Day 5: Saturday, April 12th
We had a 8:10 AM flight to Shanghai, so we had a VERY early start to the day.
We checked out of our awesome hotel and met our black car and driver out front. He took us to the airport, so we could catch our flight to Shanghai.
We had some time to kill and since we left the hotel before breakfast was served, we grabbed breakfast at the Hong Kong airport.
[Bugger King!]
Boarding a plane in Hong Kong is a work of art. These guys know how to travel and are very efficient. The line to board the plane was super long and the plane was huge (3-5-3 seats). I figured the flight would be delayed because they started boarding us so close to our scheduled take off time. But man, did that line go fast! There was no pushing or shoving or cutting the line. Everyone found their seats, moved out of the aisle, and sat down. It was a community working together towards a mutual goal. I loved it!
The flight was easy (did you know there is more leg room in Economy on flights in Asia then in the State?) and after we landed we went through customs and immigration. We had our Visa's and our passports, so getting into China was a breeze. We found our bags and our driver. He took us into Shanghai where we met up with our tour guide. I didn't want to take any risks in China, so I booked an all day tour with an English speaking guide and a driver.
Our first stop was lunch and (I feel like I've been saying this a lot) it was delicious!
We were then driven to the Old City. This part of Shanghai has been occupied for hundreds of years, but really rose to prominence in the 12th and 13th centuries. Since then Shanghai has been a major hub for shipping and industry. Now, this area is full of shops, but some of the older buildings still remain.
After walking through Old Town we entered the Yu Garden. This extensive complex was built in 1559 by the Governor Pan Yunduan for his father who was dying. The garden consists of pavilions, teahouses, rock formations, ponds, trees, and tons of flowers.
Each room had a specific purpose. Some were for men only while others were for entertaining guests. There were also teahouses and offices for the current leader.
[Part of the "Dragon Wall"]
[Stone warriors on the roof]
The center piece and one of the most recognizable thing in the garden is the "The Exquisite Jade Rock." This rock is 11 feet high and contains 72 holes. Apparently the Governor loved this rock so much that he built his office facing the rock, so he could stare out the window and admire it.
[Governors office]
[More of the Dragon wall]
After wandering through the Garden (it was quite a maze) we met our driver and he took us to our next destination.
Next, we toured the Jade Buddha Temple. This beautiful complex was built in 1882 (Qing dynasty) and contains two jade Buddha statues that were imported from Myanmar by a Monk.
Buddhism is an old religion that came out of India. It follows the teachings of Buddha who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. Since then the religion has spread throughout the world and it is currently the 4th largest religion with 500 million followers. It was interesting to learn about Buddhism in Shanghai and how it is different from how Buddhism is practiced in Hong Kong (and later we'll see a difference in Japan too).
[Grand Hall]
Inside the Grand Hall we saw a Monk playing a large drum and people praying. Our tour guide showed us how they pray and explained the significance of the different hand gestures.
Within the Grand Hall are the Three Golden Buddhas, the Twenty Devas, ths 18 Arhats, and the Guanyin, Sudhana and his 53 teachers. Everything is the temple is so detailed and beautiful.
We then went and saw the reclining marble Buddha. This statue was donated to the temple by Singapore. Besides the sitting Buddha, the reclining Buddha is the most common depiction of Buddha. It represents Buddha while he is dying. Death is not necessarily a bad thing because that is when you enter Nirvana (if you've lived a good life).
We then went to see the sitting and reclining jade Buddha statues. We were not allowed to take pictures, but they were very beautiful.
[Rain chains]
Our final stop on our tour was The Bund. Our driver dropped us off and we walked along the Zhongshan Rd which was lined with historic buildings that made me feel like I was in Europe! Most of the buildings are financial buildings or hotels.
[Yangtze Insurance Building - built in the 1920s]
[Jardine Matheson Building]
[Peace Hotel on the right]
We crossed the street and walked along the Huangpu River where we got amazing views of one of most famous skylines in the world!
We were supposed to go to the observation platform at the top of the Shanghai Tower (third tallest building in the world), but since it was cloudy and rainy our tour guide didn't think it would be worth the cost. Maybe next time!
While we were walking along the riverfront we were stopped by a man who wanted to take a picture with us. I noticed that people were taking pictures of us throughout the day (not very discretely), but this was the first person who asked to take a picture WITH us. I figured it was because Luke is super tall, but who knows! I asked our tour guide to tell the man that we aren't famous, but he didn't care. He still wanted a photo!
After our photo shoot we said goodbye to our tour guide and our driver drove us to the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel.
Even though it was a gloomy and rainy day, we still had a great time exploring Shanghai!
No comments:
Post a Comment