A Date With Suzhou / Nanjing (我与苏州、南京有约)

Okay, here we go again~
Without me realizing it, now it is already my third day in China~
Everything went well, and seems like I had adapted to the surroundings here~
But, deeply miss my friends back in Malaysia and my dear dar of course~~

Well, enough of the craps~
Today we started off with a visit to a silk factory in Suzhou~
The name of the factory was "The First Factory In The World" (天下第一厂）
And I was like "WOW" after hearing it!
Wondered how it looks like~ XDDD

*There was flags of countries all over the world hanging outside the factory~Hmm, quite grand huh?*

*Before entering the factory~*

Hmm, looks like I had really underestimated the factory~

All the flags outside the factory means that that the people from that country had been here before~

And not onli that, kings and queens from some countries too had used the products of the factory too~

Wow, Impressive!!

Well, due to the reasons that all the products from the factory are well copyright reserved~

So, we were not allowed to take all the photos regarding the process of making the silks there~

But still managed to snap this photo~

*The leaf were being named as 桑叶~  Silkworm(蚕蛹）only feed on these type of leaves for your info*

Next, we were being guided to see the process of extracting the silk being spit by the baby silkworm~

To our amazement, the silk was so tough that we cant even tore the whole silk apart by punching it~

And the hand of the lady that help to extract the silk before putting it in warm water and putting it back to the machines after that, is as smooth as a 5 year old kid's hand (P/S: The lady was 40+ ady for your info)

So, after that was a tour around the shops there~

There were many kind of sleeping amenities that includes blanket, pillows, etc~

And amongst all, the best seller there was a blanket named as "蚕丝被" (The silk blanket)~

Which would cost u around 1400RMB (人民币）with two of those silk blanket and one cushion~

It is a bit expensive but u will really feel comfortable and cold being covered by the blanket~

& that is without the service of the air-conditioner at home every night when you are sleeping~

Thumbs up for the silk blanket!! =)

Hmm, because of the limited budget~

Just went for some window-shopping with my family there~

So, soon after we found ourselves on the bus leaving the factory already~

But still, this factory is a must when you visit Suzhou! Remember ya =)

Back to the bus~

We went to the no.1 village in China~天下第一村-HuaXi Village (华西村）！

Wait, before leaving, there's another sentence that sounds like "上有天堂，下有苏杭”

"There is heaven, and there is Suzhou and Hangzhou!"

Really in love with those breathtaking sceneries in these two cities~

Hope can back to here in the future!

So, back to where I left out just now~

Well, I dont remember exactly how long did it took to reach there~

But, all I know was that we were supposed to visit a pagoda and to have our lunch there! =)

And our lunch was not a common one~

It was being called as "The First Bowl of The World"~~"天下第一碗"!!

Slurrp~Saliva's everywhere~ =p

*Hi, Hua Xi* =)

But, First~

Here's the pagoda we will visit first~

*The Golden Pagoda, here I come!* =)

Hmm, there's another thing to take note here too~

The leader of the village was someone named 吴仁宝~

And thanks to him that the village was able to achieve what it had today~

Not only that they manage to build this gorgeous tower, but they were on their way of building the world's 7 tallest building!!

Wow, really, never ever underestimate the lower ranked people! 

 *The houses there..Captured from the top of the pagoda~*

*The builiding with the shape of a globe on its tops was said to be the world's 7th tallest building! Awesome!* =)

Hmm, didnt heard much from the local guide on top of the tower~

After staying there for half an hour, it's lunch time!

And here's the big one!

*Tadaa, "天下第一碗！I bet that U havent' seen such big bowl before?!*

It consists of pork's, some veggies inside for your info, but still, it tastes good! =)

And after the lunch there, sad to said~

It was time to bid farewell to this lovely village~

So, managed to snap these few photos as memories~

*Managed to spot these two quotes...Meaningful，right?* =)

Before leaving, once again, paid a big salute & bow to this village & the leader!! 

So, we headed to our next stop then~

And after 2 hours and a half sitting in the bus, we finally reach the city of Nanjing (南京）！=)

And the first place of attraction that we gone to would be the Nanjing Memorial Hall~

In chinese the name was 侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆~

The place was built in memory of those who got killed in the 1937 incident, where the Japanese had intruded the city and killed those innocent citizens around~

It was one of the black incidents in the history of China's~

And so, the tour guide advised us not to smile or joke around in the area and tried not to snatch photos everywhere~

This was as a sign of respect to all those deceased~ 

 *Some statues outside the memorial park~No mood to celebrate my arrival at Nanjing*

*See those figures? Well, it was estimated that around 300.000 people were killed by the Japanese~Mourn for them, may them rest in peace* ='(

Well, according to our tour guide which was a local citizen~

There will be a bell ringing on the 13th of December every year~

Purpose of doing so was to act as a reminder for every citizens of Nanjing about the incident that took place here the same day in 1937~

Next, this was another photo around the memorial park~

*The building symbolizes how it looks like before the war, the piece of land symbolizes the aftermath of the war, with the woman in statue looking at her loved one's at nowhere, while the green grass nearby symbolizes hope* Pathetic scene~ ='(

It really feel bad to witness by your own eyes on all the skulls of the deceased~

Some of them died horribly~

Being slashed for 40++ in the bodies~

And the place was just so creepy sometimes~

Yet it was just so touching as well, as when we finished taking a tour from the memorial hall, we found the "Statue Liberty of Peace"!!

