Wow.
The city is really interesting. There's a rich, diverse history here that seems to permeate all parts of life, and I took some pictures reflecting what I experienced.Before I wade into the significant cultural sites, take a look at this picture. No words of mine can accurately depict the size of this city. There are buildings, even skyskrapers, as far as you can see into the hazy distance. Every direction is like this. It's remarkable ... I've never seen anything like it.
First, we visited the Jade Buddha Temple, which has some fascinating iconography, from Buddha statues to inscriptions.
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For me, one of the defining aspects of the experience is not the temple's treasures, but the scenery that contrasts it. The city that expands into the horizon in every direction was made that way by development on a monumental scale over the last 20 years. Looking around at the beauties, mysticism and serenity of the temple, I can't help but notice the background from which it contrasts, and to me, the scene and experience was a reflection of the modern age of China.
Our tour guide, who was awesome, by the way.
As another aside, here's a McDonald's. We've found lots of "western" "restaurants" here, including KFC, Papa John's, Pizza Hut and Dairy Queen.
The next stop was the Yu Garden.
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The walk leading up to the Garden was a significant tourist attraction, but it did have some very interesting cultural highlights. The architecture of the buildings was very interesting. So was interacting with the street vendors/beggers, many of them selling all kinds of random toys, and many of them grabbing and following you in an effort to attract your interest. As an aside, there are many poor beggers in these areas, and I could definitely devote a post - and may still - to the economic and lifestyle disparities I've seen throughout the city of Shanghai. Here are some pictures of the walk to the Gardens:
The Yu Gardens were beautiful, and quite serene. Apparently, there are four keys to making a good Chinese garden: natural rocks, water, plants and architecture. That last element refers to the inclusion of man-made housing/structures into gardens, which I think is really cool.
We also spent some time there drinking different types of Chinese teas. We got a view of the city around the garden from the roof of the tea place too.
Finally, we went to the top of the man-made world ... well almost. We visited the World Financial Tower, which has the second highest observation deck in the world, and took a series of elevators and escalators to the very top. There's no bigger structure in the US or China, and looking down on two buildings that are also among the 10 tallest in the world is a pretty surreal experience.
(The image in Google maps shows it under construction, but it was completed about 2 years ago.)
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I was able to walk around a few floors from the top, but as hard as I tried, I could not convince myself to stick around very long at the top level, which had a partially glass floor. I managed to let someone else take those photos for me, and got some photos from the few floors below (along with the ground level).
I had someone take a movie on the top floor for me:
Here's a movie of the elevator ride down from Floor 94, over 1500 feet off the ground (the tower overall is measured at 492 meters, or 1614+ feet).
I'll have another update or two soon!
