Christopher’s Day Off

While I absolutely love my days off in Shanghai, sometimes I feel guilty that Chris has to work while I am living the Shanghai life.  So for Mayday holiday, I told Chris that he had to plan his dream day off. 

At first, he didn’t know where to start, so I lent him my copy of Shanghai Day by Day and he got down to business.  After a few hours of combing through my book he decided that he wanted to take a photo safari of Old Shanghai and eat meat.  

10:26 AM- Chris finally rolls out of bed, takes a shower and assembles his camera gear. 

Someone wanted to cuddle.  I wanted to explore.  I won.

10:50 AM- We catch a cab and arrive at Wenmiao Lu and take in the mountains of stuff for sale. 

If you are looking for Anime accessories, Wenmaio Lu is the place for you!

If you are wanting a pet snake, look no further!  I have to admit… I was creeped out! 

11:10 AM- After getting distracted by snakes and toys, we finally reach the Confucian Temple for the first official stop of our tour.

We were greeted by a statue of Confucius and some incense.

A student ties a prayer to a railing while hoping for good marks.

Other students had the same idea.

Temples are some of the most peaceful places on earth.

In the back of the temple complex, there is a teapot museum.  Make sure you stop by before you leave!

11:48 AM- We stop for post temple sugar cane juice.

I originally bought the juice, but it was WAY to sweet for my taste.  Thank goodness Chris was willing to finish it off.

11:56 AM- We wander through some Shikumens.

Who are you, and WHY are you invading my territory?

One of the great things about walking through Shikumens is you never know what you will see. 

Oh the irony... 

12:30 PM- We visit the Dajjng Lu Temples.

The Baiyun Daoist Temple wasn't nearly as large as the Confucian Temple.

However, I was impressed by the colorful statues.

While at the temple, we checked out the last standing section of the old Shanghai City Wall.

12:55 PM- We walk to Old Street and the YuYuan Bazar.

I think most of Shanghai wanted to check out the arts, crafts and other random junk on Old Street.

1:35 PM- We FINALLY eat lunch at Din Tai Fung.

Din Tai Fung is my new favorite xiaolongbao restaurant. I am embarrassed to say I have become a tad of a dumpling snob.

2:15 PM- We continue on our temple tour to see the Templeof the City Gods.

After seeing so many temples, the statues of different gods all sort of run together. 

After the Temple of the City Gods, we were getting a little templed out.

2:44 PM- We get distracted by more junk for sale.

Chris continues his quest to find the perfect notebook.

2:51 PM- I nearly get hit by a man on a Hello Kitty ebike.

This man came within 3 cm of running over my feet.

3:52 PM- We head home and take the pups out for a walk and a cocktail.

This was Leia's favorite part of the day!

8:04 PM- We head to Flame for a steak dinner!

The fillets at Flame were awesome, and their happy hour wine specials are a great deal!

The soundtrack at the restaurant was INCREDIBLE and the salted carmel banana torte was to die for!

10:00 PM- We have cocktails with friends at Constellation 2.

Chris and our friend Uwe develop a plan to become masters of the universe. 

I’ll be honest, I preferred tea at the Peace Hotel more than meandering through Shanghainese Shikumens, but it was great to see my man in his element!

Old Town Jiading

For two weeks, a small town about one hour outside Shanghai called Jiading was my home.  Due to the long distance from Shanghai, the Jiading teacher trainers stayed in a hotel outside the entrance of Old Town Jiading.

FYI, I did not stay in the O'Clock room.  I lived in the lap of luxury in a suite.

My suite came with a fully stocked minibar that included his and her underwear and other goodies that were more suitable for the O'Clock room.

Luckily, our hotel was in a great location so when I wasn’t writing with my teachers, I had a few minutes to check out Old Town.  Old Town reminded me of Suzhou.  On one side of our hotel there was a charming section that was littered with tourists, street food vendors, and canals.

Built in 1205, the Faghua Pagoda was considered to be the center of town.

I was surprised that there were no boats in the canals in Old Jiading.

The only things floating in the canal were stray pieces of trash.

This is a snapshot of Old Town at night.  I was surprised to see so many people in a "small" town of 1,000,000.

Food vendors sold a wide variety of street munchies.  

My favorite Jiading food was double fried beef, aka birthday beef.  Beef was thinly sliced, rolled in breadcrumbs, double fried, and topped with mayo and sprinkles.  It was served with an egg citrus sauce. It tasted much better than it sounds.

One block down from Old Town stood a Confucian Temple, Imperial Exam Museum, and park.

I loved this statue of a scholar observing a woman working on her laptop.  It made me wonder what Confucius would think of online learning.  

According to my friend Mandy, one is supposed to rub the bottom of the turtle statues for good luck.  That would explain all of the turtles around Shanghai.

Like many other temples I have seen, the grounds surrounding the temple were immaculate and peaceful. 

Confucius sits in the center of the temple.

Test takers leave prayerful messages on a rack next to Confucius around exam time.

Located next to the Confucius temple, the Imperial Exam Museum contains exhibits showing how one prepared to take the Imperial Exam.

In this exhibit, a mother says goodbye to her son who is leaving to study for the Imperial Exam.

The museum has an extensive collection of items used to cheat on the exam.  One student wrote his answers on this vest before it was confiscated.  I am impressed that the cheater was able to fit so much content on an article of clothing! 

In this exhibit, the student has passed his exam and is leaving the academy to return home.

In the park outside the temple, there is a lake that houses paddle boats and a gazebo frequently used for concerts. 

If you are interested getting an “Old China” feel for an afternoon, visit Old Town Jiading.  To get there, take Metro Line 11 until it ends at the North Jiading station, and then catch a quick cab to the temple.