Shanghai - Day 2

It's Sunday, our last day of this amazing trip before we fly home tomorrow.

We are up and out of the hotel early this morning as our guide, Joe, said we could beat some of the crowds at the sites we will see today.

On the bus ride over to our first stop, we rode alongside a bus and were greeted with smiles and waves, and photos by the locals.

Joe led us through a park and some city streets to  an area that is very representative of the old Chinese architecture.

There was a small shopping district nearby and we watched workers prepare the dough for dumplings.  This one is pulling sections of a long rope of dough into equal parts....at a very fast speed...more than 100 in a minute, I bet!

 This one is stuffing each nugget of dough with a filling.

The Yu Garden, a famous classical garden finished in 1577 by a government officer of the Ming Dynasty.  Yu in Chinese means pleasing and satisfying and the officer built this for his parents as a place for them to enjoy a tranquil and happy time in their old age.

There was a dragon atop the fence surrounding the Yu Gardens.

The treasure of the garden is the "Exquisite Jade Rock".

What is interesting about this rock is that if you burn a stick just below the rock, the smoke will magically float out from all of the holes.  Similarly, when water is poured into the rock from the top, the water will flow out from each hole.

From the gardens we entered a tea house to learn and sample some of the teas.

 This was a green tea that started out as a dried ball....

 ...and then magically opened up into what resembled a flower.

We sampled 3 different teas and then had the opportunity to purchase some teas....of course!

Back on the bus, we headed over to The Bund, the famous waterfront and often regarded as the symbol of Shanghai.  We have driven along the waterfront several times; now we will get the chance to walk on it.

The first thing we see is the Monument to the People's Heroes--a tall, abstract concrete tower which is a memorial for those who died during the revolutionary struggle for Shanghai dating back to the Opium Wars.

The most famous and attractive sight is across the river where there are the 26 buildings of different architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classicism, and the Renaissance.

Yes, there is smog.  This is actually a pretty clear day and as you can see, we are wearing sunglasses.

The buildings are fascinating.  As we drive alongside them, with their varied shapes, they look different from every angle.

Bob and Paulette

We did a little walk on the large promenade of The Bund before lunch.

The Bund is a favorite place for newly weds to pose for pictures.

..and selfies for us!

After lunch it was back in the bus..

 with close-up views of the skyscrapers

 highrises next to small homes...

 And we always saw laundry hanging out from the windows/balconies...

Our guide said that everyone owns a washing machine, but no one owns a dryer.  They do not like to use a dryer and instead hang clothes outside to dry.  From what we can tell, every day is laundry day...

Next, a "surprise" (meaning not on our itinerary) stop at the Silk Factory.  Joe says this is the only place you can buy 100% silk items....what is seen at the outdoor vendors is not 100%.

So we have a short lesson in silk worms and silk threads from an employee of the factory.

and see how the silk comforters are assembled.

We all lend a hand in stretching out layers of the silk for a comforter.

And then have the opportunity to shop in their store..

Next stop was at the Jade Buddha Temple.

The Jade Buddha Temple was founded in 1882 to house two white jade Buddhas brought from Burma.  Now a monastery of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, the Jade Buddha Temple serves tourists and local worshipers.

Cushions for praying

We saw the two precious jade Buddhist statues that are rare cultural relics and also porcelain artworks.

Both the Sitting Buddha and the recumbent Buddha are carved with whole white jade.  Photos were not allowed of these two statues so these are from the internet.

Our guide, Joe, thought we still had some energy left so next we headed over to the Shanghai Museum, where he gave us headphones with an audio tour and set us off on our own to explore for an hour.  Here's just a few things we saw...

Internet photo of Shanghai Museum

We saw rooms filled with ancient Chinese furniture...

 jade carvings.....

 folk costumes...

 and porcelain.

With that it was time to head back to the hotel and rest a bit as we would be attending a dinner and acrobatic show in the evening to cap off our visit to Shanghai.

We had good seats for the show; no photos of performance were allowed.

This was the best acrobatic show we have ever seen!  The following photos are from the internet of the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe--not from the performance we saw but very similar.  What they could do was mind-blowing!

And after this marvelous performance we drove back through the city and could see some of the lights on the buildings.

This photo is from the internet and shows how the buildings of The Bund are lit up at night.  Only a professional photographer could take a photo this great!  It truly showcases the magnificence of the various buildings of different architectural styles.

The night scene of The Bund is named in the city's Top 10 Night Light Views.

And with this, our trip comes to an end.  The next morning we are off to the airport for a flight to Seattle and then onward to Denver.  We had a great time and certainly feel that we would like to explore more of Asia....perhaps away from the big cities, though...maybe a river cruise.

Stay tuned for our next adventure this summer.  We will be going to Africa on a safari-type trip!