The courtyard in the Jade Buddha temple
Past, Present and Future Buddhas
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Bright Lights...
After visiting the Yu Yuan Gardens, our guide brought us back to the French Concession, where our hotel was located. He recommended this restaurant specialized in traditional Shanghainese cuisine and left after we sat down. At first ordering was easy because they had bilingual menus. However, to order more dishes turned out to be pretty difficult, since the waiters did not speak a word (not even yes or no) of English.
My parents and I have been in many situations where we don’t speak the language of the place, but this was probably our hardest time ever trying to communicate. Gestures and pointing were somehow not working, no matter how many different waiters came to our table trying to help. We did manage to get second helpings of one dish, but getting mooncakes or watermelon for desert was a real challenge. Eventually we did get some watermelon.
It had turned out to be a nice day, so we went for a walk after lunch. Around the French Concession there are a lot of small boutiques selling very cute, original outfits for prices that give even Singapore a run for their money. Of course we did some shopping and kept walking, taking notice of the European-inspired architecture as we went along. We made our way to the river, passing the historic People’s Park and busy Nanjing-Lu, with its plethora of neon lights a la Times Square.
It was already dark by the time we got to the river, to take a different look at the Bund and the Pudong. This time it was really hard to see anything at all. Apparently, this is the busiest time of the day to come here, and so we had to hold hands to make sure we didn’t get lost in the crowd. Catching a taxi back to the hotel was difficult too.
We had a quick dinner around the hotel (my mom and I had congee--porridge) and then went to the Cotton Club. Shanghai is somewhat famous for its jazz scene. Especially well-know are the jazz sessions at the historic Peace Hotel, right on the Bund. Unfortunately, the Peace Hotel was closed for renovations, so we took our guidebook’s suggestion to check out this Cotton Club. This place is an unassuming bar not too far from the French Concession where there are live bands every night, including a lot of jazz.
On that night, there was rock and folk on the menu (performed by Americans, even though the audience was mostly Chinese), and since it was a weeknight, it wasn’t very crowded, so we had a nice view to the stage. It was a different way to experience Shanghai.
My parents and I have been in many situations where we don’t speak the language of the place, but this was probably our hardest time ever trying to communicate. Gestures and pointing were somehow not working, no matter how many different waiters came to our table trying to help. We did manage to get second helpings of one dish, but getting mooncakes or watermelon for desert was a real challenge. Eventually we did get some watermelon.
It had turned out to be a nice day, so we went for a walk after lunch. Around the French Concession there are a lot of small boutiques selling very cute, original outfits for prices that give even Singapore a run for their money. Of course we did some shopping and kept walking, taking notice of the European-inspired architecture as we went along. We made our way to the river, passing the historic People’s Park and busy Nanjing-Lu, with its plethora of neon lights a la Times Square.
It was already dark by the time we got to the river, to take a different look at the Bund and the Pudong. This time it was really hard to see anything at all. Apparently, this is the busiest time of the day to come here, and so we had to hold hands to make sure we didn’t get lost in the crowd. Catching a taxi back to the hotel was difficult too.
We had a quick dinner around the hotel (my mom and I had congee--porridge) and then went to the Cotton Club. Shanghai is somewhat famous for its jazz scene. Especially well-know are the jazz sessions at the historic Peace Hotel, right on the Bund. Unfortunately, the Peace Hotel was closed for renovations, so we took our guidebook’s suggestion to check out this Cotton Club. This place is an unassuming bar not too far from the French Concession where there are live bands every night, including a lot of jazz.
On that night, there was rock and folk on the menu (performed by Americans, even though the audience was mostly Chinese), and since it was a weeknight, it wasn’t very crowded, so we had a nice view to the stage. It was a different way to experience Shanghai.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Rocks and dumplings
Gardens seem to be a very important element of Asian cultures. An excellent example is the Kokoen gardens in Himeji, Japan, but it’s definitely not just a Japanese phenomenon. The Chinese gardens we’ve seen in our trips tend to be grander, rockier, and more complicated than their Japanese counterparts. The Summer Palace is a larger than life example, though the garden at the Forbidden City was another instance of a garden comprised of a number of pavilions, some trees, and many funny-shaped rocks.
