My Chinese Experience!

My Chinese Experience is over and it will take awhile for it all to sink in. The trip was a great one! Everyone in our tour group did a lot of travelling in a very short time. First their was the 13 plus hour flight from Toronto to Shanghai. Then in 10 days we traveled and looked around some major sites in 5 different cities in China. The cities were; Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangshou, and Beijing. Most of our ground transportation was by bus. We also completed a 1200 KM bullet train ride from Shanghai to Beijing. Also we had to endure an over 12 hour flight back to Canada! My favorite experiences on this trip were; the boat cruise on the Grand Canal in Suzhou, the boat ride on West Lake in Hangzhou, the night cruise in Shanghai, also riding the Maglev Train was really cool, having the chance to see the Great Wall of China & also discovering the Great Path of China was memorable!

For this trip to have come true for me I would like to thank Joanna for finding this great trip. Also asking me to join the group, to make the journey to the far east. This trip was a very affordable chance for me to visit this part of the world. I would to thank our guide in Shanghai John Tang for doing a great job being our guide. John's knowledge of his country is very impressive. Also John is a fun and entertaining guy to be around. John Tang also did a thorough job to look out for us all. Making sure we enjoyed our time visiting China!

The Grand Canal- Suzhou.

Beautiful West Lake- Hangzhou.

Shanghai at night was spectacular!

The incredible Maglev Train ! Top speed 431 KMH!

The Great Wall!

The Great Path!

Our Tour Group

Beijing"s Forbidden City

The next post on the trip to China. Will be on the Forbidden City. Home of all of the Chinese emperors who ruled China.

The Forbidden City is a palace complex in central Beijing, China. The former Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty, to the end of the Qing dynasty,(the years 1420 to 1912), it now houses the Palace Museum. The Forbidden City served as the home of emperors and their households as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government for almost 500 years.

It was very interesting to experience walking though this very special place of Chinese history. We did not enter any of the building in the Forbidden City. Here are my photos.

The following is the Gardens of the Forbidden City

Walking to our bus to be picked up.

Beijing Lakes

A very nice part of Beijing is Xicheng neighborhood. This lake area of Beijing was built in ancient times. Houhai Lake is the largest of these lakes. it was a great place for tourists and locals alike. To relax and enjoy a friendly and peaceful environment in the overcrowding and pressure of the big city.
Here are my photos.

A Look Around Beijing & A Rickshaw Ride

We enjoyed a great day in Beijing. Having a good look around the old part of Beijing. Also we enjoyed a Rickshaw Ride. Which was really cool! Also we enjoyed dinner at a local family's home. The dinner was prepared by a retired very renown chef in China. I did enjoy this day. Now you can take a look at the photos.

The Beijing Drum Tower

The Beijing Bell Tower

The following photos are from the Rickshaw Ride.

My video of the Rickshaw ride; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0c1f8dlrMQ&t=100s