Fall 2010 in our park at the Faculty club

Dec in SJTU, Shanghai, China

Hello, you can see by the clothing that we have skipped a few days since the last posting. It is now Dec and we have a special visitor with us. Charles as Santa. This is the first time that any of these student have actually talked with Santa. A very interesting discussion.

Here is a close up view of the walkway including the modern cargo and transportation vehicle used along the waterway and throughout much of Asia. This town is also know for the decorative tile work used on their roofs. You can imagine what the roofs look like if you look at the floor of the walkway. Can you see the patterns?

This is a view from the top of one of the boat docks. They allow the tourist room to stop and look at the town. This one as you can see has a variety of plants. The owner must enjoy growing their own fresh vegetables. Here is a good view of one of the hanging lanterns used to decorate the town. The river is always a brown color but even more so this trip due to the heavy rains that have fallen over the past several weeks up river. There are some severe floods at this time with property damage along the rivers way to the East of us.

This is a river view of Xitang from the top of one of the many bridges. You can see the narrow walkway in front of the shops and the living areas on the second floor. Many shops add hanging displays to encourge you to shop in their store. There were many hanging lanterns to celebrate the Mid-Autumn holiday. There are boat docks along the river so the boats can unload cargo. Although, if you look close you may be able to see todays cargo hauler - the motor bike. Yes, it is difficult to ride one on the narrow walk way - but they do manage.

This is a view of 2 of the many bridges of Xitang. There are tour boats to travel the waterways from point to point. When you are on the boats you can imagine you are traveling in ancient China. It is very relaxing after walking for several hours. Like any tourist town it is full of tourist enjoying the shopping and history. There are local artist creating and selling their crafts. It is fun to see them create something that allows you take home a bit of history and place on your shelf to add to your memories of Xitang.

Oct 1, 2010 - On Mid-Autumn Festival we visited Xitang an historic watertown near Shangahi. It is a well known tourist destination. Most of the buildings are about 400 years old. The town has existed for over 1,000 years. It is a nice place to visit and enjoy some tourist shopping. There are 8 watereways that come together here and many bridges to cross from one side to the other. We walked around for 6 hours and did not see it all. People live in the houses with small shops in the front. There are many restaurants and overnight accomodations, like a bed and breakfast.