Sunday May 14th, 2017 to Monday, May 15th - Shanghai - A Magnificent Surprise (Part 2)

Jessie and Rod were visiting other friends, so Sunday saw me relying on my own resources to get myself going. Following Ian and Norman's suggestions, my itinerary for the day was first to visit an old Shanghai neighborhood called Tianzifang, then the Jing'an Temple and finally to see the night lights of Yuyuan, near the Yu Garden.

Tianzifang is close to the French Concession and is now an arts and crafts enclave. It was very touristy and crowded, as QiBao had been, but the lane ways were much narrower and I never managed to find a space to step back and view the whole area.  There was a sign at the entry, telling a little about what Tianzifang represents. The best way to convey this is to just share the picture!

This is actually one of the only translation 'fails' I encountered here, so generally they do a pretty good job of helping us English speakers understand what's going on. I think one of the key words it uses is 'shikumen', which is apparently a style of architecture unique to Shanghai, a style that combines western row-houses with eastern guarded gates.

The upshot of this is that the photographic opportunities were of details and small spaces. If one wanted to drop some money, it would be a delightful place to shop, but perhaps a weekday would be less crowded?

After seeing this choice of cones in an ice cream store here, I decided the Chinese are doing a better job of Western decadence than we are!

But there is little that speaks 'Orient' more than paper umbrellas and fans.

There was quirky stuff - this was above an art store.

And who doesn't love potted plants and flowers.........

..........or perhaps a little hookah........

.................and even in this high-end neighborhood, the laundry must be dried.

By contrast the Jing'an Temple was a soaring delight of roof-lines and cityscapes. 

It has a pretty interesting history. It was first built in 247 AD, at a different location. It was moved to the present site in 1216, but rebuilt during the 1880's. During the Cultural Revolution it was converted into a plastics factory which seems a rather symbolic event given the role of plastics in China's impact on the modern world! One website says it was 'burnt to ruins' during this time, but it seems there were three core buildings that formed the basis of reconstruction to its present state when it was reverted back to a temple in 1983. Additional major construction was finished in 2010.

It is a significant Buddhist and Daoist temple and it houses the largest Jade Buddha in China. Notice again that the jade is not green! The name of the temple means tranquil and peaceful temple. 

Immersed in the high rise buildings surrounding it, I agreed with the name; that it created a most beautiful and tranquil space with exquisite Burmese teak woodwork......

........ and soaring eaves. Some articles I researched question it's place as a religious site, as distinct from 'theme park and shopping mall'. Happily, I did not see overt commercialism. 

The only items for sale were things like incense for worshipers. However, it was interesting to discover that it was the first stop on the city's first tram line built in 1908, and today the Metro station of the same name is built into a corner of the structure.

I noticed that the monks wore robes of various colors - from grey, pale blue, black or mustard. I'm not sure what the colors signified. Unlike the monks of south-east Asia, the garments were stitched - not the rolls of fabric draped around the body. They also wore cloth shes and leggings. Many of them were on their phones, as you see here! 

When I saw that Wu Garden closed at 5 pm, I knew I was too late to enter, so was conflicted about going to the nearby neighborhood - Yuyuan Old Street. Thanks to Ian telling me about the lights at night, I ventured out in spite of my tiredness. How pleased I was! When I arrived it was still light......

....... and when I left it was dark! Both photos were taken in the same spot.

Quite different from the narrow lanes of Tianzifang these old building were all Chinese - dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). It is an old business street that held the city's earliest bank, gold shop, jewelers store, wine shop and tea shop. I saw a preponderance of jewelers, restaurants and other stores selling tourist wares. I arrived just as sun set and wanted a decent meal. 

When I found a restaurant with a picture of both Queen Elizabeth and Hillary Clinton eating as guests, I knew this was the place and prepared to use my credit card. It was called Lu Bo Lang Restaurant. Happily, the bill came to less than $10, so plastic was not needed.

