Sheng Si islands - great for a weekend!

I must report about this island i went to last weekend, it's an amazing place to have so close for the Shanghai/south Jiangsu crowd!

It's an island called sheng si dao, about 50km south east off the the coast of shanghai. Type 嵊泗县 into chinese google maps and you'll find it.

A ferry goes out there everyday at 11am, leaving from lu chao gang (芦朝港), a port to the south of shanghai. Passengers are 90yuan, bikes 55, sidecars 85. The ferry takes 3 hours. I don't know what time the ferry back is at because i got the wrong one back (more on that later)

the island isn't big, and tourism is beautifully underdeveloped. it's all mountains and beaches, with little winding concrete roads twisting around the coast and over the mountains. outside the main town there are lots of little fishing villages, houses are built up the hills on top of each other in a very mediterranean style (but dirtier).

my girlfriend and i found a nice place to camp beside the big north beach. there's a paying entrance for that beach on the west end, or you can drive out the east end and just walk on! there are a myriad seafood restaurants on the island, i think that's actually supposed to be the main attraction. the food is fresh, but expensive. even without the laowai tax.

not much else to say really, i was just very impressed that such a beautiful little place exists so close to the suzhou/shanghai diesel cloud. we could actually see stars at night, lots of them! highly recommended!

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as i said before we got the wrong ferry on the way back. it dropped us off at xiao yang dao (小洋岛) which is a giant port also off the coast of shanghai. it's connected to the mainland by a very long bridge, which is handy, but that bridge is a highway and therefore illegal for motorbikes, which is less handy. however since it was the only way off the island and i had to work the next day, we decided to give it a shot. two kilometers onto the bridge, we were caught up to by the highway patrol, sirens blazing. there was much talk on the walkie talkies, more police coming to join the party, many cigarettes handed out and so many times explaining i got the wrong ferry and i don't know how else to get home, they agreed to let us take the bridge!:riding:


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If anyone needs more details feel free to ask!

Looks like an excellent weekend adventure in a surprisingly undeveloped location near Shanghai! How did you hear about it?

I'm glad things turned out okay on the bridge and that you've found yourself a happy looking travel partner! :thumbsup:

Pressing question is how do I get the Dangerous Panda hat? :icon10:

:riding:
CC

The dangerous panda hat was bought for her in hong kong by a friend, i've no idea where to get another one! maybe you could try taobao, it's got everything!

i found the island on google maps, i was just looking for the next cool place for a weekend trip, i had no idea what to expect. it turns out it was the best random destination i've picked yet!

That's good times! Nice pics too, what you shooting with?

CC

Hi Felix, that looks like a nice little adventure with some excellent pics :thumbsup:. Didn't know you had a sidecar rig and the Galaxy, great collection of China bikes :mwink:

Ride reports on MCM again :clap:!

Cheers!
ChinaV

cheers guys!

the camera is a ricoh gx100, i love it! all the features of an slr in the body of a point-and-shoot, plus the super wide 24mm lense just makes everything look great!

i haven't spoken about the sidecar so much here because there's already plenty about them all over the internet! i should really put up some pics in the cj pic thread.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by felix

cheers guys!

the camera is a ricoh gx100, i love it! all the features of an slr in the body of a point-and-shoot, plus the super wide 24mm lense just makes everything look great!

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hey felix, great pics.

I am interested in this camera of yours, the GF and myself are heading through south east asia for around 9 months in february and I am scoping out a camera to take with me. I am a novice photographer but am keen to have a tinker and take some nice shots. I am looking at something smaller than a DSLR but that takes better pictures than a APS (CC any suggestions from an old pro?). I have looked into the Ricoh your carrying and I like the look of it and I can get one fairly cheaply.

How is it to use? Does it have a decent battery life? If you could give me a little more info about your experiences I would be grateful...:clap:

Thanks,

Marty.

mister king, if you can get one cheap then go for it. in fact i'd say go for it even if it was expensinve!
it's not so great in dark conditions, the flash just wipes out everything, (unless you're doing long exposures with a tripod) but for landscape and architecture it's perfect. as much control as a dslr if you want it, and it's pretty quick to learn how to use. the interface is customisable so you have quick access to the functions you use most. the battery is great too, i've gone on 10 day holidays without having to charge it.
the gx200 with all its unnecessary extra pixels has made the gx100 cheaper too, which is great.

KM,

Just like bikes, there's no single perfect solution. Generally if you don't want the picture quality of the APS type censors the you have to get some form of DSLR. Luckily, today DSLR's come in many shapes and sizes and also are relatively affordable.

That said, a DSLR may be more than needed depending on the types of photos you want to take and how much you can spend.

What do you want to do with the pics? How much you looking to spend?

