MAY 17TH - SHANGHAI

Shanghai from our hotel

Shanghai from hotel

Shanghai Synagogue

Shanghai Synagogue

Ernie Heppner house

Ernie Heppner house street

Shanghai buildings

Shanghai Mall

Shanghai "Chopstick" building

Street food

YuYuan Gardens at night

SUNDAY, MAY 17TH - SHANGHAI
It is cloudy but not raining. Our first stop today was Yuyuan Garden which is surrounded by the old city and much of remains is residential. The district, known as Nanshi - southern town was surrounded by a high wall and a moat and it was the "Chinese" part of Shanghai. The wall was torn down shortly after the Qing Dynasty fell in 1911 and the waterways were filled in to create roads. The garden has beautiful pavillion, delicate rock pools and is one of the best surviving examples of a classical Chinese Garden. You can only get to the garden by going through the Yuyuan Bazaar which is filled with lots of small shops where you can bargain for a third of the starting price and end up paying a little less than half. This bargaining is expected and is a big game between the tourists and the merchants. I am sure once in a while they sell something at the initial asking price but I believe that this is rare. There is an interesting zigzag bridge which takes you to the Huxington Teahouse in the middle of a pond. The Garden was built in 1559 by the Pan family and is a compound of beautifully designed rooms and gardens with very old trees and rock formations and lots of ponds. The house waw damaged by the Japanese and the British during the 1840s in the Opium War. it was then restored in 1949. Every tourist group is taken here and it is worth the trip. The whole area was quite crowded during the day and it was difficult to keep up with our guide. The gardens have been designated as a historical site and is now protected by the government. A pair of iron lions protect the entrance and we were told that these were just recently returned by the Japanese who kept them in Tokyo for many decades.There is a beautiful Ginko Tree in the garden and the story is that it was planted by the grandfather 400 years ago but it did not bear fruit until the grandson could pick it. The tree is called a living fossil.From the Gardens, we visited the Bund Area of the city which houses the Financial institutions along the banks of the Huangpu River in beautiful old colonial buildings. Many foreign banks and trading houses are located here. On the other side of the river is modern Shanghai with its huge skyscapers, ultra modern hotels and office buildings and huge shopping centers boasting six to 10 floors. Our guide pointed out the Oriental Peal TV Tower, the Shanghai History Exhibition, the Jinmau Tower which is the tallest in all of mainland China. Inside this tower, the Grand Hyatt Hotel occupies floors 54 to 87.Our guide told us that her family used to live in the exposition area (Expo 2010) in downtown Shanghai and they were relocated because of the land needed for the Exposition. They owned their apartment which was torn down to build an electric power plant for the Expol They were offered a small amount of money or the choice to move to a new apartment in the country provided by the government. Since they wanted to stay in the city, they took the money, so they are now living in a rented apartment on the sixth floor with no elevator. She is 25 years old and lives with her parents in a very small space. Lunch was once again in a typical tourist restaurant with the same awful food we have been treated to since we started our tour in China. The restaurant was located on the second floor of a silk embroidery exhibit where we had the typical tour and explanation of how the stitching is done and then the pitch to buy something from them. We are all getting a little annoyed with this routine.Our visit to see the Jade Buddhist Temple was quite interesting and it is a very beautiful temple first built in 1882. It was destroyed by fire and then rebuilt in 1918. The Temple was crowded with Chinese locals praying to Buddha. The reason this temple has become a "hot" tourist stop is to see the Jade Buddha carved out of one piece of jade and it is gorgeous!We also visited the Children's Palace which is a school for children aged 3 to 16 where classes are offered in art, caligraphy, music and dance. Every district has a school like this. Parents pay a moderate fee to bring their children here after school. We were able to see some of the classes in action. In one violin class, there were six children and one teacher. Seated behind each child was their parent, intently watching the lesson. It was very interesting.We started our evening off with a trip to a government constructed restaurant on top of an embroidery factory and art gallery. The restaurant was built by the government for the tourist agencies. They also select our menu. Tonight was the worst meal that we have had to date. Last night we had gone to a wonderful local restaurant on our own and had a very delicious meal. After dinner we were treated to a performance on the Shanghai Acrobats in a beautiful theater. The performance was really wonderful. The tumbling, balancing, strength and beauty was amazing. It was better than what we have seen on TV or on stage in the US. We were really sorry to have the show end.