For many not familiar with shanghai, here's a breakdown to the railway station from the airport. From shanghai airport, follow the direction to the metro and buy a ticket to the shanghai railway station. Note: you need to come out of the train at longyang to change to the next train but it's very simple just cross over ( opposite) and once you are at the railway station metro you need to follow the signs to the railway station. It is quite a distance so if you have huge luggage my advice is take a taxi.
Once there you can purchase your ticket at the 善票处 aka shan piao chu - tell the window person your destination and provide your passport. For Beijing, nanjing, Guangzhou and some others, there is the speed rail 快铁 aka kuai tie (speed rail) . Next go to the main terminal 检票处 to enter ( oh when you are there they will check your passport details with the ticket) and once there look at the tv for your gate. And just find the gate.
So being familiar in china, I always loved the smaller old towns. So this time, grabbed my bag and made my way to 角直镇 Luzhi town which is in suzhou. Tried finding the info online but since it was not a famous town I was caught in a dilemma - to go from Shanghai (which according to some guides) said there was a straight bus to the place from the tourist center or from Suzhou (which they said had hourly trips).
Info - Long distance bus from shanghai to the old town
Info 1
苏州平四路乘公交518到甪直汽车站
Take bus 518 from Suzhou train station and it stops opposite the town. You can't see it directly as it behind the buildings.
And you can guess which route I took. Oh yes! Before you get on the bus please go to the washroom if you need to, because the journey is long - even though you are already in Suzhou.
Upon arrival at the last stop,
You need to cross the road and find this street. With this continue walking straight and .....
Here's the beautiful town.
What I love about this town is that there are NO tourists and so its just a time of you and the river and the locals. No touting. Just enjoying the scenery in its form. Spent one day there and made our way to Nanjing.
In some places, I will write down the way via metro but because Taxi is so cheap there. The starting fare is 10-15 rmb and the meter runs so slowly. I just took the taxi all the time.
Showcasing next is whats expected of Nanjing 南京sightseeing tourist route.
First up. Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall 大屠杀
My favorite place in Nanjing. The emotions captured on the statues and drawings with the narration from the victims, the way they led you into the 'picture' was amazing.
Was there 5 years ago and I remembered it was so bare, Just the relic/bones and some description. To date, they have improved on the surrounding and added on many more layers of explanation and narration.
Nanjing Massacre Museum is the big draw on your Nanjing trip. The museum’s official name is called the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders (侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆). The museum tells the overwhelming atrocities of raping, killing, burning and looting committed by the Japanese forces of aggression during the six weeks from December 13 to January, 1938. In the massacre, a total of 300,000 people were killed including 28 mass slaughters and 858 occational slaughters.
Via Metro, you can stop Take subway Line 2 and stop at Yunjin Road station Yunjin Lu (云锦路)
You will be greeted by the following below, walk ahead to get to the museum. Its closes at 5pm.
When I went there, it was near to closing time so it was cleared out and we didn't have to queue. The bad thing was the guard would be rushing you asking you to move faster through the exhibitions.
So being familiar in china, I always loved the smaller old towns. So this time, grabbed my bag and made my way to 角直镇 Luzhi town which is in suzhou. Tried finding the info online but since it was not a famous town I was caught in a dilemma - to go from Shanghai (which according to some guides) said there was a straight bus to the place from the tourist center or from Suzhou (which they said had hourly trips).
Info - Long distance bus from shanghai to the old town
Info 1
上海到甪直的长途汽车站
Info - Long distance bus from Suzhou to the old town中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 6:10 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 7:00 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 7:40 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 8:30 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 9:30 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 10:30 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 12:00 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 13:00 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 14:00 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 15:05 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 15:50 中山交通客运有限公司 甪直 16:50Info2在南港嘉鹿花园门口能坐到直达的，是从甪直汽车站发车的，甪直直达上海。全程两个小时左右。早上六点多，七点四十，八点半，，之后可能是每整点一班。差不多一个小时一班，晚上五点最后一班
苏州平四路乘公交518到甪直汽车站
Take bus 518 from Suzhou train station and it stops opposite the town. You can't see it directly as it behind the buildings.
