Nice lay in today, scheduled start was pushed back at our request until 09:45, and Mrs. Ching arrives on time to take us away on our half day Shanghai whistle stop tour. First stop is the Jade Buddha temple complete with chanting monks and a variety of golden statues. There is a cruise ship in town, and there are lots of passengers milling about on their shore excursion. Mrs. Ching gives up trying to shepherd us the correct way around the site, and takes us from the end to the beginning. This means we get to see the Jade Buddha statue in relative peace and quiet. We are not permitted to take photographs here, but the statue is quite stunning. Although it has a body of a man, it has a face of a girl and the jade carving is exquisite. We pass through other rooms where there are other statues, including one small reclining Buddha with a large scale replica. Like other temples we have visited, the air is heavy with the smell of incense and prayer tokens and offerings are all around, even tied to trees and banisters.
Back to the car and we are off to the Yu Yuan Garden. We are dropped off at a reconstructed old town area which is busy mostly with local tourists. The largest queue is outside a famous dumpling shop. They make a dumpling which is filled with soup which goes down particularly well. We pass many other food stalls and they all seem to be doing a good trade. We enter the gardens, again very busy, but Mrs. Ching gets us in quickly and efficiently. The site that opens up before us is spectacular. The gardens are divided into sections, some for certain parts of the family, women one part, men another and children and visitors elsewhere. We discover the meaning of the round portals in Chinese garden design. We first notice these in Vancouver. At the time of the moon festival the Chinese consider it auspicious that they have four moons. The moon in the sky, the reflection of the moon in the water, the view through the moon opening in the wall (the moon gate) and moon cake to eat.
One thing we have come to realise about Chinese gardens is that nothing in the design happens by accident and nothing is left to chance. Feng shui plays a very important part, and all elements and life forces, the yin and yang, are kept in balance. Simplicity is the key with only one plant sometimes in view. Water and rocks (the literal translation of feng shui) are essential elements, as are fish (for wealth) and turtles (for longevity). Symbolism exists even in the direction of paths, whether the walls have windows, whether bridges are crooked or straight and how corridors are laid out. It is a complicated business but the end result is superb.
Out of the garden now back in the car and off to the waterfront, the famous Bund. We look out over the river to the other side which has become famous. Mrs. Ching tells us that twenty five years ago there was no buildings there, just rice fields.
We decide to return to night to take a view when the buildings are illuminated. We make a short detour through the lobby of the Peace Hotel, and view the bar, empty at the moment, where the famous jazz band has performed since the 1930’s. We wil come back here tonight too.
Back at the hotel again we decide to find somewhere for lunch. This is Easter Saturday and by chance we happen across the Intercontinental Hotel brunch, complete with Easter bunnies (waitresses with ear headdress) Easter eggs and bunny colouring kits for the children. The buffet is good, with a wide selection. We both opt for a salad plate with some spider crab legs and prawns and pass the temptations of the Chinese food today. There is a good desert buffet as well, and my fellow traveller returns with a selection of cakes, they are very small morsels I must add. We stroll back to the hotel in the afternoon sun. It is hot today, over 30ºC.
In the evening we leave the hotel, and get a taxi to the Bund. There are crowds three deep in places at the railings overlooking the river where we stood this morning. People push and shove as the light fades and the free light show from across the river begins. Corporate buildings appear to have purposely festooned the sides of their buildings with coloured lights which change colour, some play advertisements, to the delight of the assembled audience. We stay a while as dusk changes to night and take many photographs.
We walk along the riverside for a while and turn back now toward the Peace Hotel, we fancy a cocktail there with some Old Shanghai atmosphere.