You Garden? Yu Garden!

When I was growing up, the idea of China was really magical for me. I envisioned Asian princesses robed in red, sitting in their pagodas, overlooking rice paddies. Of course, I know that’s not what China is now, but in my heart, I guess I still kind of wanted it to be that way.

In truth, Shanghai is a city of opposites. Some of it is very modern. Some of it almost European, built by the French and British. And yes, there are the parts of which I dreamed as a kid. All of it is draped in a smoggy haze, though the temperature in October is absolutely perfect, a welcome respite from Singapore’s oppressive (and depressing) weather. It’s the biggest city I’ve ever seen - seemingly going on forever. The population is 23 million compared to New York’s 8 million. When I was in China in 1997, I didn’t see one sign in English. Now almost all signs have both Chinese characters and English words.

We started the morning at Yu Garden and the surrounding bazaar. This is the kind of thing I came to China to see. It was truly amazing in every sense of the word. This area is 400 years old and best I can make out from our guide Cloud’s broken English (I need to research more), this garden was part of a very rich man’s estate. The master of the garden didn’t want people to know what was there so he built a massive wall around it. Outside, is an incredible tribute to Chinese Yangtze Delta architecture, beautiful in every sense of the word. I so wish I could have been there before Cold Stone Creamery and Starbucks found it. Sigh. Oh to have been Marco Polo!

When you walk into the Yu Garden, however, it really does feel like you’re stepping back in time. I’ve been in a lot of the famous gardens of the world. This one could be my all time favorite. It is a labrinyth covering 10 hectares. You cross a bridge or turn a corner and discover an entirely new space, more magical than the one before and it all looks like it just happened, nothing appears to have been done by man. Cloud was fantastic giving us all sorts of inside scoop. 

Now here is the sad thing- not tragic, but pretty awful: my camera was on the wrong setting for most of the garden. Almost all of the pictures came out really weird. I’m pretty blue about it. Sigh. Once I figured it out, only a little retail therapy helped. Things really are cheaper here - with a little negotiation, of course! Amazingly, most of the stuff here was pretty nice, not the crap you see at other China towns. Yes, there was stuff for tourists to buy, but nice stuff. I wish I’d spent a little more time there now that all is said and done. I would have skipped our last stop and spent more time here.

Anyway, it’s not like there wasn’t plenty more to shoot today. From Yu Garden we went to the Xintiandi area, constructed during the French concession from the colonial era. It was like walking from the middle of Asia into the middle of France. The plaza was dotted with coffee shops such as The Coffee Bean. Again, I found myself kind of bummed that the world is getting so small. While the area felt European, the tops of buildings did have the Chinese flair. We visited a small museum which was an example of what the homes - called Shikumen - were like back then. It was a fascinating mix of East meets West.

We headed off for lunch to a place close to The Bund, complete with Lazy Susans. I love Lazy Susans. In fact, my big memory of San Francisco’s Chinatown as a kid is a Lazy Susan at the restaurant. Ha. I figured we’d be going to some cheesy tourist place, but we were actually the only Westerners in the joint. I love that! Tom and I scarfed down the food while the kids dined on rice. It’s  a shame they didn’t try it. Every, single dish was something they would have liked.

After lunch, we drove (and napped) 40 minutes to Zhujiajiao, one of the few remaining water towns in China. I thought it was going to be a real, floating town like Tom and I saw in Thailand on our honeymoon. There, you’d take a boat over to another boat and buy a bag of rambutans. Visiting yet another boat, you might buy meat. The entire market was on boats.

This Chinese water town was simply a canal that went through the one main street of shops. We took a gondola ride to see it. We might have thought we were in Venice except the city wasn’t as pretty, the water was filthy and the driver wore a Chinese hat.

We walked back through the town until we were once again at the Letting Them Bridge. Letting Them as in letting them go. It’s considered good luck to let fish go into the Pearl River so we did our duty, bought some fish and let them go. Man, those Chinese women who sell the fish are aggressive! Wow! One handed Maisie a bag and then demanded to be paid. We gave the bag back and bought them from another, kinder hawker. 

Think we’d be done, huh? No way. Next we went to the silk museum. It was fascinating watching them spin the silk from the cocoons, but we weren’t interested in buying any of the silk which was priced far higher than anywhere else. By the way, I had no idea you could buy silk-filled comforters, but trust me, you can. Apparently, they breathe more being cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter and the stuffing never shifts like feathers.

We rushed back to the trusty, ol’ Holiday Inn, downed a quick dinner and then took a ferry up and down The Bund which is an area of great pride here. On one side of the river, a part of the Yangtze, is the brand, new skyline where unusual works of architectural wonder dot the skyline. Directly across the river is a very European-looking, colonial area, equally stunning, but totally different. For some reason, it reminded me of Stockholm. I love New York, but this may indeed be the most spectacular skyline I’ve ever seen. 

The skyline wasn’t the main attraction. Nope. All the Chinese on the boat were fascinated with our kids, particularly Hudson. Everybody wanted a photo with them. They didn’t just want a photo, they wanted to hold them for the photo. We’ve seen some of this throughout our stay in Asia, but this was the first time we were honestly mobbed. At first, the kids thought it was fun, but it was past their bedtime and I think all the attention was starting to freak them out. Hudson just wanted Mommy. One man thought I wasn’t his mommy, I’m guessing because I’m not blonde. He wanted his turn to hold the baby. Ha! Cloud told us to watch our belongings when this happens. China is simply not the safe place that Singapore is.

The kids were in bed by 8 (an hour late), Tom by 8:30 (two or three hours early). Good thing because tomorrow we have to leave the hotel at 6:30 to catch our bullet train to Beijing!  I’m praying the kids can nap on the train as they are way behind on their sleep. Neither kid got much sleep last night. In fact, Maisie was up all night long coughing and kicking me. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep either. Hudson woke up at 5 ready to conquer the world. Thank God for LeapPads, strollers and naps.

I’m so excited to go to Beijing. I know, I know. It’s polluted and gross (Shanghai’s air isn’t the best either), but I’m still tingly with anticipation. I prefer seeing ancient Chinese architecture so here’s my chance!

So I guess, it’s official: we have a set of travelers on our hands. These kids of ours did non-stop sightseeing today with very little whining. This private tour thing was a GREAT idea on our part! It’s the only way we could have handled a trip like this.