For the last two days of our attempt to visit Shanghai’s tourist attractions, my friends and I went to West Nanjing Area (May 3) and Changning (May 4) by visiting the famed art district 50 Moganshan Road Art Centre, Jade Buddha Temple, Jing’an Temple, a bargain market called “580” and Qibao, an old town in southern Shanghai.

50 Moganshan Road Art Centre

SOHO is to New York City as 50 Moganshan Road is to Shanghai. This street is located near the Suzhou Creek Area and houses contemporary art galleries. Several top artists like Zhou Tiehai and Ding Yi keep their studios here. Be awed by the different art pieces that can be seen in 50M.

Must-visit: ShanghART – the most established gallery in the area.

Jade Buddha Temple

Located in the western part of Shanghai, Jade Buddha Temple is one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Shanghai. It was built in 1882 to keep two jade Buddha statues which were brought from Burma - jade Buddha and the reclining Buddha.

   

Jing'an Temple (Temple of Tranquility) is the most famous landmark in Jing'an District, from which the district obtained its name. It is known as the oldest shrine in the city. The temple is undergoing construction so we weren't able to enter its premises.

Qibao

Located in the center of Minhang District of Shanghai, only 18 kilometers (11.18 miles) from the downtown area, Qibao Ancient Town will get you out of Shanghai with its arched bridges, street foods, pinched alleyways, etc. It will make you forget that you are in Shanghai, an advanced city. 

We visited Taobao City or "580", a 5-storey building which houses quality goods at lower costs. It is located in No. 580 West Nanjing Road (hence the name). 

I was able to buy a “chap” which contains my Chinese name: An Wen

A really nice shoes. I love it!

Cheap Oakley shades which I bought at 30 RMB.

Of course, magnets which is my personal collection. I usually take home a souvenir magnet in all the places that I have visited.

With two months to go before we return to the Philippines, it's a must that we discover and explore other interesting places in Shanghai. 

If there’s one thing that I love being part of the Yin-Yang Pandas (our batch’s name), we always see to it that we celebrate our birthdays with a bang. Kahit noong nasa first semester pa lang kami sa Manila, we’ve always strive to be as creative as possible sa mga birthday surprises ng isa’t isa. Past gimmicks include: harana (Argee’s), cupcake decoration (Rain’s), Flower power (Zee’s), Up, up and away (KM’s), etc.

So for the month of April, we celebrated the birthday of three Pandas: Celcius, Renee and Jay-R

Celcius’ Birthday Celebration (April 13). Since Celcius loves beauty pageants, we thought of giving him a birthday celebration ala Miss Universe. All the awards and the crown went of course to Miss Venezuela, Celcius Juachon.

Renee’s Birthday (April 16). Renee celebrated her 25^th birthday through a mini-musical variety show. The concept was hatched after Jay-R (Socials Committee head) and I (being Xiamen Class’ “unofficial” representative) thought that it’s time that we give a performance to Renee since almost every event that the batch is required to perform she has taken the lead in organizing the group. 

It's supposed to be a batch monthsary dinner but the birthday girl has no idea that we prepared a mini-program for her.

Boyz Avenue (Desi, Ritch, Fred, Jay-R, Ben and I) serenaded Renee with the song “My Girl”

Xiamen Class Girls (Age, Rhea, and Sigh) and Beijing Class Girls (Evert, Ace, Lis) teamed up to perform “Nobody”  by the Korean pop group Wondergirls. 

Jap and Celcius a.k.a. Divas-tation danced to the tune of “Proud Mary”. 

Give it up for KM a.k.a. Lady Bao Ru! KM, one of our batchmate, together with the Shanghai Class Girls performed Lady Gaga's Paparazzi.

Last April 27, we celebrated Jay-R's birthday by singing one of his favorite songs: "Smile" on his room. It's the day before our midterms exams but we've managed to have a little surprise for him.  

Jay-R did not expect that we still have a surprise for him during the last day of the exams on April 29. We prepared a mini-Amazing Race for him. One of the pitstop is at the statue of Mao Tse Tung at Fudan University. Jay-R was asked to pose for his most creative photo with Chairman Mao.

After Jay-R's Amazing Race, we played Pinoy games and had our we've-just-finished-midterms photo!