The Chinese look at rocks the way we look at clouds: the imagination turns strange shapes into familiar objects or animals. In the Summer Palace, for example, there was a group of rocks names after the Chinese zodiac signs, though I couldn’t tell the monkey from the snake. If had had more time, however, I would have liked to try and find out.
In Shanghai, one of the major attractions is the YuYuan gardens. Unlike the Summer Palace or the Forbidden City, these were private gardens at a time, and belonged to a government official. For a garden that didn’t belong to the emperor, it is quite large. It is comprised of several sections (hence the plural “gardens”), and includes a few ponds, a zigzagging bridge, a corridor with a lane for ladies and another for gents, a theater, numerous courtyards, and, of course, hundreds of rocks.
On top of a white wall separating two of the gardens lays a grey dragon, undulating for many meters. Apparently the emperor was not amused when he heard of this dragon wall. After all, the dragon is the symbol of the emperor and not something commoners should be using to accessorize their gardens. The owner avoided this issue by giving only four claws to each of the dragon’s hands. It’s really a technicality, but since the emperor’s dragon has five claws, the dragon on the wall did not represent a threat.
Outside the gardens, there is a huge bazaar. It’s a whole neighborhood of buildings mimicking a traditional style and narrows streets packed with tourists. Most of the buildings house souvenir stores, but there is also a number of restaurants, including a very large one famous for its xiao long bao, or Shanghai-style dumplings. You can see the cooks at work folding many dumplings per minute, or you can go upstairs and try some yourself. They are very, very recommended.
Below are some views of the YuYuan Gardens.
The Chinese look at rocks the way we look at clouds: the imagination turns strange shapes into familiar objects or animals. In the Summer Palace, for example, there was a group of rocks names after the Chinese zodiac signs, though I couldn’t tell the monkey from the snake. If had had more time, however, I would have liked to try and find out.
In Shanghai, one of the major attractions is the YuYuan gardens. Unlike the Summer Palace or the Forbidden City, these were private gardens at a time, and belonged to a government official. For a garden that didn’t belong to the emperor, it is quite large. It is comprised of several sections (hence the plural “gardens”), and includes a few ponds, a zigzagging bridge, a corridor with a lane for ladies and another for gents, a theater, numerous courtyards, and, of course, hundreds of rocks.
On top of a white wall separating two of the gardens lays a grey dragon, undulating for many meters. Apparently the emperor was not amused when he heard of this dragon wall. After all, the dragon is the symbol of the emperor and not something commoners should be using to accessorize their gardens. The owner avoided this issue by giving only four claws to each of the dragon’s hands. It’s really a technicality, but since the emperor’s dragon has five claws, the dragon on the wall did not represent a threat.
Outside the gardens, there is a huge bazaar. It’s a whole neighborhood of buildings mimicking a traditional style and narrows streets packed with tourists. Most of the buildings house souvenir stores, but there is also a number of restaurants, including a very large one famous for its xiao long bao, or Shanghai-style dumplings. You can see the cooks at work folding many dumplings per minute, or you can go upstairs and try some yourself. They are very, very recommended.
Below are some views of the YuYuan Gardens.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
The View from Huangpu Park on a Misty Day
Some of the Bund's iconic buildings
Many tourists and almost as many vendors in Huangpu Park, with some of the Bund's buildings in the background. At sunset, the number of people in the park is multiplied by at least ten.
The Pudong, with the distinctive Oriental Pearl Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center a little to the rightThe Old and the New
If there’s one area of Shanghai that can be considered an icon of the city, it’s the banks of the Huangpu river: the old-world Bund on one side and the shiny, brand-new Pudong on the other. Flocks and flocks of tourists gather here, to the point that it’s really hard to take a picture in any direction without getting at least a couple of heads in the front. Keep an eye on you belongings and your companions! Together, the Bund and the Pudong summarize a lot of what the city was and is about.
The Bund is a water-fronted avenue, lined with buildings made by Europeans in the first decades of the 20ty century, when Shanghai was the sin city of the East. These buildings include Art-Deco type hotels, several big banks, and headquarters of large corporations, with a very European flair and every single one of them topped by a few Chinese flags (all of them belong to the government nowadays.)
