Yue Fei mausoleum 4/5
It is a mausoleum that is built for commemoration of Yue Fei, a general in the Song Dynasty. He is best known for leading Southern Song forces in the wars in the 12th century between Southern Song and the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty in northern China before being put to death by the Southern Song government in 1142. The mausoleum was built to show that the people like Yue Fei a lot as he is very loyal to his country. The temple is very big and contains a lot of ancient stuff. There are four statues kneeling on the floor in a part of the mausoleum. They are the ones that made the plan to kill Yue Fei. In the past, many people spit at them due to the detest towards them, but due to hygienic reasons, spitting is prohibited.
I recommend that you visit the mausoleum if you visit as it is one of the trademarks near Westlake.
Leifeng Pagoda 4/5
The Leifeng Pagoda is a five storey tall tower located on Sunset Hill south of West Lake in Hangzhou. Originally constructed in the year AD 975, it collapsed in 1924 but was rebuilt in 2002, since then it has been a popular tourist attraction because of the Legend of the White Snake, and it is said that the White Snake was trapped in. I rate this place a 4/5 as once you enter the pagoda, all seems very modern, and hardly anything like if the White Snake was trapped here.
It was full of shops and information on the wall, telling tourists about the history of this place. We had to climb 5 flights of stairs to get to the top of the tower as the lift only went to the 4th storey, and it was buzzing with tourists. However, the five flights of stairs were certainly worthy to climb! Once we got to the 5th storey, the view there was magnificent. It showed the entire West Lake and it was a beautiful sight and place for sightseeing. The West Lake looked calming and clean, and there were trees and buildings all around it.
It is definitely a place I would recommend for sightseeing!
Hai Di Lao 2/5
After visiting Shanghai Nanyang High School, we excitedly moved on to Hai Di Lao for our lunch. This is the meal that we were most looking forward to and excited about, as we have heard many good reviews about Hai Di Lao's fantastic services.
When we entered, we noticed that the place not crowded and there were only a fair few people dining. As our tables were taken, we even had to stand at one side to wait until the others had finished eating, and also for the waiters to clean the table. When we were finally seated, the waiter handed us some hot towels and explained to us how the name "Hai Di Lao" came about and what it meant.
However, they did not give us any plates or utensils, so we sat there dumbfounded. In the end, we still had to ask for it ourselves. The meal had finally started and we realised that the first dish was mutton, and one of our friends at the table could not eat it, so we asked the waiter if we could change it for something else. The waiter did not respond so we decided to put it in at the very last.
We kept running out of food and the waiters did nothing about it, so we had to keep going outside for the extra food. Later on, someone came to perform with the noodles but apparently, he failed and we were not paying much attention to them. We noticed that they paid more attention to the other 2 tables our classmates were seated in, and those tables also sat the teachers. We felt this was unfair as they were not showing us the same amount of respect as the others. The food was fairly alright but there was hardly enough for a table of 11. We then left Hai Di Lao feeling very disappointed as the service really did not live up to our expectations after hearing so many good reviews online and from our very own seniors.
Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone 3/5
Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone is one of the major financial center of Shanghai in China, located in the Pudong New Area, Huangpu River, facing the Bund. The total area of the entire financial trade zone a total of 28 square kilometers, including planning and development area of 6.8 square kilometers, about 100 buildings have been completed. The interior of the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone is beautifully furnished. Although it is one of the most important places of Shanghai, the things there are more catered towards the working population and a bite officials for us teens to understand it. It is not a place for us to have fun, it is a place for us to learn.
Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall: 4/5
The Exhibition Center is a six-story building, with two basement levels, which displays Shanghai's urban planning and development. It covers an area of over 0.4 hectare and rises 142 feet high. The main focus of the exhibition hall is a large model of the whole urban Shanghai, showing existing buildings and approved future buildings. Other exhibits relate to Shanghai's history and other planned buildings, including smaller scaled models of places of interest such as the Bund.
I rate it 4 stars because the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall shows a great overall history and shows how Shanghai has improved from the past. It shows the great difference between how Shanghai looks like in the past and the present. It showed all the details that make up Shanghai and all the future plans of the city.
