Holidays in China, part II

The middle of the 3 Gorges of the Yangtze River, Qutang Gorge.

Shennong Stream off Yangtze River. Before the construction of the 3 Gorges Dam, the river was so difficult to sail that to go upstream you needed to be pulled along by trackers. Clothing optional.

Behold the 3 Gorges Dam.

Another view of the 3 Gorges Dam

The hotel in Yichang was nice. The city itself was not that interesting. They seemed to have ads for a local corn-based liquor everywhere.

Pudong panorama from the Bund.

Pudong at dusk.

Skyscrapers in the Shanghainese night

Trying to get out of the vantage point of the previous picture at the Oriental Pearl TV tower. This is why we were surprised by the lack of courteousness in Chinese crowds: people would run, push and shove as much as possible in a situation that was potentially very dangerous.

Tea House at the Yuyuan gardens. The bridge is built in zigzag as bad spirits can't turn corners.

The area around the Yuyuan gardens is full of shops and built in traditional Chinese style.

Chinese painting at Shanghai museum. Probably the best museum in China, the ceramic, jade, copper and painting collections are worth the visit.

Mexican pavillion at the World Expo: Replica of the Bell of Independence from the church of Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato.

The Mexican pavillion had an introduction to Mexican art & history, but my favourites where these masks where you could see different parts of Mexico through the eyes of someone living there.

The Finnish pavillion had an overview of Finnish design, and while there was not a lot of food on offer there was a big space for Nokia

The Belgian pavillion focused more than anything on science and technology (and beer and chocolate, sure). They had a video that Frank de Winne, Belgian ESA astronaut, recorded from space for the Expo.

Many pavillions remained unseen, even if we spent there the whole day.

The former French concession at Xintiandi was a nice stop. After two weeks, we were starting to miss certain European comforts like street cafés, sandwiches or good beer.

Even during the night it was very hot, up to 30°C.

Ready to fly back from Beijing. One of the decisive factors that convinced us to go to China was that it is only a 8 hour direct flight with Finnair.