On the other side of the river it’s all about the modern buildings in dramatic shapes, like the Oriental Pearl Tower, with an architecture that looks it was inspired by some old sci-fi illustration, the tall Jin Mao building, which houses the luxurious Grand Hyatt hotel and has a terrific view over the city, and the brand new Shanghai World Financial Center, the world’s third tallest building, which is still in construction.
Everything in the Pudong looks new, and I doubt there’s any building there that’s more than 15 years old. It feels like all those steel-and-glass corporate towers and the predominantly white residential buildings all suddenly sprouted of the ground like mushrooms.
A recent addition to this interesting dichotomy is a tunnel under the river, which connects the two banks via a neon-lit psychedelic-type experience. Add the even more neon-filled Nanjing Avenue nearby, and it’s like Shanghai is steadily turning into Walt Disney World.
The Bund is a water-fronted avenue, lined with buildings made by Europeans in the first decades of the 20ty century, when Shanghai was the sin city of the East. These buildings include Art-Deco type hotels, several big banks, and headquarters of large corporations, with a very European flair and every single one of them topped by a few Chinese flags (all of them belong to the government nowadays.)
On the other side of the river it’s all about the modern buildings in dramatic shapes, like the Oriental Pearl Tower, with an architecture that looks it was inspired by some old sci-fi illustration, the tall Jin Mao building, which houses the luxurious Grand Hyatt hotel and has a terrific view over the city, and the brand new Shanghai World Financial Center, the world’s third tallest building, which is still in construction.
Everything in the Pudong looks new, and I doubt there’s any building there that’s more than 15 years old. It feels like all those steel-and-glass corporate towers and the predominantly white residential buildings all suddenly sprouted of the ground like mushrooms.
A recent addition to this interesting dichotomy is a tunnel under the river, which connects the two banks via a neon-lit psychedelic-type experience. Add the even more neon-filled Nanjing Avenue nearby, and it’s like Shanghai is steadily turning into Walt Disney World.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Buddhas that aren't golden (for a change)
I met my parents and the guide at Shanghai airport. Our guide was in his twenties, with an ear piercing and a flashy cell phone he had trouble putting away. In the morning of our first day he took us to the Jade Buddha temple. This temple reminded me a little of the Lama temple in Beijing. While the Lama temple is housed in a former palace, this one looks like it used to be a wealthy person’s home, in terms of architecture. And while the Lama temple features some Tibetan art and imagery, the Jade Buddha temple features, well, a Buddha made of jade. Actually, there are two.
According to the story, a monk brought about five jade statues from Burma, though three of them were more like statuettes. The two large ones—one a sitting Buddha and the other a reclining one—were actually hidden from view from the Cultural Revolution until the eighties. They’re significantly smaller than many other Buddhas I’d seen on my trips, but none the less impressive, given the material they were carved out of. Unfortunately, photos of the jade Buddhas were not allowed.
The jade statues aren’t all there is to see in the temple. I found two other interesting statues, the Laughing Buddha (also called Budai), and the armor-clad Veda. There was also a curious depiction of a female deity, Guanyin, whose particular role in the Chinese Buddhist pantheon I cannot recall.
The incense burner in the main courtyard
Depiction of Guanyin, a female deity
According to the story, a monk brought about five jade statues from Burma, though three of them were more like statuettes. The two large ones—one a sitting Buddha and the other a reclining one—were actually hidden from view from the Cultural Revolution until the eighties. They’re significantly smaller than many other Buddhas I’d seen on my trips, but none the less impressive, given the material they were carved out of. Unfortunately, photos of the jade Buddhas were not allowed.
The jade statues aren’t all there is to see in the temple. I found two other interesting statues, the Laughing Buddha (also called Budai), and the armor-clad Veda. There was also a curious depiction of a female deity, Guanyin, whose particular role in the Chinese Buddhist pantheon I cannot recall.
The incense burner in the main courtyard
Depiction of Guanyin, a female deity
Another courtyard, seen from the hallway leading to the Jade Buddhas. From here, the temple really looks like a villa, I think.
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