Well, today we visited the Yu Gardens and Bazaar. The Yu Gardens are the main attraction here, but a very large marketplace has sprung up around the tourist attraction hunting for the tourist dollar. No tourist marketplace is complete without a Starbucks nearby, so Chris, Ryan, Brent and I kicked off the morning with some shopping and coffee.
We escaped the hustle and bustle of the marketplace by entering the peaceful Yu Garden. This garden was built in the Ming Dynasty, but I'm not sure what it's intended use was. There is a temple nearby, so maybe it was made as a reflective space. It is now full of tourists and a couple small shops peddling Chinese calligraphy, and other bits and pieces.
Some of the lakes were full of the biggest gold-fish I have ever seen. They saw you walking over the bridge, and would gather around you if you stood still.
After wandering through the Yu Gardens, we made our way away from the touristy marketplace, to one that was a little less-so. The products looked to be of a little higher quality, and many of the shop keepers didn't speak English. I liked shopping in the markets, possibly because it's so different to shopping in Australia, but also because it's the thing that Shanghai is famous for.
That evening, Ryan took us to his Uni so we could see where he had been studying for the last 6 weeks. It seemed quite nice, and he could see the Pearl Tower from his room window. I was surprised at just how many apartment buildings there are in Shanghai, but also in the other places we have been in China.
Ryan took us to his favorite local restaurant, and we ate far too much delicious Shanghai food.
After a quick visit to the DVD shop, we headed home, carrying 4 shopping bags full of DVDs. (Let's hope we can get them through customs!)
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1 comment:
Hey Wally,
With the DVD's.... when i came back from Bali last month i just put them in my suitcase in the middle and had no problems :)
Claire
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