And you can guess which route I took. Oh yes! Before you get on the bus please go to the washroom if you need to, because the journey is long - even though you are already in Suzhou.
Upon arrival at the last stop,
You need to cross the road and find this street. With this continue walking straight and .....
Here's the beautiful town.
What I love about this town is that there are NO tourists and so its just a time of you and the river and the locals. No touting. Just enjoying the scenery in its form. Spent one day there and made our way to Nanjing.
In some places, I will write down the way via metro but because Taxi is so cheap there. The starting fare is 10-15 rmb and the meter runs so slowly. I just took the taxi all the time.
Showcasing next is whats expected of Nanjing 南京sightseeing tourist route.
First up. Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall 大屠杀
My favorite place in Nanjing. The emotions captured on the statues and drawings with the narration from the victims, the way they led you into the 'picture' was amazing.
Was there 5 years ago and I remembered it was so bare, Just the relic/bones and some description. To date, they have improved on the surrounding and added on many more layers of explanation and narration.
Nanjing Massacre Museum is the big draw on your Nanjing trip. The museum’s official name is called the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders (侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆). The museum tells the overwhelming atrocities of raping, killing, burning and looting committed by the Japanese forces of aggression during the six weeks from December 13 to January, 1938. In the massacre, a total of 300,000 people were killed including 28 mass slaughters and 858 occational slaughters.
Via Metro, you can stop Take subway Line 2 and stop at Yunjin Road station Yunjin Lu (云锦路)
You will be greeted by the following below, walk ahead to get to the museum. Its closes at 5pm.
When I went there, it was near to closing time so it was cleared out and we didn't have to queue. The bad thing was the guard would be rushing you asking you to move faster through the exhibitions.
Ending our tour of Nanjing Massacre with a heavy head, we made our way to 夫子庙
with high expectations of good street food. It was a huge disappointment.
And of yes, to get to this place is a long walk from the metro and its so confusing because the metro signs told us to turn right, but as we walked ahead, we were lost. And when we asked the locals, they gave us the blank look.
Comparing it to shanghai street food, I didn't see anything unique.
There you will also see the Qinhuai river which to me was ......
I mean I just came from the old town of natural scenery. So.....
Ended our night early for our visit to Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum (Tomb of Ming Dynastry) aka Ming Xiaoling 明孝陵 the following day.
Closes at 5pm Tues to Sun / Close on Monday
I'm not a fan of historical museum of kings and palaces but the photos online of the scenery looked nice so I made my way down.
With the great weather, it felt good walking the distance - but imagine if it was a hot day. goodness.
Taking the subway line 2 and get off at the station of Ming Xialing Tomb (Muxu) Station 明孝陵（苜蓿）站, then you can walk to the site of Dr. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum or you take an electric car from the station of Ming Xialing Tomb (Muxu) Station to Dr. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum
Important! Not advisable for children or old people because the walk is very very long and not suitable for pushing pram or wheelchair as there are lots of stairs.
Walking further in, you will spot a huge lake with people swimming in it.
*Do make sure you give yourself sufficient time to walk to the exit (as you will need to sit the shuttle bus to go down back to the base of the hill? mountain?)
Walking down all the way would probably take another 2 hours and after walking for the whole day, your legs would be too wobbly for that.
With all the 'exercise' done, with still huge hopes for Nanjing food, we made our way down to the well-known 南京打牌挡 aka Nanjing Da Pai Dang where it showcases all the Nanjing delicacies.
Urghh,. And we were disappointed again!
This was probably the nicest. The red bean dessert.
Presentation was great. But the food was nothing to rave about. (Sorry lack of photos as we were disappointed with the food)
The next morning before leaving back to Shanghai, no more nanjing food but instead went for Fujian Satay Noodles which was Gorgeous! Gosh Im craving for it now.
