Shanghai

I didn't take many photos in Shanghai-- to be honest I thought the city was a bit overrated. The French Concession was just okay, the Bund is definitely prettier at night and the Shanghai Subway system is fairly easy to use. I'm a pro at hailing taxis in Shanghai, but not in San Francisco and New York City. Weird.

We had a free day in Shanghai, so I spent it with my mother, aunt and grandma. We went to the MoCa (Museum of Contemporary Art) and went shopping and to the French Concession. I found a MCM store (my favorite underrated luxury brand) and fell in love over again with their designs.

Suzhou

Silk factory

Beijing

First city stop on the tour was Beijing. We had about three days of tourist sight seeing to do.

We saw:
1. Tiananmen Square
2. Forbidden City
3. Summer Palace
4. Great Wall
5. Bird's Nest / Water Cube
6. Hutong villages
7. Sacred Way of Ming Tombs
8. Temple of Heaven

I wish we had a free day in Beijing because I really wanted to spend time with my friend from Art Center Zhe Chen. A fellow photographer with such beautiful fine art work. She had a gallery show in Beijing that I wish I went to see if I had more free time.

Chengdu

One of the stops along our tour was Chengdu. Chengdu is only really known for their Sichuan province spicy food and the Pandas.

Pandas are #cuteoverload. I can't help it. They were adorable!
We went to the Panda Base and it was basically a place for Panda breeding research and a "Panda zoo". The weather was too hot and humid and Pandas are subjected to heatstroke if out in hot weather. So they were mostly in cages.

I was able to hold a Panda for 5 minutes for $150 American dollars.
One in a lifetime thing. It was so worth it. They make you put on a surgical gown and gloves and footie covers for your shoes and they bring the Panda out and the workers take your picture holding it. They give them food to eat. The Panda I was holding was eating watermelon! om nom nom.

My new friend on the tour, Trent and I skipped the schedule dinner and walked around Chengdu. It was full of young kids, mostly girls. And in the downtown area you would see wowo's (Japanese 7-11's), McDonald's, KFC's, Pizza Huts & major shopping centers and night markets. To be honest, I think soft serve vanilla ice cream from McDonald's tastes better in China (especially when its 3 yuan. which is not even a USD).

Hong Kong

One of the stops along the China Spree tour was Hong Kong. We spent the weekend (04/30-05/02) there. We had a free day in Hong Kong so my mother, my aunt, grandma and I went to visit our family friends-- May and her mother (who I had to refer to as Gu Pua in Cantonese. pronouced: goo-po-ah). Gu Pua was my grandma's caretaker when she was growing up in Hong Kong. Ironically my grandma's caretaker is a couple years younger than her so I guess they grew up together and have become very good friends. They showed us around Hong Kong, rode the MTR, went shopping, ate dim sum. Gu Pua took me to get a haircut with the same 20something Chinese girl who cuts her hair. A $14 haircut-- not so shabby.

We also went to a fortune teller at the Buddhist temple, who had told me to "not drink so heavily" and that I will have 3 kids and have two husbands if I marry before I'm 26. It was kind of scary how accurate she was about certain things. Examples: She knew my 2010 was a TERRIBLE year, that I've been heavily drinking the past few months, that I need to move away from my hometown in order for my career to thrive.

A few observations:
1. There are a lot of Chinese Muslims in Hong Kong. It was kind of a culture shock to see Chinese women wearing the traditional Muslim headscarves.
2. 7 day labor day holiday in China means everybody in China goes to Hong Kong for holiday and shopping.
3. Asian girls are fashionable & skinny in Hong Kong (and Shanghai). I felt fat (yet I am 5'5" and 110lbs).
4. Filipinos that live in Hong Kong are mostly maids to (rich) Cantonese families.
5. Jumbo Seafood Palace is overrated.
6. Cantonese style food = amaaazing. Its what I grew up on.

Here are some photos from Hong Kong:

Forbidden City, Beijing

New York City

April was a busy month for me. Went to Seattle, Vancouver, New York, New Jersey and 8 different cities in China.

To be honest, I feel like I live three separate lives. One in San Francisco, one in Los Angeles and one in New York City. Each so separate, yet so intertwined.

Here are a few photos from my visit to New York in April.