I had baked, peppered, duck and boiled asparagus, gingko and lily. It was delicious.

The cacophony of lights was truly magnificent!

Monday, my flight home was not until 4:30 pm, so I had time for some last minute 'tourism'. I met up with Jessie and Rod for the last time to wander through a nearby neighborhood recommended by their Lonely Planet guidebook.........

............. which is being torn down for new development.

It was surprisingly poignant to see the old buildings disappearing and I was not impressed with the attractiveness of the replacements. 

From some of the advertising posters, it looks as if it might just feel like an upscale neighborhood at home. Sad also that the people pictured in the poster are all Caucasian.

My last outing was back to Yuyan (only one stop on the Metro) to go to the Yu Garden this time. What a magical place it was. 

It is a smallish property (only 5 acres) with beautiful pavilions, walls, doorways, plants, rocks, hills etc that was first built in 1559.

It had doorways that came in a variety of shapes.... this one like a vase......

........or perhaps a tear-drop......

........................and numerous hobbit-like round doorways.

There was dramatic statuary....

.........beautiful stone gardens.......

.....and a wall that's called a dragon wall because of its scale-like tiles and undulating curves.

I was very pleased to have explored this space, but it was time to head to the airport and make my way home.

The final treat Shanghai offered me was a ride to the airport on the maglev train. The word is a contraction of magnetic and levitation, which means that the train doesn't actually touch the track you see here. It uses the magnetism to create a repulsion between the train and the rail, allowing for friction-less travel.

As a result it goes very fast. It is the fastest commercial high-speed electric train in the world, according to Wikipedia. A journey that would have taken 45 minutes by taxi, took about 10 minutes and the ride was very quiet, smooth and comfortable, with lovely banked turns. I was disappointed that the maximum speed we got to was only 301 km/hr  (187 mph), as the train will go up to 431 km/h (268 mph). It was a great way to finish my time in China!

Thursday May 11th, 2017 to Saturday, May 13th - Shanghai - A Magnificent Surprise (Part 1)

I planned these last four days in Shanghai, primarily to visit again with Susan, my travel companion from the trip through Yunnan Province in early April. Unfortunately, she was called back to South Africa due to a death in her family, so I arranged accommodation near the Bund and Nanjing Rd and arrived without having done much in the way of research about the place.

As I came into the city, my thought was one of dread - that this was just going to be another enormous,  hard to navigate Asian city with lots of traffic, horrible sidewalks and poor urban planning.

Well, all I can say is how mistaken I was! Yes, it's a huge city, but with traffic that flows well, a wonderful Metro, and the sidewalks - oh my! - they were wide, and even and clear of bikes and vendors! In addition, it was vibrant, colorful, alive and had done a great job of integrating incredibly modern spaces with retaining old neighborhoods. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there!

I was very fortunate that an Australian couple from the Cambodia trip - Jessie and Rod - were also visiting Shanghai and staying at a nearby hotel. They were generous with their time and I was so pleased to be included in some of their explorations.

I also met up one evening with a two very enjoyable English teachers - Ian and Norman - who are based in Shanghai. Sue and I had met them in Tiger Leaping Gorge, so I had company in spite of Sue not being in town.

The first afternoon, after finding my AirBNB (a bit of a challenge and a whole 'nother story!) I explored the area on the north side of the Huangpu River which divides Shanghai into east and west. Near the Bund, it was a very popular spot for photography.  I wandered near the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, but found no river walk way as it was all under re-construction. However, through these meanderings, Shanghai started to take a hold of my heart.

Although the plants are getting a little moth-eaten, I was amused by these dolphins!

This view of the Shanghai tower is from the sun-room of the apartment I was staying in. Sometimes it was in the clouds. It is over 2,000 ft high and is the second highest building in the world.

I also really enjoyed watching the late sun on other buildings from my apartment window.

