Barb Drumming
Our first stop was at a Buddhist temple. There were all kinds of statues showing different representations of Buddha. Our guide explained that the statues were supposed to show perfect features since Buddha was perfection, so that was why many of them looked to be feminine when Buddha is actually genderless. After visiting the many halls and rooms of the temple, we ended up in an upstairs tearoom where folks from our other bus were having a tea ceremony. We had just gotten comfortable and tasted two of the teas when others of our group came to find us to announce we were having the tea ceremony in another location. Well, darn! We were ready then.
As we got outside we were swamped with the vendors. I could have gotten 6 Rolex watches for $10 or 6 Louis Vitton small clutch purses for 10 “dollah”. I did buy 2 pkgs. of postcards for $1.
Reclining Buddha
Our next stop was the Pearl Emporium, the mandated shopping stop for the tour company. We were shown how the pearl oyster looked when opened and how to tell if the pearls are real or plastic. If you were a big buyer, they would serve you tea at cute carved tables. Here the Rolex watches from the street vendors were much more upscale. They were $10 each. Our friend, Brian, bought one and then complained a few days later that his pseudo, fake, knock-off Rolex wasn’t keeping correct time and then finally stopped working altogether. It was just not the quality he expected from a Rolex.
Opening Pearl Oyster
Tea Table
Our next stop was The Bund – the walk along the Huangpu River where many of the new high-rise buildings are. Everything looked particularly pretty with an entire wall leading up to the Bund planted in red & pink begonias. The light poles all had frames that held pots of begonias so closely together that when in full bloom they will look like a 2 foot circular band of pink around the pole – a really neat effect.
Across the river on the Pudong side, we could see the third tallest building in the world which is called the Bottle Opener. Across the street from the Bund are all the old colonial administration buildings and a pocket park with a statue of Mao – the only one we saw in China.
The Bund View with Bottle Opener on the Right
Bill & Barb on The Bund
Believe it or not, there is a Chinatown in Shanghai. This is where we went next for our tea ceremony. Evidently, this is also the most popular tourist shopping place in Shanghai because it was shoulder to shoulder with both tourists and Chinese in town for the opening of the Expo. When we all had arrived on the fourth floor by way of a tiny, rickety elevator, we were in a tearoom with a lovely view over the roofs of Chinatown.
Chinatown Building
Tea Ceremony
Jasmine Flower
After the tea ceremony, we went down a flight of stairs to the dining room and were seated at a table for 10 and then made a quick stop to the bathroom. While we were gone, they had presented the first course on the table with a huge glass turntable. Evidently, our fellow tour members thought that was all they were going to eat because they scarfed up the entire course except for a few strands of seaweed. But then came with other dishes – loads of rice, steamed dumplings, a spicy chicken dish, won ton soup and a huge whole fish looking up at us for the main entre. We didn’t suffer any but it would have been nice if they had at least saved a taste of the appetizer dishes for us.
Sandy’s Fish
Back in the surge of humanity that was the market, we made our way over to the Yu Yuan Garden that was also located there in Chinatown. This garden was created by a private gentleman who kept improving it throughout his lifetime. He had a separate pavilion for each of the seasons and each looked out on a different garden scene. It was a lovely combination of rock, water and plants. It also had a dragon wall surrounding it that was usually reserved for royalty alone but I forget now why there was this exception.
Yu Yuan Garden Reflection
Koi Reflect Maples
I could have spent the entire afternoon in that garden but the group moved back into the market where we were to have ½ hour to shop. I wasted part of that time because I had to go to a money exchange to get shopping dollars. But I still managed to find a shop to by a silk jacket that I had hoped to find here in China. And after what I thought was successful bidding – bringing the price down from 580 Yuan to 450 – I found that I didn’t need the money changer after all because they took my credit card.
Chinatown Market
Many of us wanted to stay in town as the bus took the remainder of our group back to the ship. Bill had decided that one tour a day was plenty for him, so he went back to the ship. Meanwhile, I had signed up to stay for the ship’s excursion to see the Chinese acrobats at a theatre in town. I stayed with new friends Bryan & Liz and we went to visit the Julong Silk Store where the ship’s bus would be picking us up. In the first room that they took us to, we saw the silk worm cocoons that the silk thread is spun from. They also showed us a spinning machine with rows of spools to wind the thread.
Removing the Silk Worm from Its Cocoon
Silk Spinning Machine
After declining to buy one of their silk comforters, we went to another store where they had silk embroidery much like we had seen in Viet Nam. The only difference was that these were the reversible with the same or different designs on each side with the starting and finishing threads hidden. Beautiful work but much, much more expensive than what I saw in Viet Nam. They also had a room full of silk clothing and I found the exact same jacket I had just bought for 680 Yuan (and they refused to barter) which made me feel even better about my bargaining skills.
Garden Embroidery
Bryan, Liz and I decided to go to a local noodle shop to catch a bite to eat before going to the meeting place for the bus. It was an adventure to get her to understand our order even though Bryan is quite the linguist and had been practicing his Mandarin before coming on the cruise. I was starting to get a sore throat, so my bowl of chicken soup was very welcome, even though the pieces of chicken were mostly skin & bone. Of course, that was what Asian chickens looked like when they were whole – skin & bone. Bryan & Liz each had a beef noodle bowl and agreed that one would have been more than enough for the two of them. My dinner, including a bottled 7UP came to about $1.80USD. We each left a 2 Yuan tip (about 15 cents USD) and the waitress came running out to return the money we forgot. Then it took a little while to get across that the money was for her.
We got on the ship’s bus after running the gauntlet of vendors with their bargains for “ten dollah” and sat back to enjoy the lights of the city coming on for the evening. I had wanted to see the house of the French Concession after reading Shanghai Girls and now got a chance to see some of these pre-war houses. Most have been torn down for the building of high-rise buildings, but a few remain – many as restaurants. As we rode through the major streets, we could see the trees with strung with little lights and flowers that would all change color periodically. But the underside of all the freeway overpasses was much more striking with their bright blue bands of light.
Blue Freeway Lighting
Lighted Trees
The crowning event of a delightful day, though, was the performance of the Chinese acrobats at the theatre in the Ritz Carlton. Here are shots of just of few of the acts I was able to catch.
Nice job Barb. This brings back wonderful memories of our day in Shanghai, my favorite city on the cruise and the one I'd most like to return to. It was nice to spend the evening with you. I also bought a genuine simulated artificial Rolex which occasionally keeps time, too! But it is a beautiful piece of jewelry.
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