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5th April
Transferring at Xujiahui onto Line 1, I soon realised (well I say soon, 5 stops later) that I had been travelling the wrong way! What should have been only 4 stops to Shanghai South Train Station ended up being 12! Despite my mix up on the subway, I still had time to catch the 9:30am train to Wuxi. Rushing to the ticket office a lady behind glass screen exclaims "No seats" "Next one?" Her face blank, "No!" "Any today? Please" She showed me her computer screen, 4:30pm. "Okay" and I pay my 19Yuan. I was gutted I had lost a day sightseeing and also the opportunity to of stayed in bed longer!
Not wanting to waste away the hours sat in the train station, I caught the subway to Peoples Square. It was jam-packed, obviously as it was a National holiday (Tomb Sweeping Day) You see these images of busy Shanghai, busy China on TV but I was amongst it all. No other foreigner in sight, walking alongside hundreds, maybe even thousands of people. I felt so proud to be where I was, smiling to myself until another person stood on my heel!
The train reminded me of the trains in India. Families squished together on seats, people stood or sat on boxes on the floor. It wasn't a comfy 2 and a half journey but hey what did I expect for £1.90!
Two blue signs with arrows and Chinese writing are hung over the door. 'So which one is exit? I'll just go this way…' Finally making my way out of the train station I was confronted with chaos. Cars, buses, scooters, people everywhere. Noise coming from every direction. I've never felt overwhelmed in big Shanghai but perhaps because it's smaller here, everything seemed more in my face, it was daunting from this point on.
All I wanted to do was grab some food and calm down, figure out exactly what I was going to do. I needed to escape and the first place I saw I jumped straight in. I'm not proud to say it, but it was McDonalds, for the first time ever, my hero!
By some miracle I managed to cross the main road outside the train station and head towards the blue flashing sign that read, Motel. "1 room?" "No!" I had this exact response five times! Crossing my fingers, I enter the fifth motel. "1 room?" In broken English the receptionist explained, "Police say no foreigner stay around here" "WHAT!?" "No" and he points towards a hotel across the road. Trying not to panic too much I hastily walk towards the hotel the receptionist pointed at. "Hello, please 1 room?" "Yes" I drop my bag and my heart beat slows back down to a steady pace. It was defiantly more than I wanted to pay for accommodation but then why not treat myself; Well I had to treat myself unless I was sleeping in the train station!
6th April
Checklist:
Seen the Worlds Biggest Palm
Seen a 88meter tall Buddha
I asked the receptionist how to get to the Wonderland, "88Yuan in a car by the bus station. It's 40 minutes away" I really should of planned ahead. When I was at Darcy's house, her mother showed me a photo of a Buddha in Wuxi and I said I wanted to go there. Darcy wrote it down in my notepad and a week later, I packed my bag, caught a train and pointed to the place in my pink notepad! Arriving at the bus station I showed a police officer my destination address and he pointed towards the bus. I clambered on board, paying my 2Yuan to some destination out of town.
'Nooo way!' The bus turned the corner and standing between to hills was the biggest Buddha I have ever seen. It actually gave me butterflies.
From some speakers I hear a man dramatically narrate what I presumed was a story to do with the flower bud in front of me. Water sprayed up high and ever so slowly the flower begins to open where it holds a young golden child. A theatrical orchestra piece was playing in the background as the flower fully opens and the young child eventually rotates around 360 degrees. Water continued to spray up high and the petals closed back in. This spectacle lasted around 10 minutes, everyone transfixed to each second of the performance.
I stood amongst the smoke watching people light long red candles and bundles of inscense sticks infront of the Worlds Biggest Palm. Eventually I had to move on as the smoke began to sting my eyes.
I took many paths that lead me away from the crowds and the main masterpiece to more beauty and peace. Eating an apple, I sat looking across a little lake at the Buddha, again speechless at the grand scale of it. I had a touristy photo stood in front of the Buddha, positioning my hand 'onto' his. I sadly left this brilliant photo in my hotel room, but the staff are going to post it to the school for me, sweet!
Unfortunately it wasn't as spiritual as I thought it was going to be. The whole set up did feel a bit like a show, never the less, I really did love the 3 hours I spent wondering around and people watching and luckily for me the rain kindly held off until I got onto the bus!
7:30pm
'I suppose I can't hid away in my room all night' and so decided to explore the unknown streets of Wuxi in search for food.
'Nirrou mian' (beef noodles) I keep practising in my head. I only wanted to order a basic meal as I'd reacted for something and my face was blotched red and I didn't want to add to it! All the restaurants I walked past were the type for big parties and not me with a small appetite this evening. Beginning to lose hope and my feet becoming increasingly more wet each step I took (Uggs in the rain, a big no no!) All of a sudden I smile upon seeing two large pans outside a shop. 'It can't be?' But indeed it was; A Muslim Restaurant! Result! I travel all the way from Songjiang to Wuxi to eat the same dish ha.
'beepdingbeep' a text message from mum. 'The flight is booked. I'm coming on 24th August' Yay, just in time for my birthday! See you then lovely lady, cannot wait!
7th April
I opened my curtains to see the rain was still falling from last night, boo! The other attractions I did want to see in Wuxi were too far out of town and my train back was at the awkward time of 1:00pm, so travelling anywhere else wasn't going to happen.
The train back was what I can only describe as an 'aeroplane train' Sure enough as soon as I bought my ticket for 61Yuan I knew it was going to be a lot nicer than my first journey. Travelling at 318Km/h, I arrived back in Shanghai in 45 minutes.
I was planning on an early night, but I rocked the night away at Red Bar until the nice hour of 4:30am...
Tired Emma x x x
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