Shanghai

Great Place To Start!

Our trip began in Shanghai. Our guide in Shanghai, David, spoke excellent English and was very friendly. Since there were only five people in our group, we were able to move through the city more rapidly and see more sights. The food was generally good.

We first visited the Jade Buddhist temple. This temple contains two jade buddhas, one over 100 years old, approximately 1 yard wide with inlaid gems. The other jade buddha is more recent and is significantly larger. The temple complex also contains numerous other statues and artwork.

We then visited the Yu Garden in Shanghai. This garden is made up of several individual gardens and buildings, for example, one building is dedicated to good planting while another is dedicated to good harvest. The garden was built roughly 400 years ago.

In the afternoon we visited the Bund waterfront park. From here we were able to see the expanse of new highrise developments throughout the East bank of the river. The development throughout Shanghai is occuring at a pace that seems nearly out of control. For example, according to our guide, David, Shanghai had about 150 highrise buildings 10 years ago. Now it has over 2000 highrise buildings. Many of the buildings are designed and engineered by foreign design firms and the architecture is modern and fascinating in its variety.

Later in the afternoon we visited the Childrens Palace. The Childrens Palace is akin to after school activities in American schools. Only the best children from each school are accepted in the Childrens Palace. The Childrens palace focuses mostly on the arts. Music, ballet, crafts and painting are just a few.