CC

Quote:

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Originally Posted by felix

mister king, if you can get one cheap then go for it. in fact i'd say go for it even if it was expensinve!
it's not so great in dark conditions, the flash just wipes out everything, (unless you're doing long exposures with a tripod) but for landscape and architecture it's perfect. as much control as a dslr if you want it, and it's pretty quick to learn how to use. the interface is customisable so you have quick access to the functions you use most. the battery is great too, i've gone on 10 day holidays without having to charge it.
the gx200 with all its unnecessary extra pixels has made the gx100 cheaper too, which is great.

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Thanks Felix. I have been looking at the gx200. But it is good to know you are happy with the gx100. My issue now that I have done a little bit more research is that it doesn't have an after market underwater housing. I am a mad keen scuba diver and so I want a camera that I can take diving. The Ricohs have been rebadged by Sea&Sea (the DX-1G & 2G) and sold as a set with the housing for over a grand. I can't find anyone that sells just the housing, so I am re-thinking.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CrazyCarl

KM,

Just like bikes, there's no single perfect solution. Generally if you don't want the picture quality of the APS type censors the you have to get some form of DSLR. Luckily, today DSLR's come in many shapes and sizes and also are relatively affordable.

That said, a DSLR may be more than needed depending on the types of photos you want to take and how much you can spend.

What do you want to do with the pics? How much you looking to spend?

CC

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Thanks CC, yeah I am willing to sacrifice a bit of image quality and diversity for the size and weight advantages of a compact. I am not keen on lugging around a DSLR and the lenses, so have been looking at the high end compacts. Ones with wide angle lenses particularly as I like the photos they take. It is a feature I would use more than the greater optical zoom of the ultra-zoom compacts.

I am looking for high quality holiday snaps. I am not looking to make any money off my pictures, or blow them up to poster size. This is going to be the holiday of a lifetime so I want to take some decent pictures to help cherish the memory.

I am keen to learn about all the features so I want a camera that lets me have some form of manual control and not limited to automated settings (and an underwater housing).

There is the Panansonic Lumix LX3 that has been very well reviewed by the critics, but all the camera shops in town are sold out and (unsurprisingly) say I need to order one in to play with one.

I am willing to spend around $550-650.

KM,

Let me point you at this review of several underwater cameras. All of them are built as cameras to be used both in and out of water just as conveniently, therefore lacking the bulky and expensive extra external housing.

Tested cameras...

• Canon PowerShot D10
• Fuji FinePix Z33WP
• Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 (mju Tough 8000 in Europe)
• Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 (mju Tough 6000 in Europe)
• Pentax Optio W60
• Pentax Optio W80
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 (DMC-FT1 in Europe)

I think you'll find the review very informative! If you're not familiar with the site, at the top of the page you'll see a drop down link which will initially say "1. Introduction". Click that and you'll see several pages of fairly detailed tests, specs, comparisons, images and final concluding statements.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q209waterproofgroup/

http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/Q2...ges/Intro1.jpg

:thumbsup:
CC

Thanks for that CC, I was looking into the Canon, the Olympus and the Lumix for this trip. They seem to take nice pictures and are rugged.

Unfortunately, those cameras are only rated to depths of around 10m. So as a dive camera they are no good because I haven't been on a dive that shallow since in the swimming pool on my certification course in 1995. On my trip last month to Micronesia, I got to 64m. So for scuba I would need a housing for these cameras too :rolleyes1:

The camera housing is not an immediate concern because I am not expecting to take one with me on this trip, but I will be looking to invest in one in the future so it seems sensible to invest in a camera that has an aftermarket housing. Albeit they are bulky and expensive, but they are necessary.

I am looking for much more manual control than is on these rugged APS. I am keen to be a "prosumer" as they call it, which has me looking at the Ricohs. I also have a really liking to the 24mm wide angle lens.

Felix,

I can get the GX100 and GX200 for very similar prices here, which one do you think is better? It seems a lot of people complain about the load times when taking RAW images. Has that been a problem for you? Are the photos in this thread jpeg or raw?

Thanks for the info mate, really appreciated.

Marty.

no worries bud! all the photos in these threads are jpeg, i hardly ever use raw because it does indeed take about 5 seconds to save each picture. i only use it when when i'm feeling a little arty around town, not usually on trips.
they're probably very similar cameras anyway, so go with which ever you fancy. if the prices are close, why not get the newer one.

To be honest, unless you're going for publication or large size print JPGs are totally fine and, whatsmore, easier to work with straight out of the camera.

If you're going to go RAW, go DSLR cuz' you'll REALLY see the benefits there. Otherwise, working with JPGs can be much faster and yield essentially the same results for most applications.

CC

CC, yeah that is what I figured. Apart from the space issue on memory cards, I don't have the patience or inclination to pour over photos in photoshop or similar.

thanks for the info guys. I just need to take the plunge now...