Shanghai II: Modern versus traditional

by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.    

We are walking through the Yu Garden in Old Shanghai.  The buildings of the Yu Garden are all of vintage Chinese style with dark brown tile-like, fancy roofs, white sides, and perched on stones.  Most overlook small pools of large, golden carp, and the pools are outlined in rocks of various sizes and shapes, brought down from the surrounding mountains.  Some rocks, our tour guide said, were taken from the mountains then put into lakes for 200-300 years so that the weaker soil and rock would be eroded away and an artistic limestone shape was left that revealed holes and crevices that made them especially attractive and unique.  Some of these are massive in size, and the garden area is absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful — a clear reason why the crowds of tourists are here.
    
In one area of the Yu Garden, there is an elevated stage where the royal family occupying the home would bring in special entertainment just for the family and friends seated in the courtyard or at tables and chairs in protected (from the hot sun or rain) porch areas under the surrounding buildings.  Along the top of one wall, a full-length dragon (as mentioned in the previous essay) is displayed.  The dragon, in China, represents royalty.
    
As we left Yu Garden we were given 20 minutes to shop in the little snack and souvenir shops just outside the Garden walls in Old Shanghai.  There we bought a Shanghai tee-shirt and observed the hoards of tourists.  The young lady selling tee-shirts started telling us the cost of the shirt in Yuen, then converted it to U.S. dollars, and $20.00 was her beginning price.  We bought the shirt for $11.00, but could have had it for $10.00 as we were about the leave her store.  All of these stores accepted credit cards or U.S. currency since this is a tourist mecca.
    
From the Yu Garden we proceeded to the Ju Long Silk Store in the Old City, which is the drop-off point for all the shuttle buses to the ship.  Since we had toured a silk factory recently on a previous excursion in another city, we chose to end our excursion here.
    
One thing you notice as you are bussed around this very large city are the many rivers, canals, streams, and lakes.  One website, “China Travel.com,” talks about the water under the heading, “Shanghai Travel Guide”: “Indeed, the entire region of Shanghai - Hangzhou is characterized by water, with several larger and smaller rivers as well as ponds and lakes, of which West Lake is the most renowned.”
    
 There are always regrets when you have a limited amount of time in a port or you must choose between a number of attractive shore-excursion options.  For example, we had to miss the Shanghai Museum of Art and History.  It has, according to one Internet website, “one of the best collections of Chinese historical artifacts in the world, including important archaeological finds since 1949.”
    
We had to miss, as well, the Shanghai Art Museum, located near the People’s Square (which we viewed ever-so-briefly from the bus window) which is “a major art museum holding both permanent and temporary exhibitions,” and the Shanghai Natural History Museum, which is a large-scale natural history museum.
    
There were several areas of the city, too, that we had to miss.  For example, a visit to Suzhou, which others who went said was a wonderful visit to a small fishing village where they had an opportunity to cruise on the Grand Canal, view the Humble Administrators Garden, and visit the Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute where they could see artists working.  Those taking this excursion said they viewed classic Chinese architecture and saw (up close and personal) the lifestyle of people living along the banks.
    
We missed seeing ancient Zhujiajio (Shanghai’s Venice) too, the home of 36 moss-covered bridges and canal-side boats.  The TravelChinaGuide.com website describes this little water town as follows: “Located in a suburb of Shanghai city, Zhujiajiao is an ancient water town well-known throughout the country, with a history of more than 1700 years. Covering an area of 47 square kilometers, the little fan-shaped town glimmers like a bright pearl in the landscape of lakes and mountains.”
    
There were other things we missed seeing in Shanghai, too.  We missed touring the Bund, the financial hub of colonial Shanghai, although we saw it from floor 88 of the Jin Mao Building (discussed in the first essay on Shanghai).  At China 2001, the Bund is briefly discussed: “ . . . The Bund parallels the western bank of the Juangpu Jiang River. It was here that the European, American and Japanese built their banks, trading houses, consulates and hotels. Renovated by the Chinese as a tourist attraction and brightly lit at night it is a spectacular sight when viewed from the promenade across the Bund and adjacent to the river.”
    
We missed seeing the Maglev train.  Ron Gluckman in an essay, “Is it a bird?  A plane?” describes the Maglev train like this: “Indeed, the Maglev is faster than any speeding locomotive precisely because it's as much like a plane as any railroad we've known.  True, the train has no wings, but no wheels or engine, either. Transrapid, the German firm that developed the system, describes the Maglev as ‘the first fundamental innovation in the field of railway technology since the invention of the railway.’ Magnets are the attraction. First, powerful magnets lift the entire train about 10 millimeters above the special track, called a guideway, since it mainly directs the passage of the train.  Other magnets provide propulsion, and braking, and the speeds - up to 500 kph in test runs; a good 60 percent faster than the renowned Bullet Trains - are attained largely due to the reduction of friction.”  
    
Even though we missed a great deal, we had a valuable and worthwhile opportunity to see downtown Shanghai and where it is heading as well as various parts of Old Town.  This was not just an adventure but a real look at contrasting cultures where a city treasures and preserves its past while moving rapidly into the future.
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At Lonely Planet, the essay, “Modern meets tradition in China’s dynamic cities,” includes this paragraph: “'The slick and futuristic parts of Shanghai are impressive but the gritty and down-to-earth areas are even more captivating. The city’s li(long alleyways, lòngtáng architecture and shíkùmén houses are gorgeous and capture the community feel of Shanghai. And a walk around the Old Town can pop you back into the past,' said author Damian Harper.”

At IndependentTraveler.com, Aida M. Garcia-Toledo describes the “Tradition” in her essay on “Impressive Shanghai.”  She writes about the area around the Yu Garden: “The area around Yu Yuan Gardens is a touristy shopping district that used to be the 'Chinese City' in colonial times. Here traditional Chinese architecture creates a huge, although welcomed, contrast with the rest of the city's modern sites. Red balconies are carved in traditional Chinese style, complimenting the white facades and topped off with traditional Chinese 4-point tiled roofs. The streets are cobblestone and red lanterns hang from most of the balconies. Downstairs different stores line the streets; here you can find everything from tea sets and kites to exotic herbs and exotic medicinal rarities (for westerners). Be warned: this area is full of tourists, and thus best to visit early in the morning or later in the afternoon.”
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Copyright May, 2011, by And Then Some Publishing, LLC.