We first went to the Shanghai Museum. One of my favorite exhibits was of the minority cultures here in China. There was a good amount of English in the museum, but it would have been improved by more maps! I had a hard time understanding where everyone lived/lives.
These are Tibetan masks. I have now met two Chinese people on trains who named Tibet as their number one desired travel destination. It takes 2 days to get there by train. Westerners are not allowed to go.
The exhibit on the history of currency was fascinating. It showed the evolution from odd sword-shaped bronze things to many, many round coins with the square holes, and then to paper currency with English on it! This one doesn't include English, but Mike was taken by the dragon motif.
Of course, China is known for its ceramics.
Fast food lunch.
We spent the afternoon at Yu Garden. This is the bridge of 9 turns in the old town right outside the garden. The turns are meant to stymie evil spirits, who can only travel in straight lines. The old town is a bit of a tourist atrocity, even though it's not described that way in the tour books.
The garden is filled with traditional statues, pagodas, rock sculptures, and even some plants :)
Mike is standing in front of the famous Jade Stone, which is not made of Jade. It is prized because of its shape and the way the water flows over it (I assume in the rain). I believe it was meant for the palace in Beijing, but the boat carrying it sank.
More gardens. Note that it hit 101 that day, so we are also very hot.
Nothing is as refreshing to Mike as the comforting site of the golden arches.
We finished off the day with a trip to the Flower, Bird, Fish and Insect Market. It indeed had all of those things for sale. The place consisted of a lot of small booths crammed with life. I felt a bit bad for the animals, but I suppose life in China is cramped for everyone.
Though we were both suffering bad colds, we went on a stroll around the local neighborhood -- Southern Hongkou. This was where the most famous Chinese writer (Lu Xin) lived, and there were a bunch of statues devoted to his writer pals who lived here with him (and apparently helped to fundamentally change China). This one was a Japanese friend. Also, a photo of a "regular" Shanghainese street.
Friday brought a trip to the clothes markets (we went to the "Chinese" one, which was mostly full of wierd low quality clothes. no photos) and the tea market! We tasted many good teas, and will be bringing some home with us too.
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