书城 Shanghai Book City 4/5
The 4-story building cannot be missed if you walk along Fuzhou Road with big words painted on the side of the building '上海书城‘ which means Shanghai Book City. The book store was really massive, it was seven stories high, that really surprised me.
Inside the book store , there were large varieties of books that ranged from physical health, food, studies etc and also a small corner where all the English books were. If you were to go in, you definitely would come out with books in your hand.
The bookstore was unlike "Popular" in singapore whereby you can finish walking in 5 minutes. The bookstore there needed at least one hour to walk through all the corners. I liked it as it is very big and there are many different types of books that can cater to the different needs of the people. You can find every mandarin book you ever want.
Also, there are cafés inside the bookshop whereby if the shopper was tired, they could rest there and have a tea break. Overall I feel that the book city is a good place to visit if one was in Shanghai as it changes ones perspective about bookshops.
Cheng Huang Miao, Nanjing Road, Wen Miao Road, Tian Zi Fang,Qinghefang Ancient Street,Qibao Ancient Town 4/5
The streets of Shanghai and Hangzhou are very crowded and noisy. However, looking past those two factors, they sell a lot of cheap items for example a SnapBack for only 5SGD, which if bought in Singapore is around 15 SGD, the cheapest that we have seen in Singapore so far.
The streets are not very clean and lacks dustbins but it is bearable just that while walking one has to be cautious to not step on other's phlegm. The streets that we have been to are mostly preserved to preserve the heritage sites for example Chen Huang Miao, the government decided to turn the temple into a tourist attraction so that they will be able to attract tourists to china and at the same time preserve the temple.
Walking around the streets, there are a lot of cafés and restaurants around and also small carts that are pushed around that sells some different types of street food like onion pancakes and noodles etc. We realized that in the different streets, there were people walking around selling the same item and every time after one has shouted a price to us, the other would lower the price so as to make us tempted to buy it. They were a bit irritating but we could understand that they only pestered us because they need to make a living.
Overall, I would say that the streets are easy to walk in with many cheap items to shop for and since they are quite big, there is a large range of items sold. The streets are not only there for shopping but also to preserve the heritage sites, carrying on the tradition of China.
For example in QingHeFang , there were shops at 2 sides of a wide road and down the middle, there were pushcarts and they sold many small items and handmade things such as paper cuttings, paintings that are sewn, and also custom stamps. The streets may look the same from the outside but while slowly exploring through the shops, the different types of specialities can be seen and thus making each street unique in its own way.
(Cheng Huang Miao)
Shanghai SSAW Boyang Hotel 4/5
This hotel was pretty good. Their bed and blankets were very comfortable. Their television was big and new. There was also broadband Wi-fi network which was convenient for guests as we can us social medias and contact our family in our own hotel room, without disturbing other guests in the hotel. They also provide us with shower gel, shampoo and conditioner so it was much more convenient.
There was also a iPhone player. I think that SSAW Boyang Hotel has a pretty marvelous atmosphere. There is also a gym in the hotel for those who wants to exercise. It is good as there may people who are worried that they have gained weight etc. i feel that their Breakfast was great too. The food was pretty delicious and it matches our diet since it wasn't as salty and oily as the food we ate in the other restaurants.
However, I would not rate it 5 stars as the toilet doors could not be locked and it seems like it may open really easily.
Hangzhou Vina Hotel 2/5
The hotel is not as good as expected. The hotel had someone handing out cards with explicit and inappropriate content on them. I feel that the hotel does not have good security. I think that it is disturbing and inappropriate for us.
They only provided a soap. So I think it could be improved by providing at least shower gel and shampoo.
There was no wi-if network in the rooms. So if we wanted to use Wi-Fi, we had to use the Wi-Fi in the lobby which had a weak connection moreover since the next day was the flight back to Singapore, we could not contact our parents. I think they should at least have wifi with a stronger connection at the lobby. There was also no gym in the hotel which was a little troublesome for those who wants to exercise. The breakfast was also awful. The food were a little cold and it was not as delicious as I thought it would be.
However, I will give it 2 stars as the room was quite big.
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