What a place! So spread out! I had never been there, so Susan was really putting a lot of faith in me.
This is just the entrance gate to the Yu Yuan area. It gives you an idea of the monumental design and old style of some of the buildings. Don't ask me what style. Like I said earlier, I had never been here before. I was too busy dodging scooters to read up in a guide book. I believe this could be Qing Dynasty and really, how would any of you know? Apologies to my Mandarin-reading friends who can decipher the characters.
The Yu Yuan area has as its centre the Yu Yuan Garden, which is surrounded by the old market, which in turn is surrounded by new buildings, some are "old-style".
This is just one of the numerous "old-style" newer buildings on the fringe of the Yu Yuan area, which goes for blocks and blocks and blocks. Seriously. You could shop all week here, not that I would want to.
The newer fringe has loads of restaurants, stores and buildings crammed with hundreds of vendors.
The old market sprung up to meet the needs of visitors coming to the nearby City God Temple. In traditional Chinese belief, each city or town had a god that watched over it. Pay attention, there will be a quiz at the end of this post.
It took us a while to find the actual old market. Thank goodness English-speaking fellow tourists are so easy to spot here! They pointed us in the right direction.
We headed into the rabbits' warren of the old market. Fortunately, we had our blue, omnipresent friend, Haibo, the mascot of Expo, to lead us on and comfort us. You can barely make him out in the throng of umbrellas.
Looking back down the same lane way. Haibo is just visible. The yellow banners are goldfish. By the way, it wasn't even crowded yet. It was in the morning and it was raining off and on.
Our first stop. I had to model this "traditional" Chinese headdress. I couldn't resist. I hope somebody here in Shanghai has a Halloween party. This would be perfect! You can't make it out easily, but there is a black, bow-type adornment on either side of the enormous pink peony from which the red tassels are hanging. Cute, yes? I know, you want one, too. Christmas is coming...
No idea who this fellow is in the lobby of a jewelry store, but anyone with coins in his sleeve is a friend of mine! I think he brings good luck to the store owners. That sounds plausible, right?
We did a lot more shopping. I will spare you all the gruesome details, except to say that you have to bargain hard, deal with a crush of people and try to remember exactly where you saw that stunning silk article.
Susan and I stopped for lunch at the premier xiaolongbao (dumpling) place in Shanghai. They love their xiaolongbao here. Technically, xiaolongbao are steamed buns, but dumpling is shorter to say and type.
Anyway, the restaurant we went to is called Nan Xiang Steamed Bun Restaurant. You all know my aversion to any food wrapped in cooked, soft dough (dim sum, perogies, matzo balls, etc), but I toughed it out for the sake of the experience.
You can watch them make your dumplings, but much like watching hot dogs being made, sometimes it's best not to.
Our salads
Our steamed buns, so to speak.
Note authentic bamboo steamers.
Of course, me being me, I had to order dessert. Not a huge selection in this restaurant, but again I was game to try something, if for nothing else than to be able to say that I had tried it.
Yes, you did read that correctly. They're trying to spell "fungus" and "pumpkin". Susan went for "pumprin", while I bravely chose the purple (purple?!?) sweet potato.
I couldn't even begin to guess what the white "fungns"was. It was crunchy and mercifully flavourless. Both desserts tasted like baby food. Blech! I never have to sample that again.
View from the restaurant 2nd floor window
Hey! Wait a minute! How did he get up there?!?
A broader vista from the restaurant 2nd floor window
Those skyscrapers in the background are on the Pudong (west) side of the Huangpu River.
Ground floor view, slightly different angle. Part of the market is over water, as you have figured out.
Fortified by steamed buns and "fungns", Susan and I continued shopping after lunch. There was an overwhelming array of stuff. Too much stuff.
I will now just show you photos of the buildings, not the stuff, in no particular order (my favourite kind of order!).
Yes, they have DQ and Starbucks in China. I know, kind of sad, but at least they're in old buildings. Maybe that makes it sadder...and you caught me. This last shot was taken from inside Starbucks. I admit it, I went there, but I needed a coffee. At least I didn't go to KFC or Mickey D's for lunch!
This should cheer you up, a Chinese-style food court. I think it needs to be more brightly-lit.
A traditional dragon (?) guarding a store. Once again, I could make up facts and you wouldn't know.
For those of you exasperated by my lack of accurate information, rest assured that by the end of my first year in Shanghai, I'll be much more knowledgeable.
Another street scene...
Here we go around the corner...
Love the pointy roof corners and the details in the architecture.
Speaking of details, check this out.
A close-up of the same type of medallion.
This was a very cool contraption, obviously a very "old-school" form of public entertainment. You pay the man your money, sit on a bench, stick your face up close to a round porthole and watch the show. As he changes the back-lit, hand-drawn pictures, he narrates the story. The tale seems to be an old Chinese folk story about two naughty, disrespectful boys. There's even some blood and gore! I won't tell you what happens, in case you want to see it for yourself.
We left Yu Yuan Market around 5:00pm. We did go back another day. In the interest of comprehension, I want to keep the topics together, so forgive me for mixing my dates and including these "out of order", but in context, photos.
This is the entrance to the City God Temple. Do you recall that temple that started it all? I know, the beginning seems a long time ago, or maybe that's just me.
Detail from second tier roof, left hand side, near white building.
Just inside the temple gates, you could buy incense, traditional Chinese medicine or be gently beaten with these flexible, slim switches, like this fellow. It actually looked rather relaxing, but we didn't have time to indulge. We also didn't have time to go in and view the temple, but I bet it looks a lot like the Jade Buddha Temple in terms of design and layout.
Next post, the Shanghai Museum!
Next post, the Shanghai Museum!
1 comment:
Did you buy anything?
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