After I was a little frustrated about the visiting to "Yu-Garden" last Friday, my family decided to have a trip to one of the nearby so called "water-towns". So in the morning we went to "Zhujiaojia", the "Venice of Shanghai". Even though Venice is just a tinylittle bit different they have actually a bridge at "Zhujiaojia" that looks like the small version of the "Rialto" in Venice. But enough of this.
As we arrived we went to a shop where a chinese guy was selling Jazz-CDs for about two Euros. My hostmum loooves Jazz so we spend quite a lot time there. The Owner of the place could not speak English, French or any other language he was selling but he had a GREAT sellection of music. I bought three CDs: "Music&Me" by Micheal Jackson (it is crazy when you you hear the young-Michaels voice), a Elvis Costello and some Tibetian Jazz-Electronic CD which sounds sooo strange that it is actually really good and it has sound that is so unusual to here that you can not stop listening to it!
But this CD-shop was not the only highlight in the water-town. Event though it was boiling hot we wandered around the small, narrow streets and next to the channels. Suprisingly the village was not fully of tourist or lets say it were not so many of them that you would be really enoyed. There were several restaurants and teahouses right next to the channel that it was hard to make a decision where to go for lunch! All those places looked so fantastic peacefull. All shops where you could buy traditional paintings, instruments and other small and cheap stuff where located in up to 500 years old buildings. With the white painted walls and the black roofs they looked really authentic. Another highlight of the tour was the house, or better to say the estate of the former richest person in the village Ma Wen Qing. The compound of his estate was huge and I every corner I found something special or interesting. One of these special things was an huuge stone in the shape of a horse. The families name "Ma" means horse. Or in the middle of a small bamboo-forest there where a table with for seats made of stone. In those moments I felt more freedom and peace then you usually get in Shanghai. Nad maybe that was the mytic about this place. For me it was a welcomed change of scenery.
The most exciting thing in "Zhujiaojia" is the boat ride. You can pay a guy for taking you on a small trips through the channels and onto a small lake. From the waterfront it is ways more interesting to see the traditional village. Me and my hostfamily really enjoyed the time on the Chinese "gondola". I felt very satisfied to see that China is not just full of commerce and huge skyscrapers, even though I indeed love those sides of my living in Shanghai.
That trip was a good end for the weekend and gave me fresh power for the new week...though this fresh power was completly distroyed by the heat that I have to live with in SH! At 8 pm. it was still 31 °C hot, no wait...boooiling! It is so crazy to have such temperatures when theres constantly bad weather in Hamburg. Hopefully its going to be a little colder till Wednesday because this will be my "moving-day".
AAAAND i got some more information about my new hostfamily. In this family there are living four persons: Mother (accountant), father (engineer), daughter (15) and their grandmother (very very old!). I am not quite shure if I am soo happy with that but it will be definitly a huge experience for me:-)
This Wednesday also represents the start of the "Mid Autumn Festival" but about that more tomorrow;-)
Hope you are enjoying my reports!
Take care wherever you guys are in the world.
L.
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