June 21, 2013 / Day 3 (Part 2): Old Shanghai & Yuyuan Market and Garden
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1:00PM: After lunch near our hotel at a restaurant adjacent to the well-known Phoenix hostel, we set out to discover the famous Old City of Shanghai and the Yuyuan Market and Garden (豫园, Yù Yuán, lit. Garden of Happiness or Peace). The walk there took about 20 minutes or so from our hotel. Again, we were in a bit of a rush as a bus from the Jiaxing Dragon Boat Festival was already en route to Shanghai to pick us up from the hotel. This is a change from our original plan to meet Patrick and Melissa at Pudong Airport, where we would be picked up, because Pat's flight was unfortunately delayed 7 hours. This means Melissa would have to meet us at the hotel, and a private car would be sent to pick up Pat at Pudong in the middle of the bloody night. Oof!
After walking around the market for a while, we split off into groups. My group began its search for the entrance to the Yuyuan Garden. Somehow in our wanderings, we ended up on the other side of the market, outside the walls of the garden! So we made a huge circle back into the market and finally located the entrance to the garden.
From Wikipedia:
Yuyuan Garden was first conceived in 1559 during the Ming Dynasty by Pan Yunduan as a comfort for his father, the minister Pan En, in his old age. Pan Yunduan began the project after failing one of the imperial exams, but his appointment as governor of Sichuan postponed construction for nearly twenty years until 1577. The garden was the largest and most prestigious of its era in Shanghai, but eventually its expense helped ruin the Pans.
[Yuyuan] was inherited by Zhang Zhaolin, Pan Yunduan's granddaughter's husband, and then passed to different owners. A section was briefly organized by Zhang Shengqu as the "Academy of Purity and Harmony" and the Ling Yuan, today's East Garden, was purchased by a group of local leaders in 1709. A group of merchants renovated the increasingly decrepit grounds in 1760 and in 1780 the West Garden was opened to the general public.
The gardens suffered damage numerous times during the 19th century. During the First Opium War, the British army used the Huxinting Teahouse as a base of operations for several days in 1842. During the Taiping Rebellion, the Small Swords Society ran its headquarters in the Dianchun Hall; by the time Qing troops recovered the garden, the original structures had nearly all been destroyed. They were damaged again by the Japanese in 1942 before being repaired by the Shanghai government from 1956 to 1961. They were opened to the public in 1961 and declared a national monument in 1982.
Yuyuan Garden was first conceived in 1559 during the Ming Dynasty by Pan Yunduan as a comfort for his father, the minister Pan En, in his old age. Pan Yunduan began the project after failing one of the imperial exams, but his appointment as governor of Sichuan postponed construction for nearly twenty years until 1577. The garden was the largest and most prestigious of its era in Shanghai, but eventually its expense helped ruin the Pans.
[Yuyuan] was inherited by Zhang Zhaolin, Pan Yunduan's granddaughter's husband, and then passed to different owners. A section was briefly organized by Zhang Shengqu as the "Academy of Purity and Harmony" and the Ling Yuan, today's East Garden, was purchased by a group of local leaders in 1709. A group of merchants renovated the increasingly decrepit grounds in 1760 and in 1780 the West Garden was opened to the general public.
The gardens suffered damage numerous times during the 19th century. During the First Opium War, the British army used the Huxinting Teahouse as a base of operations for several days in 1842. During the Taiping Rebellion, the Small Swords Society ran its headquarters in the Dianchun Hall; by the time Qing troops recovered the garden, the original structures had nearly all been destroyed. They were damaged again by the Japanese in 1942 before being repaired by the Shanghai government from 1956 to 1961. They were opened to the public in 1961 and declared a national monument in 1982.
Having said all that, I did not actually go inside Yuyuan garden. Xuefeng, Tim, and I stayed outside and found ourselves a nice air-conditioned dimsum restaurant, where we polished off 3 big bottles of Tsingtao beer. Let's take this opportunity now for another mini foodie excursion. Located at Yuyuan Market is one of the most famous xiao long bao (soup dumpling) establishments in Shanghai. I don't think I got any frontal photographs of the restaurant, but here it is from the side. Riiiiiiight here:
Just how famous is this shindig? Why Mr. and Mrs. Clinton, is that you?! So happy to see you again. And oh my, Señor Castro! Mucho gusto. Encantado! And there were plenty of photographs of other dignitaries and heads-of-state hanging on the walls.
The following foods are all Shanghainese delicacies. They certainly were tasty.
Let me just interject here and say, "Damn you!" to those of you who asked for pictures of food. You've turned me into a food blogger! I totally spent more time framing the following pictures than I did eating the frickin' things! GAAAHHHHHH!!!
Check out the fish we missed out on. 2000 yuan!!! What do they season that thing with, crack???
This Afternoon's Numbers:
Cost of lunch per person in US dollars: $5
Cost of 3 big Tsingtao beers in US dollars: $4
Cost of the 6 xiao long bao alone in US dollars: $45
Knowing that you've eaten just as well as the Clintons and Fidel Castro: Priceless
Cost of lunch per person in US dollars: $5
Cost of 3 big Tsingtao beers in US dollars: $4
Cost of the 6 xiao long bao alone in US dollars: $45
Knowing that you've eaten just as well as the Clintons and Fidel Castro: Priceless