Friday morning I met up with Rod and Jessie and we headed off to the Museum, in spite of rain. 

We walked up Nanjing Road, as our efforts to obtain a taxi from their hotel were unsuccessful - we were told that it was because of the rain.

The museum was large, with an institutional feel. They only allow 8,000 visitors each day, so we headed out early.

The collections were numerous - I thought you might enjoy this, as it is a pillow!

Jessie and I were surprised to discover that most of the jade was not green!

 

As was the case with previous museums, I was drawn to the amazing costuming used by ethnic groups here.

Following lunch, we then headed off on the Metro to the French Concession. This area was used by the French from 1849 to 1943 as a trading area or treaty port - seems as if it was an arrangement similar to that of Hong Kong within the city, back in the day.

There was a lovely merry-go-round.

The Sinan Mansions were a notable remnant from French colonial architecture. They are now modern apartments.

A lot of the architecture involved this type of pebbled facade, which signs said were from the 1920's.

There was a very retro movie theater, the Cathay. Built in the 1930's, it still operates as a cinema and screens 3-D movies as well as conventional cinema.

Many European styled buildings are still used as residences. There were also churches, along with high end shops.

The following day - Saturday - Jessie, Rod and I set off to the nearest old water town  - QiBao Ancient Town, about a 30 minute Metro ride to the south east. 

The only down side of this journey was it's popularity with the Chinese, so it was very crowded!

While I understand it may not be the finest example of a water-town, it gave a very good idea of how the old China lived and how these places are being kept alive with tourism and commerce. Happily the town was closed to vehicular traffic, so while the streets were crowded, it was only with pedestrians.

A local sign said it dated back to the Han Dynasty, which would place it close to 2,000 years old. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 through 1912) it was known 'far and near for its cloth, yarn, carpentry, wine, and water'. 

The sign goes on to say 'on both banks of the river are gracious pavilions, magnificent theaters, and prosperous stores standing below the dangling willow trees.......It is such a thriving and prosperous marketplace in South China that the sounds of bargaining are reverberating in the air day and night !'

I thought it was a pretty accurate description!

In addition to the hustle and bustle of the main street, I enjoyed wandering some of the side streets. I believe this young woman was having her fortune told, as she was holding cards that are probably tarot cards.

Glimpses of courtyards with laundry drying....

.......or apartment buildings finding ways to allow the laundry to reach the sun!

This man seemed an unlikely candidate for having such a bright and loud whirligig on his bike!

I wanted to buy every one of these baskets and rug beaters I thought they were so pretty........

...... along with these pots!

It was a marvelous day - well worth the effort to get there. A farewell cup of puer tea with a little glass teapot souvenir completed this outing for me.

That night I met up with Ian and Norman in Pudong. This is the area on the south side of the river where all the tall buildings are soaring. I was told that about ten years ago the whole area was nothing but a rice paddy and now..........Wow!



For the exorbitant price of two yuan (about 30 cents!) we took the city ferry across to the northern side of the river.



I was very pleased that any of these photos turned out, as the crush of the other photographers on the deck was quite an obstacle. Ian had found a little platform to stand on, so I was at the back of the crowd using my telephoto lens and doing all I could to avoid the many hands in the air as people were capturing all they could from on high!

The purple structure is called the Oriental Pearl Tower and is a TV tower. Until 2007 it was the tallest structure in China.

We were headed for the Bund, an embankment alongside many of the older, colonial buildings of the city. It is a very popular spot both night and day and many people have their photos taken here!

Like me! While Ian took this photo, he was being supervised by a Chinese gentleman who was very concerned that he get it right. The fellow then insisted on taking the photo of the three of us which I put at the top of the blog (it's actually a bit blurry!). Shortly after that, he and his friends requested o be photographed with us, so we were stars for a moment!

We then walked down Nanjing Road where we found a place to eat. Happily it was just a few blocks from my apartment, so getting home was easy for me!

Can you see why I liked this place?