Yu Gardens and Yu Market

We were up and at it this morning before it got too hot and were at the Yu Gardens before the tour crowds started.  This was in the Old City of Shanghai and the entire area was housed in very old buildings that had been renovated.  The gardens once belonged to one person, but they were liberated and are now for the people.  There are a number of buildings in the gardens that are set up to display their original use.  This first one was where the scholar wrote and read.

This was a prime example of the first Lazy Boy chairs, dating back hundreds of years.  Some improvements have been made in the area of comfort since then.

One of the many entries into a different part of the garden.  It was all compartmentalised into small areas that could be easily enjoyed without the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

 A very large bonsai.

Whoops!  I spoke too soon.  Here come the tourists.  The guide is showing them how the coi are trained to come swimming when you clap.

The juxtaposition between old and new.  The old pagoda in front of the tower being build beside the Pearl of the Orient.

 Another peaceful vista.

We found out today why many of the old buildings have such high thresholds.  Some are as high as twelve inches and are like that to keep out the rats!!!  Yuck!  Too much information!

We were eavesdropping on a tour when we found out that no one was supposed to make an image of a dragon, because that was the emperor's image (we knew that already).  But this fellow here, built along a rooftop, was made with three toes and the emperor's dragons all had five so he wasn't exactly the same.  Therefore, when the emperor's inspectors came by, the artist was allowed to keep his head.  And the dragon.

 A sight line to the Pear of the Orient, and all the gazillion cranes in the sky.  Again, I wonder how long these buildings will last before skyscrapers make their way over here.

Some more very uncomfortable furniture, these ones made from Banyan roots.

A girl actually began to feed the coi and they all swam over to her.  It was very interesting to watch as they fought over a few scraps of bread.

The Yu Market is part of the Yu Gardens in the same cluster of buildings.  We left the serenity of the market and ventured out into the wackiness of the market.  Everyone was calling for your attention, offering the best price, or first sale of the morning, even though it was eleven!  It was a little crazy.

This store had my name written all over it.  Oddly enough, it sold lunch box paraphernalia, which is one of my favourite things in the whole wide world.  For the record, I did not go into the store, even though as I write this, I think I have time to go back tomorrow and check it out!

Have I mentioned it's hot here?  It feels like 49 degrees here again today.  By the time we were finished the market, we were finished in many other ways.  We took a cab in search of the best soy sauce in Shanghai . . . and did not find any.  We did get something close, but it's not the hand made artisan stuff that takes years to make.

We were so tired and hot at this point that we found a Starbucks with inviting couches outside beside a huge waterfall (the big white thing in the picture).  The wind was blowing the waterfall to provide us with a fine mist and a cool breeze.  Under the umbrella, it was almost cool.  Okay, maybe 35 degrees, but that's not bad.

 We bought ourselves a cool drink and planted on the couches for over an hour.  Eryl read the tour book to see where else we should go and I had a nap.  We decided that there was nothing that did not involve walking outside that we wanted to see, so we packed up, went back to the hotel, showered, read, rested and cooled off.

By six, we were ready to head out for supper, so we made our way back to our local (the dumpling place) and had the usual (dumplings with soup in them) brought to us by our man (don't know his name, but it was the same server we had the other night and he remembered us).  It was terrific, as usual.

We meandered though the shopping area and found a bar with a patio.  We enjoyed a drink and people watched while the band inside played.  In some ways, it felt like Paris as women in their fancy dresses strolled by

We are now back at the hotel and ready for bed.  My bag is packed and I'm ready to come home to my family.  Boy, I really miss them.  Can't wait for tomorowwwwwwwww (spelled that way because tomorrow is going to be a looooooooooooong day!).