Aside from birthday surprises, one thing that I'll surely miss on our batch is our fun fun moments. Back in Manila, we always have our Badminton and Bowling Day, Movie Day, etc. Here in Shanghai, some of us have their daily tai-chi sessions, cards game day, movie marathon night, salu-salo, etc. So last May 1, we've had our Filipino Lunch Day. It's obvious that we really miss the Philippines because of the high turnout of scholars who joined our salu-salo over chopsuey, rellenong talong, adobong baboy and manok, enselada, etc.

  Thanks to Sol, Ace, Rhea, RG, Tiff V., Chanty, and Age for the sumptuous lunch. Renee for the "tuyo" and Evert and Ben for the chopsuey.

To the Yin-Yang Pandas, we're down to our last two and a half months here so let's spend the next few months with more birthday surprises and more fun memories!

P.S. Today marks one of the most historic events in Philippines - the first automated elections. May the best candidates win! Go Noy-Mar! Kaya pa! Laban pa!

April 4-11 was a very memorable week for all foreign students in Fudan University. Coinciding with the Tomb Sweeping Holiday in China, the university held a long-week field trip for foreign students. We're asked to choose over eight destination sights including Beijing, Xi’an and Yun’an, Guilin, Xiamen, and Zhangjiajie.

My friends and I were supposed to go to Beijing but we decided to go to Zhangjiajie instead. The place recently became famous because of the 3D movie “Avatar” helmed by Hollywood director James Cameron. According to Chinatravel.net, Zhangjiajie “lies on the border of Hunan, the main draw is the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, which is made up of the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Suoxi Valley, Tianzishan mountain ranges and Baofeng Hu. Avid hikers and nature lovers flock to Zhangjiajie explore the mountains, caves and forests of the area, enjoying one of China's most famed landscapes." 

It's a 20-hour train ride going to Zhangjiajie. We took the "T" train which is a hard-sleeper train. A bunker consists of six beds. I stayed on the “first floor” during the train ride going to our destination.

At the "first floor" with my friends Desi (L) and Ritchie (R)

We spent our first day (April 7) on the place visiting its old town and rafting at the Mengdong River. 

  Photos of the Old Town

Mengdong River Water Rafting

Day 2 (April 8)  - We woke up early to see the magnificent mountains of Zhangjiajie. Our group walked along the the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park for three hours stopping by at times to rest and take photos of the beautiful scenery. The park was declared as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1992.

In the afternoon, we rode a boat to have a closer look at Zhangjiajie’s towering mountains swathed in green hues. It was an awesome experience! The locals also serenaded us with a folk song. The view during the boat ride reminded me of our very own Coron in Palawan.

Third day’s (April 9) highlight: We went to the exact location where the movie “Avatar” was shot – the Hallelujiah Mountains. 

We have to ride an elevator to go "up" and a cable car to go "down".

 





 














Aside from the sights, another highlight of the trip is the food. For me, Zhangjiajie’s cuisine is “hai keyi” in Chinese meaning “puwede na!” in Filipino. Compared to my friends, I find Zhangjiajie dishes tolerable. Let’s just say yours truly is more adventurous in food tripping! Hunan cuisine (Zhangjiajie belongs to the Hunan province) has some similarities with Filipino food like sautéed “kuhol” or snails, a dish similar to Sinampalukang Manok (Chicken in tamarind-based soup) and my Sunday favorite Nilagang Baka. 

 
   
  

Our last day in Zhangjiajie was spent visiting the Yellow Dragon Cave – one of Zhangjiajie’s tourist spots. Too bad that the local tourism board of Zhangjiajie decided to put artificial lights inside the cave instead of utilizing its natural beauty to captivate tourists.

We took the after-lunch train ride going to Shanghai. It’s another looooong train ride for us. Thanks to my iTouch who's my companion as I watched movies, listened to my playlist, and practiced my Mandarin skills by talking to the local passengers. As I grasped for words when I was talking to the locals, the "Dianhua" or the Chinese dictionary application of my iTouch became my savior! Yay for that! 

Ritchie, Aiz, Desi, Ace and I enjoyed our “kuwentuhan” too much. We didn't notice that it's already 4: 00 in the morning the next day (April 11).

At around 11:30 in the morning, our train stopped at the Shanghai South Railway Station - our destination.

Thank you for an awesome one-week break from school, Zhangjiajie! Cheers to more travelocity!

Next Stop: China's Old Capital - Nanjing!