Saturday was a very busy day for Judy and I. We started out having a strange, but delicious Chinese breakfast. China is defiantly a vegetarian restaurant. It seemed like everything we ate was mock meat of some kind. It was all very tasty, but with a strange texture.
After breakfast we walked over to the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art. We saw a very interesting exhibition about illusions. I think it was German. There was this door in the middle of the rooms. There was a sign next to the door telling us that we could not enter the room until the red light turned off. After entering the room, it would be locked for three minutes. Of course we wanted to go in and see what was going on. We found the light; it was very tiny, almost unnoticeable. We waited for it to turn off and ventured into the darkness. When the door shut, we were surrounded by total and complete darkness. We started feeling around the room thinking that there had to be something more to it. I felt like what seemed like a door but couldn’t get it open. I could feel the seal and when I pressed it, light poked through. Judy came over, as she was getting tired of the darkness, and forced the door open with a firm push. We stumbled out into the bright white gallery. There was a man, a tourist, on the other side. When he saw us emerge, he said, “Did you just come out of the cupboard?” Looking back, the door looked like a cupboard sitting innocently against the wall. Later, when we finished with the rest of the exhibit we walked back past the cupboard. It was funny to see the door suddenly start moving as people pressed against it, and then gave up. I would have liked to be the security guard sitting on the other side. It would be rather amusing to see confused people pop out.
The museum was in Renmin Park, or the Peoples Park. This was a very nice park; it was landscaped and planted well. At night the trees all glowed green and the sidewalks had ribbons of color glowing in them. It was all very surreal. There were signs in the park reminding people in English and Chinese that the 25th day of every month was public obedience day.
From Renmin Park we headed to the Jade Buddha Temple. This was one of the most beautiful and crowded temples I have been in. It was all painted this gold/yellow color. Here we took in the sights and bought some delicious moon cakes and rice cakes from the temple vendors. While we were in China it was also the Harvest Moon Festival so there were moon cakes everywhere. I love moon cakes!
The rice cakes gave us the energy to head to the French Concession. We were going to see the Propaganda Poster Art Center. This was one of my favorite sites. It had posters from the beginning of the rise of Mao, the Cultural Revolution, and through the 1980s. It was interesting to see the way the Americans and the English were portrayed. I also found it interesting how the posters promoted things like civil rights in the United States, family planning, and women’s rights.
The Propaganda Center was in the French Concession. In colonial times Shanghai was divided between he different world powers. When walking through the city, there was defiantly a European feel. There were beautiful art deco buildings. Most of these buildings were built in the French Concession during the 150s. Now it is full of galleries and hip little shops. We stopped at one of the many street cafes for some wine. We needed the recharge to walk to the Bund later on.
Our first breakfast in China. It was delicious. It looked a little strange. The only thing missing was coffee. Thankfully we found a decent spot later.
I am posing like the character of Shanghai!!
Buildings along Renmin Square.
Remin Park. The build round building is the Shaghai Museum. It houses the history of all of China.
The taxi cars had TVs where you could find restaurants, clubs, sights, or play video games. It was the neatest thing ever! I think it might make me car sick, but it would be worth it.
The roof was amazing at the Jade Buddha Temple.
The outside of the temple.
Judy looking lovely in the temple grounds, smelling the sweet air.
More of the incense burners at the temples.
The koi pond at the temple. The fish were huge. Everyone was feeding them bread.
The inside of the Jade Buddha Temple
Interesting mix of new and old arcitecture.
I really wanted to find some blue Chinese fabrics. We found a little gallery in the French Concession that sold it. I wanted to redo my bed, but I kept it simple and bought a bag. It is such a beautiful color combination and the patterns were lovely.
Walking in the French Concession. I forgot where I was for a minute....
Drinking nice wine. China has the luxury of allowing imports in at a much, much lower price than Korea. Korea likes everything to be produced there. As a result wine is insanely overpriced. Shanghai was a much welcomed relief. I even found a Marks and Spencers and stocked up on dark chocolate and scottish oat cakes.
We were always finding the bugs. They so loud and almost every stand sold them.
Judy at our wine table.
Judy on our walk back from the Bund. Shanghai has more lights than Seoul or Vegas.
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower. I am so glad I finially got to see it. It was so space like! A lot of the buildings here liked like they were sent from outerspace.
