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The Jade Buddha Temple Completed in 1918, it houses two jade Buddha statues from Burma and numerous other statues as well. It's a famous Buddhist site, and the courtyard was a beehive of activity when we were there. We were fortunate enough to see some of the monks who live there worshiping.
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The Shangahi Museum houses exhibits of antique furniture, jade, sculpture, ceramics, and more. You'll need every minute you can spare for this must-see attraction. |
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The Bund. The boulevard fronting the Huangpu River is lined with old buildings built by foreigners in the 1920's, and is now a major tourist attraction. Be sure to stop by the famous Peace Hotel  and savour its old Shanghai, Art Deco atmosphere. You can have drinks on the roof and take marvelous photos (although the bar was hidden behind a soda machine when we were there, it was open). |
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Shanghai at Night. This photo shows the famous Nanjing Road, Shanghai's busiest street. The entire city's vibrant and exciting, but unfortunately our hotel, the Sheraton Grand Tai Ping (not very impressive) was a good distance out. We decided to skip the dinner buffet there (included with the tour), and our local guide sent us to an absolutely marvelous restaurant, T8. |
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T8 serves wonderful fusion cuisine, a bit pricy, but worth every penny. (Ask to sit on the sofa at one of the comfortable tables in the lounge.) Plus it was in the hip, new Xintiandi neighborhood, a cross between Georgetown and Soho, that we never would have found on our own. Conde Nast Traveler lists T8 as one of their Hot Tables for 2002. Check it out at  . |
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Our tour stopped at a Carpet Factory where we saw silk carpets being made by hand. It was absolutely amazing to see workers creating the elaborate designs thread by thread with only a paper drawing to guide them. The lowest quality carpets have 120 knots per foot and take several months to complete, while the best have 600 knots and take over two years. We certainly didn't intend to buy carpets in China, but when we reached the showroom, buy we did, two small ones that I'm sure we'll treasure forever.
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Another (mandatory?) stop on the tour route is The Children's Palace where youngsters go after school to learn traditional Chinese art, music, and dance. The children were delightful, but we were very disappointed when our visit ended in yet another buying opportunity, this time at an in-house souvenir shop carrying the same stuff we saw all over China. It's also a shame that our tour spent several hours of our single day in Shanghai on this in lieu of such famous sights as the Yu Garden and the French Concession. |
