China Travel Diaries - Old City God Temple

Here's the last batch of my China pictures. These are all from the old part of Shanghai, right outside Yu Garden, called the Old City God Temple area. This part of the city surrounds the old temple and dates back to at least the 1400s. It's become a shopping center and a bit touristy, but the amazing architecture is still there. As a bonus, we visited right before Chinese New Year, so the entire old city was decked out in these amazing and bright decorations! 

Even though I know it's not true, again, this is how I imagine China. The buildings are amazing and it truly feels like you're in another world. And the over the top New Year decorations just made it even better! Last year was the year of the Dragon and this year is the year of the horse, so horses were everywhere. It was so cool to be able to see a new culture, even if it was very brief. I hope I get to travel to Asia again someday, and not just for business! 

China Travel Diaries: Yu Garden

We left Hong Kong and headed up to Shanghai where we finished meeting with vendors and finalizing our products. After working 10+ hour days for the last 7 days straight, we were absolutely determined to take in some history and culture before we left. So the morning of our departing flight we woke up at the crack of dawn, finished packing, and headed out to get a quick glimpse of the city before catching our noon flight. We ended up walking into the eye of the storm. Within this busy, gigantic, crowded city lies Yuyuan (or Yu) Garden – a respite from the bustling noise of the outside world.

 A poster by the entrance to the garden. I wish they would have been selling them, I think it's beautiful and would have loved to have a larger print to hang in my home. 

Yu Garden is a 16^th century garden from the Ming Dynasty era located near the “Old City God Temple” part of Shanghai (pictures of that next time). It was built by a government official in the 1500s as a tranquil retreat for his parents. As with most historical buildings it had several owners, various parts were destroyed, it was rebuilt and restored, and the garden opened to the public in the 1960s. Even for all this, it still maintains its peaceful and calming atmosphere and you really do feel like you’ve just stepped back in time. This is what I picture China to look like in my head. Even though I know for a fact that the cities are modernized (and crowded and dirty like any city), when I think of China this is what I see -fish ponds, stone walls, cloisters, and pavilions.

It was amazing and I wish I had more than an hour there. It would be a lovely place to spend an afternoon reading or people watching (or meditating or doing tai chi like some people were).

China Travel Diaries - Hong Kong

Foggy morning overlooking the port of Hong Kong

And now for something completely different! We're going to take a break from the home decor talk for some photos of my recent China trip! My work recently sent a few of us overseas to meet with our vendors in Hong Kong and China and to start prepping 2015 merchandise. I love traveling and the trip was an incredible experience. However, this was my first overseas business trip and it's just not quite the same as going somewhere exotic on vacation, with the working 8-9 hours days and all. Still, I had never been to Hong Kong or China before so it was amazing to finally see them.

We only spent about 36 hours in Hong Kong so I would love to go back and spend more time there. It's such and international place, with most people speaking some amount of English due to the British influence. They also drive on the left side of the street here, unlike mainland China where they drive on the right. Locals who go back and forth between the two have to know how to drive on both sides of the road. I don't know how they keep that straight.

At some point in life I'd like to get back to Hong Kong for a vacation and actually see more of the city. It was foggy the whole time we were there so I didn't get to appreciate how hilly the area actually is. Maybe next time the weather will be better. Stay tuned for Shanghai pictures next!

Hong Kong street shots

Hope you're not afraid of heights - view from the roof of our hotel

Nightly light show over the river

Pretty lighting fixture in our hotel - not that this has to do with Hong Kong, but it's still cool

Carry On Essentials

I hope everyone is having a lovely 2014 so far!  I’m kicking it off with an overseas business trip to China. By the time you read this I’ll be (hopefully) asleep somewhere over the Pacific Ocean en route to Hong Kong. It’s a looong flight so anything that makes it a bit more bearable helps. Here's my list of carry on essentials for international travel:

1. Book/kindle/nook (I’m old fashioned and prefer a book, and yes, I am going to carry this giant thing with me). I’m reading Tai-Pan by James Clavell. Since I’m going to Hong Kong, I figured I’d read some historical fiction about it to get it the spirit and possibly learn something 
2. Inflatable neck travel pillow. Takes up less space than a stuffed one and can be adjusted to the right comfort level.
3. Dry shampoo. After 15 hours on an airplane – yikes. 
4. Medicines – ibuprophen, tums, first aid kit, hand sanitizer, etc.
5. Sunglasses
6. Random emergency kit. My friend gave me this for Christmas and it’s fantastic. It includes things like a mini clear nail polish, safety pins, band-aids, tampons, and other misc. items for all sorts of emergencies. 
7. Business cards in a snazzy holder
8. Snacks 
9. ipad/tablet/phone for staying in touch with the world
10. Eye mask to make sleep easier
11. Passport
12. Headphones/chargers/connecting cords stored in a little bag so they don't get lost

Other items not pictured:

• Laptop for working
• Scarf which can double as a blanket if the plane is cold
• Deodorant toothbrush, and toothpaste – again, after 15 hours on a plane it may be needed. 
• Extra pair of socks for comfort and warmth
• Extra set of clothes in case the unthinkable should happen and my luggage is lost
• Extra snack food as well as a bottle of water
• Make up bag 

Those are my essentials, what are some of yours?

I'm not sure how often I'll be posting while overseas, but you can follow me on instagram: farbluemountains  (if it's not blocked in China, otherwise I'll be massively uploading pics when I get back!)