My trip to Manchester (1)
My expression of Manchester and Wilmslow,etc
It was the first time that I have taken train to travel in England. It was pleasant trip in general, despite the wet and chilly weather. Manchester is a big city and the new buildings around Manchester Piccadilly station gave the city an up
-beating ambivalence.
My friend and I followed the map from the local visitor information centre to meander around the city in the evening. The possibly monotonous-looking high-rises in the daylight had an enchanting look at night. The lights in the buildings gave the city a feeling of vitality and vibrancy. At one point we passed a site similar to London Eye, except that it was not surrounded as many people as that of London and that it was by a lofty building rather than a river.
We went to China Town after our short drop-by at the local Waterstone bookstore.
It was the first time that I actually went to China Town in England and was actually surprised by it. The size of the China Town took us by a surprise. There were four or five local Chinese supermarkets at least in the area. But of course
in the supermarkets you could find specialities from other Asian countries such
as Thailand, Japan and Korea as well. Although the items in the shops such as noodles, pickled vegs, and bean paste are normally four or five times higher priced than those sold in the original countries, they were still quite good value for money comparing to the local economy here.
We bought a box of Wulong tea, a jar of Sichuan spicy bean paste and some refreshing green tea drinks. At the checkout the assistant spoke Cantonese and totally
ignored whether her customers could understand or not. Though from business perspective it was not a good way to take care of customers, I was rather charmed
by her voice and whether-you-buy-it-or-not attitude. In a country that one has to say thank you to the bus driver every time one gets off the bus, this woman put me at ease instantly.
I couldn’t say that I really like Manchester or not, but the first impress it gave me was very nice. My friend noticed that the road names in Manchester had lots of similarities to those in London. But why does that matter? I experienced
the transport systems in the two cities and they took us to the same-named stops, but the services were so different, one efficient and comfortable, the other
suffocatingly stuffy and slow in movement.
Even the town near Manchester that I went to was nicer than the one I went to when I was in London last time. Wilmslow was but twenty five minutes away from Manchester, but it was already able to have its own uniqueness. The red houses around the two sides of the streets were rather charming in the drizzling winter afternoon. And the roads were a bit noisy but not too noisy to be annoying.
On the one hand I know that I had to take my friend into consideration if I intended to relocate, but on the other hand I do like Manchester and the small town
Wilmslow. It was really not easy to find some place that I like and that can equally like to accommodate me. But anyway I think I shall continue to keep my eyes
open if my friend’s project disallows him to move to the North, and hopefully
something even better will turn up soon.
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