Yu Yuan Garden

Yu Yuan, which has been interpreted as "abundant" and "peace and health," is a garden estate in southeast Shanghai. Designed by a Ming Dynasty official, Pan Yunduan, in honor of his parents in the 1550's, the Yu Yuan Garden of today is situated in the midst of a busy shopping bazaar and the nearby Chenghuang Mieu, or Temple of the Village God.

Fashioned after the famed Suzhou gardens, Yu Yuan Garden is divided by into six landscapes: the Grand Rockery, the Ten Thousand Flower Pavillion, the Hall of Heralding Spring, the Hall of Jade, the Inner Garden and the Lotus Pool. The garden's six parts are separated by a white brick wall, at the top of which undulates a gray stone dragon.

The most notable attraction of Yu Yuan Garden is that every corner and every angle is extremely beautiful and eye-catching, not to mention marvelously photogenic. Every new sight and step into this garden urges you forward, filled with wonder at what master landscaping awaits you in the next courtyard.

What I didn't have the opportunity to cross was the Bridge of Nine Turns, which famously zigzags multiple times, making it difficult for evil spirits to get across. (For it's common knowledge here that evil spirits have difficulties with corners!)

The shopping center is full of shops and stalls selling quite a variety of wares, from kites to portraits, from personalized stamps to Shanghai's xiao long bao. I bought a silhouette portrait for only RMB$35, and I was amazed by how quickly and accurately the portrait was done; it's a great souvenir. (As opposed to the dragon kite, which is long since buried somewhere in my closet.)

Caveat epulor: Since xiao long bao are originally from a town in Shanghai, we just had to try them! So we visited one of two spots in Shanghai that is known for the "little basket buns" filled with crab-flavour. While the half-hour line was worth a try, the dough was thicker than I liked and overall, the buns really weren't to my taste. Enter the caveat: a friend had one too many and paid the price back at the hotel, so eat enough just to taste!

Although Yu Yuan Garden sits amidst so much hustle and bustle, the garden is aptly named - it's a peaceful, truly relaxing place to admire man-made "nature" in the Chinese aesthetic.