Shanghai Part 4

On our last day in Shanghai we saw the Jade Buddha Temple and the Xuhuijia Catholic Cathedral.

 Warrior guardian.

 This temple was much more crowded and popular than the other one.

 This statue was awesome. Super expensive, but really cool.

 Carved from a single piece of wood and containing 18 Buddhas.

 Lanterns up for new years.

Koi pond.

The larger the fish, the older the fish. That really big one is probably close to 100 years old, according to the Chinese.

Xuhuijia Catholic Cathedral.

This guy was the "bouncer." According to the laws of China, Chinese nationals and foreign nationals are not allowed to meet together for religious purposes. There was a Chinese mass in session and so as foreign nationals we weren't allowed to go in the cathedral at the time. He was there to make sure we followed the rules. We would have waited, but it was close to time to head to the airport.

We flew back to Xiamen late that night. According to Chinese custom, our flight was delayed. We got back to Xiamen around 1 am and asleep around 2. Long day.

Shanghai was good. I'm glad we went, but I'm not sure I have to go back. I'll go back with family if they come visit, but Daniel and I are up for a new adventure!

Shanghai Part 3

The next day we went to The Bund and the Jing'An Temple.

The Bund is the waterfront area along the Huangpu River which winds through the middle of Shanghai. From the Bund you can see the newer part of the Shanghai. The Bund is where the banks and businesses set up business in the early 1900s. Most of the buildings are around 100 years old or so. It was nice, but it was super cold with the wind coming off the river.

 Pizza Hut, a Brazilian Grill, and two Chinese restaurants.

 Cables lines still used for trolleys and buses today.

 We thought the statue was Mao. It wasn't. But interesting anyway.

 Some of the building.

The obne with the clock tower is a bank.

 The newer side of the river. The large needle looking thing is the radio broadcast tower. The one that is to the right of center, with a gap and a bridge is the tallest building in mainland China.

 We were cold.

 Built in 1906.

 The Bund is now a place of banking and expensive stores.

Then we went to the Jing'an Temple

 The wood is all Myanmar Camphor wood. Expensive.

 A solid silver Buddha that weighs over 15 ton.

It was pretty cool.

Shanghai Part 2

We did a lot, so this first day is broken into pieces.

After the gardens we to lunch. The girls took us for the Shanghai special. Xiao long ba. They are small dumplings with various things inside.

 This is the large one. It was crab, I think. You drink the juices out then eat the dumpling. There was way too much fishy flavored juice in this one. And almost no meat. Didn't love it.

 Dumpling and broth. This one was pretty good. The broth was pretty bland though.

 Egg "rolls" - triangles. They were yummy, but super oily.

 This was the part I loved. These are xiao long ba. We got three different kinds.

Then we went to People's square and wandered around parts of downtown.

 Huan, Ashley, Claire.

 They told us to strike a pose. So there you go.

 The coins was one of our favorite parts of the museum of Shanghai.

Because of the year of the dragon. This was in part of the museum with the various ethnic groups in China. There are over 40. I can't remember exactly. It was cool to see.

The next day we were on our own. Check back tomorrow.

Shanghai Part 1

We landed in Shanghai around dinner time on Wednesday and had three days to explore one of the world's largest cities.

We stayed at a Renaissance Hotel by Marriott. It was nice. Except for the fact that it was cold and the foyer was not heated because, well, because China. (See next post).

On our first morning we met a Huan. Huan is a graduate student at the U in the department where my dad taught. She is from Shanghai and I met her at the department Christmas party. She was in Shanghai while we were there and was kind enough to meet us and introduce us to Shanghai. Huan and her friend Clair (English name) showed us around and we had lots of fun.

First stop: The Yu Yuan Gardens and Bazaar