Chongming retreat

We celebrated St.Patrick's Day on a Friday and took off for Chongming Island on Saturday morning, on about 3 hours of sleep. Carol, our translator has a quick synopsis of what went on that weekend. She led us around like cattle for next two days :).

My favorite part was when our tour guide drove us, on Sunday morning, for an hour to show us the island's coastline. Hungry and sleepy, we were cruising along in anticipation of the sea and a casual stroll on the beach. We decided not to waste time on breakfast and bought this gigantic box of cookies and some strange looking candy to tide us over. And then the car stops and we're parked in front of an infinite marshland. Carol announces chirpily, "This IS the coastline" before bursting into hysterical laughter. The only creatures taking a stroll there were the water buffaloes.

The island was actually set up to be quite touristy. I could imagine hordes of Chinese families visiting each year. But there weren't many people at this time of the year (who would want to be there in the cold rain!). We went to a national park on the island, played tonnes of frisbee, rode the two-people bikes all over the place, and rock-climbed. It's a great day-trip from Shanghai and was the perfect break from our sight-seeing agenda.

Travelling in a new country is not about sightseeing alone. I can't sustain a non-stop schedule and need some time to switch off and just relax, which is what Chongming was for me. It wasn't about being in China, it was about being close(r) to nature and retreating from urban chaos.