We met up early the next day for a full day and started out at the Yuyuan Garden. As we were walking to the garden, we immediately ran into a group from University of Florida. Yep, the Gator Nation is everywhere.... But it was fun talking to them. The group was the study abroad group for architecture students. The Yuyuan Garden was built by a government officer in the Ming Dynasty for his parents. It was to be a place for them to relax and enjoy a tranquil and peaceful time in their golden years. The garden occupies about 5 acres in the middle of old town and it is exactly what Pan envisioned - a peaceful garden retreat full of rockery, ponds, pavilions, and courtyards.
After the gardens and lunch, we decided to venture off the beaten path a bit. I had researched some things to do for our day on our own and came upon Tianshan Tea Market. We talked with David and he said we had enough time to fit it in; plus it would be easier for us to do it with them as it wasn't really accessible via subway. We found the market easily, picked our shop and settled in to try the wares. The store was the size of a small convenience store and had a try before you buy policy. Think of a wine bar experience, but make it tea and that's what we had. We sampled green teas, jasmine tea, oolong tea, ginsing tea, fruit tea and more. Each time, David would let us know what we were tasting, how best to serve it, and what the beneficial purposes were. And if he didn't know, a quick conversation with our tea host would confirm it. We had a wonderful time chatting, sampling, and learning. Ronnie and I settled on purchasing the fruit tea for the girls and oolong ginsing tea for us.
We then headed to take in some more sights before dinner. We visited the Shanghai Museum, where David hooked the girls up with the English virtual guides... why we haven't gotten those before is beyond me. On our way to dinner, we stopped at the Bund, which is a big river walk with the amazing view of Shanghai's skyline. The architecture in the Bund is very European and is reflective of the city's importance as a major trading port and a former British settlement. As usual, the girls were a big attraction and may have been more popular than the skyline. I think most of our time was spent watching people take pictures of and with the girls.
After dinner, we went to the Portman Acrobatic Show. A few years ago, I tried to get Holly to watch the Chinese acrobat show with me at Epcot, but she wasn't interested. She found out exactly what she missed at the show. We saw the performers spinning plates, juggle with their legs and feet, dancing contortion, climb poles, bungee jump, dive through rolling hoops, and bicycle on a tightrope. It was so much fun and the girls were absolutely amazed.... and thoroughly exhausted from our day.
The next day was a free day for us to explore Shanghai on our own, though the weather looked like it would rain. We had picked up a subway map, some pointers from the concierge and set out for our day. We decided to let the girls pick our first stop and they chose the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. Great choice - lots of room for them to run and play and tons of interactive exhibits. I don't think we covered but 20% of the museum in the four hours we were there. We watched an IMax film, played in the kids science area, went through the rainforest, and created an earthquake. We checked out the webcams from science centers all over the world. The girls had too much fun.
Next it was my choice and I wanted to head to the fabric market and do some quick bargaining. After, we headed to Nanjing Road for dinner and walked to the Bund to take in the skyline at night. Luckily, the weather had held off for us, so we took the Bund train to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. The tower is 468 meters (1,536 feet) tall and is the world's third tallest TV and radio tower. And the night view from the top was amazing. The next floor down had a plexiglass floor where you could stand out over the street. It was getting late so we headed back to the hotel to pack as we had an early flight the next morning.
Shanghai is also going on the to-do again in China list. It's a great city with a fantastic vibe -- just makes you want to explore every nook and cranny.
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