中夏 (China) - 暹 (Xiān)

THE END!!

And that's how I ended after 3 weeks in China... completely LOONY!!

By the way, have you ever seen the effect of some Corn Flakes floating in a toilet? Nop? Well... that's what it looks like!

:-P

中夏 (China) - 暹 (Xiān)

THE TERRACOTA WARRIORS

UF! Take your breath before visiting this place... GRANDIOSE!!

So many warriors, such an impressive place... It's a pitty that so much money is needed to restore this magnificent piece of history. I tried to show you the renovated areas as well as parts of the non-renovated ones so you can compare the "before" and "after".

中夏 (China) - 暹 (Xiān)

That's two pics of street scenes. Who wants to buy a mobile in China with China Unicom?? Pffffff...

中夏 (China) - 暹 (Xiān)

Xian, Siam or 暹 !! However you want to call this city! Although it is a very dry and hot city, it's the one I have like the most so far. It's rather lively and it has beautiful monuments, mainly the Terracota Warriors. I spent few days in that city where I hired a private driver that took me to the most interesting sightseeing places in only 4 hours!!

The drum tower is a traditional Chinese palace full of drums, some of them huuuuge! When I went there, there was a show going on: a bunch of Chinese playing drums rather loudly: FANTASTIC!!

I also visted the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a well-preserved ancient building and a holy place for Buddhists. Originally built in 652 during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), it functioned to collect Buddhist materials that were taken from India by the hierarch Xuanzang. I took several pictures inside the area, have a look at them!

I like the Indian lady's sport shoes!! lol

中夏 (China) - 上海 (Shanghai)

Here are some pictures of street scenes. I love that in China! You can see soooo many interesting and curious things, different people, strange items... EVERYTHING!

I love the happy guy in the pink bike! He was going around the same block all the time!! I saw him passing by several times... Ahahahahaha! CRAZY!!

The gramophone shop... AMAZING!! A was almost going to get one of them!

Ben! Do you recognize what this lady is holding in her hands??? Yes! Your carved stone! Great lady with a great little shop.

The other lady cleaning her mop in the street... another demonstration of Chinese hygienic standards...

中夏 (China) - 上海 (Shanghai)

Miam Miam! You've seen this market? Would you buy food in there?

...

Are you sure??

Well...

Let me just move the camera few degrees to show you the tones of garbage piled next to the food!

Now I understand why everybody gets food-poisoning in China... Definitely, the word "Hygiene" does not exist in the Chinese vocabulary...

中夏 (China) - 上海 (Shanghai)

Shanghai is a great mix between modern and traditional architecture. While there, I went to visit one of the most famous temples. Here are some pics of its exterior and its interior. Very colourful and very... Chinese! Lovely place!!

中夏 (China) - 上海 (Shanghai)

This is the hotel in which I was accommodated in Shanghai... the tallest building in China! WOW!! The Jinmao tower. My room was in the 65th floor!!

Here you have the exterior of the hotel, its interior, the neighbouring buildings and the view from my room. My room was facing the river, an incredible view of Shanghai's skyline, just in front of the famous Oriental Pearl TV Tower! NO COMMENTS...

中夏 (China) - 上海 (Shanghai)

Me...

Me...

And ME again!!

中夏 (China) - 上海 (Shanghai)

THIS IS SHANGHAI! Yes!
Incredible city! Very polluted, crowded and huge! With amazing buildings and funny districts. However, you can't escape from Chinese dirt and Chinese anti-hygiene...

I stayed there few days with Etienne, a great friend from New Caledonia that was attending some courses. Here you can see us when we went to visit some sightseeing places.

What is crazy is that you can find a KFC almost anywhere! Look at the contrast in that picture with the KFC sign and the red Chinese flag...!

You can even find Starbucks everywhere. Soooooo good to get a Frapuccino in a hot foggy day!! Even that doggy was fond of Starbucks!! lol