, and we followed him out to the waiting vehicle for the day's tour. The driver gave us a nice greeting and handed us a bottled water, something we were never short of in China. Our drivers were constantly handing us bottles. There were always fresh bottles in the car seatbacks, and our hotel rooms were well stocked with free water.

Later on in the tour we met an American couple from Nevada. The man thought that all that free water was amazing. It seemed to be one of his Chinese tour highlights. With all this water provided, we never discussed the quality of water with any of our guides, so I have no idea if there a problem with the tap water in China. I always have reusable water bottles with me, hoping that I can just refill rather than add to the plastic waste.

I did learn an important lesson. Chinese water bottles are filled to the very top, and as a result, some water will inevitably spill out. So, if you open it next to your body, you get wet. After a day or two I remembered to open them at arm’s length, but on this morning I was not yet practiced in the technique. I got wet.

Simon told us the time of our next day’s train. That was good, but I was surprised that April had not sent me anything. I had only been given probable times in our travel itinerary for our many train rides and had understood that the actual tickets would not be available until closer to the days of travel. But I had been a little concerned that morning when I realized that I had not seen the confirmation for our next day’s train. After Simon gave us the next day's details, I messaged April to ask for copies of all our future reservations. That turned out to be a good thing.

Simon also told us that he would not be escorting us to the station. Instead, our nice guide from our airport arrival would take us.

There was not much to photograph as traffic moved quickly down the elevated highway. Instead, I wanted to test my Alipay after going through the verification the night before. Simon suggested that I send him a yuan. It went through. He sent me one back. That confirmed that I was finally a certified Alipay user.

Our short trip was to Zhujiajiao, one of the many water towns in the Shanghai area, communities built around tranquil canals and lakes and connected by ancient bridges. Zhujiajiao is one of the better preserved water towns. It is also the easiest to reach, so we knew it would also be full of tourists.

The town did have a little taste of Venice with the boats on the canals. Zhujiajiao has a history going back over 1,700 years.

Simon recommended a visit to Kezhi Garden, a classical Chinese garden estate. We had to pay a small entrance fee since it was not included in our official itinerary. The garden covers about five acres and was originally built in the 18th century. It turned out to be the highlight of our visit to Zhujiajiao. It helped that most tourists seemed to skip it.

It was busy on the bridges.

I saw a shop that sold lattes. Po bought a crispy pastry.

We visited the Yuanjin Buddhist Temple, also known as the Temple of Goddess, which was built in 1341. During my trip to Bhutan I had always taken off my shoes in the temples, so was surprised that we were not asked to do so. We climbed the stairs to the top where we could admire the view.

Po had lost her knit cap (or toque as we call them in Canada) in Vancouver and had been looking for a replacement. Since it was well into spring weather in Shanghai, I suggested that the shops might have put away their colder weather garments.

Then we found a woman selling knitted items next to the canal. I made my first payment with Alipay. Of course she did not want cash.

We had a nice walk along the canals and the narrow streets, past the many shops and restaurants. There are still many historic riverside homes.

There were several cat cafés.

This was an interesting store. No, I did not try any.

The Fangsheng Bridge was first built in 1571 and rebuilt in 1812.

Simon brought to a restaurant along the canal. We had a local dish, beef cooked in lotus leaves.

Simon talked to the Australian couple at the next table. When they told him that they were from Bondi Beach, he took the chance to name drop and told them that he had guided the Bondi Vet, a well-known Australian television personality.

Simon told us about his main occupation, working as a liaison for Chinese couples looking to employ surrogate mothers, primarily Americans, since the US is one of the few countries where it is legal. He asked about Georgia (the country), since it is also legal there. I told him that the country is beautiful and the food is quite good, but I could not vouch for the medical or legal establishments.

There was an interesting contrast between old and new when I paid the bill. The owner calculated with his abacus. I then paid with my Alipay app.

We returned to our hotel where we said goodbye to Simon. After a brief rest we went back to the old city and the same little restaurant from our first night. I wanted to try the Shanghai crab roe noodles. They were good, but it was not my favourite meal of the trip.

Simon had told us to find the Jiuqu Bridge, also known as the Nine-Turn Bridge, which was built in the 16th century. After wandering around a bit, we finally arrived and were a bit surprised. I had envisaged something like the bridges in Zhujiajiao. This bridge was part of the Yu Garden that is a combination of historic architecture and shopping mall. It was packed, especially with young women posing for photos.

In Shanghai visitors could choose to dress up like it was the 1920’s when gangs controlled the city’s vices-the gambling, prostitution, and opium dens.

We wandered back to our hotel. We had to get ready for our morning train ride.