If you are into tea or just curious, Shanghai has it all. There are thousands of tea shops ranging from simple street stands to huge labyrinthine “tea cities”. For brevity, this article focuses on two of the largest tea markets, Tianshan Tea City and DaNing International Tea City. Both are very similar in scale and products although Tianshan is more well known. Tianshan Tea City Tianshan (天山茶城) is a huge complex with at least 150 shops selling tea and tea…
Qibao (七宝) is an old water town located about 20 kilometers from downtown Shanghai which has a very popular food street. Most days, and especially when the weather is good, people flock there to enjoy a stroll and eat traditional snacks. Qibao means, “Seven Treasures” in Chinese and the legend is there were seven of them around the area such as a Gold Lotus Scripture, a magic tree, and a golden chicken to name a few. The old town is…
This year (2018) for Chinese New Year we visit Ningbo Park Hyatt Resort & Spa and NanTang Old Street in Ningbo. A very relaxing and quite long weekend where we spent most of our time at the resort enjoying fresh seafood, the tea-house, and simple relaxations around Dong Qian Lake. One afternoon, we took a shuttle into Ningbo city to visit the popular NanTang Old Street with its many street snacks and shopping. Getting to Ningbo from Shanghai by…
Dafen Oil Painting Village 大芬 specializes in making large numbers of replicas of oil paintings by masters such as Van Gogh, Dalí, da Vinci, and Rembrandt. Almost certainly any replica painting you’ve seen in an office or hotel somewhere came from Dafen Village. It’s estimated that nearly 60% of the worlds oil paintings are produced in Dafen Village[1] thus giving it the name “World’s Art Factory”. In addition to cranking out replicas, artists do their own styles and take commissioned…
New Zealand surprised me. Before going I did my research, watched videos, and looked at photos of stunning landscapes. None came even close to what we actually experienced. The mountains and countryside drives were simply stunning and beyond anything I imagined. The people seem rather chill and have an interesting sense of humor. Overall, the vibe is very relaxed and natural. Our time was spent on the South island mostly in Queenstown, Milford Sound, and Arthur’s Pass. These areas often…
Lake Kawaguchiko is one of the Five Lakes near the base of Mt. Fuji. I think it’s the best place to get great views of the mountain and spend a day. Last year I climbed Mt. Fuji and seeing the mountain from Lake Kawaguchiko was really cool. The lake is fairly large and there is a boat tour you can go on. There’s also biking, hiking, good eats, and spectacular views of Mount Fuji as the backdrop. If you only…
Nestled between factories and Shanghai’s Pilot Free-Trade Zone is Holland Village. The place is one of several theme towns in Shanghai wherein developers replicated buildings and styling similar to the real places[1]. Another theme town is Thames Town. which looks remarkably similar to something you’d find in England. In the early 2000s, Shanghai government created a plan to develop nine or so suburban districts and assigned each project a theme. The idea was to expand Shanghai’s urban sprawl and reduce…
Gaoqiao West Street is a pretty cool street to visit and part of Gaoqiao Old Town which dates back to the Southern Song Dynasty. Gaoqiao is located at the northern end of Pudong, on the east bank of the Huangpu River. Although still in Shanghai, the city vibe and amount of English drops off dramatically. It’s not a touristy place although quite accommodating and a good respite from the usual activities. I combined my visit with the weird Holland Village…
The Tianzi Fang (田子坊) neighborhood is a labyrinth of ally ways and old Shikumen style architecture which has been preserved and converted to shops. Although a bit touristy, the area is a fine example of old Shanghai and a lot of fun to walk around in. The area around Tianzi Fang also has much to do and explore such as shops, restaurants, charming neighborhoods and beautiful tree-lined streets. Tianzi Fang is a great place to wander about looking at shops…
A bit rainy for our Taipei weekend visit but it turned out to be quite enjoyable. We had so much fun for just spending a couple days there. One of the highlights was climbing up Elephant Hill to get a nice view of the city and have a good hike. Yongkang Street is great and there are many interesting shops and restaurants. There are several popular night markets to buy food and stuff and we enjoyed most the one at…