Weekends With Bernie!

have you ever met a amazing friend while on the road and then met up with them years later? We’ve gone to visit travel friends in England, but this time we were having someone come and see us! 

We’ve been travelling around for 3 years and have yet to have any visitors…which is understandable while actually backpacking around, but considering that we’ve been living in China for 9 months and are stationed in one spot, it’s the best time to have visitors, and so came our Canadian friend Bernie.

We first met Bernie in 2011 in Egypt. We spent a couple of weeks together before parting ways. We then met up again in Jordan for a few days and after that in Lebanon for a week. We regrouped again during the same world trip in Nepal! We spent some time together there before saying our final goodbyes (or so we thought).

Some best friends here! us with Bernie and his spouse, Toni in Nepal
Bernie has been travelling around SE Asia for the last couple of months and made a special trip to China just to see us! We hadn’t seen each other for nearly a year and a half and we were stoked for the reunion.

We met him at the airport in Shanghai and so began our 2 weeks of exploring and checking out together. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the weekends off from work, but we still managed to have a great time.

The popular skyline in Shanghai
We spent 2 nights in the modern metropolis of Shanghai wandering around the French Concession area, the old town, People’s Square, the walking street and of course, the Bund.

Nick & Bernie enjoying the sights of the old buildings on the Bund in Shanghai
Checking out the old town where people were chopping up meats, sewing together leather shoes, doing laundry by hand and having tea was the best part of being in the big city. We’ve been to Shanghai a few times now and never get sick of the terrific ways of the people in the old area of town.

Exploring the old lanes in Shanghai

We introduced Bernie to the beer of China, Tsingtao, and Shanghai’s popular dumplings and before we knew it, our 2 nights there were up.

Shanghai’s popular dumplings! So good.
We boarded the fast train back to Yangzhou and showed him around our home. We enjoyed a friend play guitar at a coffee house, ate Dongbei food and had a big night out with a group of friends. we all scarfed down a delicious hot-pot meal before busting a step on the dance floor at a nearby bar and winning every game on the pool table! Bernie was a pool shark that night.

Having a great time at the bar in Yangzhou
The following day (after a bit of a late start to the day!) we made our way down to the Old town of Yangzhou. The trees are in bloom this time of year and all along the canals was some sensational scenery. We zigged and zagged all over the alley ways and along the canals before making our way back to have some normal Yangzhou food for dinner.

Man fishing along the canal near the old town in Yangzhou
It’s spring time!
We were debating where to choose the next week that we were off of work and made a decision on Hangzhou, and are so delighted we did! This amazing city is about 300kms south from our home town of Yangzhou and is known for its massive, beautiful lake and old town.

Beautiful Hangzhou West Lake
We hadn’t seen mountains or hills in a long time so when we arrived in Hangzhou, we were pleasantly shocked at the lush, green hillsides surrounding the city. We had some chats, delicious street food and beers and planned to walk part way around the massive lake the next day.

Nick hiking in the hills surrounding Hangzhou West Lake

The water was clear, the trees were all in bloom and the local people wandering around the lake were incredibly friendly. We couldn’t walk a lot more than a few steps without someone wanting to try to speak to us and take a photo with us…as usual! We ended up sauntering around half of the lake before taking to the hills. I haven’t seen greenery like that in a long time, it was stunning. The hills were dotted with temples and it was silent, the best retreat from the city.

Having a photo taken with local people in Hangzhou…one of many!

The following day we were figured out to tackle the other half of the lake. We set off and took pleasure in yet another perfectly clear, sunny and awesome day in Hangzhou.

Nick enjoying a day at the lake in Hangzhou

During the evening we had some local food, a bottle of white wine and Bernie even sampled the Chinese alcohol, baijiu aka, gasoline in a bottle! We made our way down to the lake area just in time for a water and light show, which we didn’t even know about! It was great.

The water show on the lake in Hangzhou

It was so great to get out of Yangzhou and have a great holiday with our buddy Bernie! He’s heading back to Canada tomorrow, but something tells me we’ll be seeing each other again in the near future…

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