 *The Statue Liberty of Peace*

*Peace in my hands, Said No To WARS! *

May all the people can lead a harmony and peaceful life ever after~~

Right next, we went to have a walk at the parks nearby~

Let's the picha's do the talking this time =)

 *Checked in at "The Stone City", hilarious name* =p

*Ghost Face Valley (鬼脸谷)* =p

 *The Four Of Us* 

*It seems like a perfect place to hang around for family in the evening*

 *A moment of brilliance from my lil bro~Love this photo! 8 <3

So, a trip to the "Stone City" was soon followed by a dinner at the restaurant nearby~

And soon, we were on our way back to our hotel~

That concludes day 3 generally~

A day of mixed feelings I would said~

Time to off folks~

Good Night and do stay tuned for the next posts~ =)

Till then, bye！

*A Date With Nanjing / Wuxi (我与南京、无锡有约)

A Date With Hangzhou / Suzhou (我与杭州、苏州有约)

Day 2 in China~
Today after the breakfast in hotel, we went to a tea farm~
Ehh, before that, we received a bad news~
It actually raining in Hangzhou that time~='(
Well, this scene was considered common there~
Given the fact that The City of Hangzhou was being granted the name of "Rain City"~
As in a year of 365 days, it will be raining for about 200 days in Hangzhou~~

Hmm, that's for another info on Hangzhou~
Next, the place we went is a famous tea farm named as “梅家庄”~
It was known for theproduction of the famous "西湖龙井茶" which had attracted many big names to come here to taste it~

* The leaves of the tea tree*

Here's how it looks like at ”梅家庄“~

One of the big names that was here to taste the tea before was the famous novel writer, 金庸 and here's his comment about the tea~

Seing what he wrote, suddenly feel like wanna have a taste of the tea~

And thank god, the tour granted my wish~

This is because we were being brought to a show room later~

Where there is a person who will demonstrate on how to serve the tea, the functions of tea and most importantly, "A glass of 西湖龙井茶"!!!

* 西湖龙井茶*

Hmm, what's so special about this tea?

Well, according to the expert there~

The tea helps in:-

1. Has a strong role in the elimination of harmful free radicals. (具有很强的消除有害的自由基作用）
2. Anti-aging effects (抗衰老作用）
3. Anti-radiation (抗辐射作用）

Hmm, i guess that's what makes it so popular amongst all those teas in China~

And for your info, it was not that cheap too~

There were various package of tea on sale and the cheapest would costs you around 600RMB (人民币)~

That certainly highlights how good the tea was~

  *The tea polyphenol capsules~It will costs u around 1000 RMB with four of these *

Due to the price of the tea, my dad just bought 1/2 kg of the tea packages which costs us around 600 RMB (人民币）~

However, we did bought ourselves something to eat~

We managed to bought some cookies, sweets, etc..

Thus, with the visit to the tea farm, we officially finished our tour in Hangzhou and headed to the next city~

About 2 hours of driving, we reach the city of Suzhou/苏州~

And here's a brief info for the city of Suzhou/苏州~

1. The birthplace of many pretty girls like Carina Lau (刘嘉玲)~There was a saying that people purposely went to Suzhou just to see the pretty girls around~（丫头）
2. The manufacture place of graded silk that was being used by the ancient emperor (绫罗绸缎）
3. Produce a kind of rice being named as the "Pearl Rice" （珍珠米）

So, that's all u need to know about this city which had a population of 6 million people~

Once we reach Suzhou, we were taken to an ancient Chinese temple~

The name of the temple was "Han Shan" (寒山寺）~

What's so special about this temple?

*A scene nearby the temple*

*Take a photo with dear bro before entering the temple*

Well, according to the tour guide, every new year there will be millions of people gathering at the limited compound here to celebrate the Happy New Year~

Why so? This was because the temple will ring the bell for 108 times, where each time carries the meaning of one problem~

As soon as the bell had been rang for 108 times, all the 108 troubles or problems according to the Chinese custom will be gone~Hmm, interesting, huh? =)

And here's the surrounding of the temple~

 * Ancient furnace being spotted! *

* The rain didnt stop all those devotees to offer their prayings here~*

 *A pagoda inside the temple*

 *A view from the pagoda above*

*It looks like an ancient residue for the rich for me* =p

And found a Buddha statue here~

* The one with a lotus in his hand was a monk named Han Shan while the one with a bottle in his hand was his brother Ming De..Together, they try to convey the message of P.E.A.C.E to all~*  

We stay there for 1 hour~

After that, we were being taken to a restaurant to have our dinner~

And at there, we managed to have a taste of the "Pearl Rice" i mentioned above~

Sorry for not posting the photos, but the rice was just nice~

It was pure white in colour, a bit oily, possess a sweet taste and is full of nutritions such as proteins~

Conclusion: U cant miss out on this when U r in Suzhou!!

So, when we finished eating our dinner, it was already night in Suzhou~

Therefore, the tour guide just brought us to the city area, gave us some time and allowed us to have a look at the view there~~

And here's Suzhou at night:-

*Not bad huh? Attracted to the scene as soon as we went down from the bus* =p

 * Dad & Mom Posing*

 * Lights anywhere 1*

 * Lights anywhere 2* XDD

*Managed to capture this before leaving~Pretty cool huh?*

So, that's all for my day 2 in China~

Do stay tuned for my next posts folks~
Till then, c ya~ =)

*A Date With Suzhou / Nanjing (我与苏州、南京有约)*