6th day in shanghai

first day out and about in the metropolitan of shanghai. a city where the population is almost more than those in the whole of malaysia. hard to believe right? but travelling is such an ease here with the efficient public transport. we used the metro most of the time and did not step into any bus at all. getting a cab is a breeze too and the price is reasonable. so let's jalan-jalan now.

yup, we still need to walk but unlike those days in expo under the hot and sunny sky. the weather was milder nearing the end of our trip.

first stop: yu yuan garden, a famous classical garden which has existed for more than 400 years.
the location: anren jie and the metro stop is yuyuan garden. how convenient.

before you reach yuyuan garden's arch and entrance, there are streets and streets of shops selling locally made products. this is the place to get your shanghai souvenirs.



yu yuan's garden entrance. rmb20 please.
inside yuyuan.
cool inner rock gardens and pavilions with ponds. a great escape from the hustle and bustle outside.

after that visit, we decided for a walk around the area with no proper destination in mind. we thought of going to the metro station but the farther we walk, the more confused we were of the direction. still, a bit of aimless wandering is good because you will not know what you can find in those alleys and streets.

and so it brought us to the famous temple in shanghai- i think it is called shanghai city temple. it is where dreams and wishes are granted.....with a fee. rmb10 i think for entrance into the temple. we skipped this.
and so after a peek of the temple, we continued our walk.

it brought us to another tourist destination- shanghai old street where the shops are small in size but still offer a myriad of cheap clothes and shoes for those looking for a bargain. uncle pek bought 2 pairs of bermuda trousers here and both men got 2 pairs of slippers as well as the weather was too hot and unbearable to walk in sneakers. pirated crocs are seen everywhere.

when we found the metro station, we decided to hear to shanghai national museum. it is 4th most visited museums in china i think and the building itself is impressive. and the best thing is- entrance is FREE!!!
it is huge right?? the sunlight makes it so yellowish and that is the 5p.m.'s sun. the museum closes at 5. we only managed to stay for less than an hour there. so sad.
they were having a very nice exhibition of catherine the great of russia. the exhibits were really exquisite. no photography was allowed. we only managed to visit 2 out of the 5 floors in the building.

so outside the museum is the famous renmin avenue.
a group of young military trainees i think doing their evening exercise at people's avenue park. very disciplined chaps....even their footsteps were synchronized.

people's avenue square where the national museum, shanghai grand theater and municipal government buildings are. this road is vast and they have an underground small mall under the square's park.
we found this tunnel under the square. it was on dad's guide book. the tunnel has been here since the 1930s. small shops and cafes line both sides of the tunnel. the lighting and deco of the tunnel surely bring you back to the 30s.

from the people's avenue, we walked and walked and walked all the way to the waterfront. we asked for directions and the expo volunteers who have booth almost everywhere told us it was near. near to them is like those distances less than 5km i think. we walked and walked and walked for almost 2km before we reached the bund!!! but it was a good walk because this was where we discovered that we were on fuzhou road which is famous for all its book shops. dad and uncle pek went there again the next day to books in both english and chinese language.....and they managed to get some cheap ones but of course they are pirated ones.

the bund in the evening. many of my photos taken here sucked because the camera's battery was low. so these are the best i have. the lights along the huangpu river were breathtaking thus this place is a popular haunt in the evening.
we joined a river cruise, rmb100 each which brought us along the river for about an hour. phew! it provided the much needed rest for my tired feet. the upper deck is open air but i only stayed there for few minutes as it was very crowded. it was not that big. come to think of it, it is such a waste of money right....paying rmb100 just to sit in an aid-conditioned area. you kinda see everything when you are at the bund waterfront area already. and i notice that most tourist sites in china now require a certain amount of fee. they are really good at making money from tourists and most fees charged are not small but to the cash-laden chinese they might just be a small fee.