Birds, dirt and worms at the Shanghai Botanical Garden May 12, 2011

You know who this post is dedicated to, now don't you, W? My friend Eliza who is a fan of fresh air, or what passes here as a reasonable facsimile, suggested we check out this botanical garden, the first one in Shanghai.

This, clearly, was the American section.

This was the Chinese one and, no, I'm not making that up.

You guessed it, French.

Multi-coloured floral tunnel

The birds

Yeah, they're fake. I have no idea why.

Ditto

Find the cat

This was the "dirt" shot.

Sculptured bushes, very cool.

Orchid mania

Inside the huge greenhouse

Looking up...

...and looking down

Why shoes? So many mysteries here in China.

Self explanatory

Reminiscent of a Canadian cottage, except for the 

Chinese women playing Mahjong in the building to the left.

Pond with men fishing. 

More birds

These ones were real.

This was the only time I have seen pigeons "in the wild". 

Statue 

Tea house

 Other buildings near the tea house

I must say, parts of this garden were very pretty.

Huh? This must have been the modern part of the garden.

Buffy with the bovines

A welcome escape from the city without leaving the city,

 but I don't need to go again. Once was fine.