Shanghai Off The Beaten Path

Rainbow Bridge

A wood log bridge built by Chinese and American engineers using ancient (12th century) technique (you may have already seen it on PBS special program about it).

Location: Jin1 Ze2 town, Qing1 Pu2 county, Shanghai
The town is between Suzhou and Shanghai.

Website for the story:
http://www.pubs.asce.org/ceonline/ceonline00/0500feat.html

The only thing you must see outsid eof Shanghai is the 'Venice of Asia' Zhouzhuan not usre of that spelling . BUt it is like venice in every way but miniture. It is very pretty and has an amazing history but beware it has all the annoying tourist shops and touts.

If you're planning on taking the train/bus out of Shanghai, consider buying you're ticket through the hotel's business center. You'll save much more and it'll wipe out the hassle of having to explain yourself to a the Chinese working at the station...
The ticket's usually given to you a few hours later or early the next morning, which is also very convenient.

The pic shows 'shi ku men'. This type of buildings is very common in the past.As Shanghai is developing fast,less such buildings have left.If you advert some corners along the street,you'll find them.

Go to Zhouzhang - it is about 100 km west of Shanghai. Zhouzhang, known widely as the 'Venice of China' and is said to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site (although I doubted it as I believe that only Lijiang in Yunnan is a Unesco Site). Zhouzhang is a quaint, old-style town, with no vehicles allowed in the center. You can however travel to the centre there on trishaws.

There are lots of bridges over the canals and you can venture along the stone walkway and look at the many souvenier shops. There are also lots of artists that would do a quick portrait sketch or some made dough models of yourself etc for a small fee. Or you could get a ride on a gondola. The pier is inside a stone cottage, with winding steel railings. The ride is quite interesting, and you go down the narrow canal, under arched bridges and past many teahouses, small hotels etc. But again, there is one too many of these gondolas along the very narrow canal.

Located on Zhongshan Road(E) of Songjiang County, the Square Pagoda was erected in Yuan You period of the Song Dynasty(949-1094 AD.). It is one of the best-known pagodas south of the Yangtse River and follows the type of Buddhist square pagoda of Tang Dynasty. In front of the Square Pagoda stands a brick screen wall on which is sculptured a legendary creature named 'Tan' featuring deer's antlers, lion's tail , dragon's scale and ox's hoofs.

It was very funny to see this kid walking with his parents with his pants opened up. I thought it was just something out of the ordinary till I met some people on my flight home who also saw kids with their trousers opened. It makes potty training easier. I guess it saves time when you gotta go.

If you get a chance go to The SuzhouNo.1 Silk Mill. It is well worth the trip. You see the different stages of how silk is made and you can even grab a silk cocoon as a souvenir. They also have an extensive store outlet and fashion show. By the time you've seen the fashion show you gotta buy some silk ! I bought the silk quilt quilts with silk filling which was a popular item of the mill. Several people on my tour bus bought them and knew of the warmth they provide. Sure enough when I used it at home it was light and quite warm. A heavy weight Queen size cost 600 Yuan or $72. People from Canada on the tour knew of the quilts warmth. If it warms those cold Canadian nights it must be good.