I finally found Chinatown. There is a big walking only area that is made of buildings like this. Which aren't actually traditional buildings. They are a combination of Ming and Qing dynasty styles built to appeal to the modern masses. Hey, they appealed to me.
It was a very cool neighborhood. It is the old city, which was the Chinese slums when the colonial powers ruled Shanghai. The first tourist group was lead through here by a Brit around the turn of the 20th century, and ever since it has become a must see attraction.
This is my arty mix of old and new. Jinmao can be seen across the river in the background.
Ancient tea house and the bridge of 18 zig-zags. For all your overpriced tea needs.
The bridge is a prime photo opportunity. Buskers camped out on this narrow bridge waiting to take your picture. They have a digital camera and around the corner their friend has a small shop (closet sized) with a printer. Pretty good use of technology.
Guan Yin, the Chinese goddess of good fortune. Or compassion. Or wealth. It depends which sign you're reading. This time she is the goddess of water and fountains.
Simba, the Chinese god of hakuna matada... which translates to something not so funny so I didn't bother remembering it. This was inside the Yu gardens, part of the old city.
"Ancient Rockery". The rockery was much better than the photo lets on. It was really cool but I wasn't allowed back in there to wander around.
I call this "Viewing platform of Japanese tourists". For the best views of the elusive Japanese you had to camp out on the other side of the rockery and wait for a herd to come through, led by their flag bearer. I was lucky to get this picture.
Many passageways were sealed off with a gate that read "Stop Here". I thought that was pretty funny. The subway has signs that read "Do not jump down and walk into tunnel". Personally, I would prefer not have the signs and simply see survival of the fittest in action.
The gardens were very peaceful. You could get away from the crowds and the car horns were barely noticable.
Your's truly.
The interiors of the open air buildings were well furnished. As long as you don't like couches. Or cushions. But besides that, quite nice.
More of the same. It was two hectares in size!
Yet another artsy fartsy photo.
The walls were cool.
The dragon morif works, so the builders stuck with it.
I seriously have about 200 photos of this place. Editing this down was a pain.
This looks like a window, but it was actually a walk-way into another section of the garden. I have this same picture from about 4 different angles if you're interested.
I call this one "Spot the Starbucks". Need a hint? Look for the Starbuck's sign.
