Pavilions, Pagodas and Princesses

Shanghai’s official flower is the Magnolia Grandiflora and it brings a wonderful, heady fragrance to the great gardens of this part of the world.  The Humble Administrator’s Garden in nearby Szhou and the Yu Yuan gardens in the old town of Shanghai are both gorgeous 16th century works of art (with a little restoration work after the Opium and Civil Wars!)

And Shanghai is the only city where I’ve ever seen window-boxes on all the flyovers and big roads!

Suzhou is crowded and chaotic and the waterways are lined with delicious looking little booths selling plum liqueur; pickles and dumpling snacks of all sorts.

The Yu Yuan Bazaar in central Shanghai is grander – with a lot of international brands – but still a great place to wander and pick up a gourd for your water or a flute or lute for your music.   We also had a sublime tea ceremony with Osmanthus, Oolong, Jasmine and Gingseng Green tea.  The fragrances and flavours so delicate and delicious – nothing like anything I’ve ever tasted before.  Unbelievably special and enough to make me want to live in China (since some of the best is never exported and you have to be here to drink it!)

In all these places I would guess that 95% of the tourists are Chinese or from the Far East.  And every great attraction has a flurry of places to go for a Song dynasty princess make-over, so your family can capture grand photographs of you in a stunning location ….

Although we never saw a real one – cats are everywhere too.  The silk museum has a double-sided embroidery entitled “white cat playing with mantis” which was designed as a diplomatic gift (message!) for China to give heads of state around the world in the 70s and 80s.  Cats are carved into the belt of ancient warriors and fantastical cats have a place in the parks.  But the least expected was the tourist-cat-lady in the Shanghai museum - look at her ears and tail!

Everything was wonderful about the Shanghai Museum – the building itself (it’s circular, complete with “handles” and has been made to look like an ancient bronze cooking vessel called a ding); the collections; and the cheery bustle of dozens and dozens of groups of school children, roaming around in exploration or resting on the stairways...

Don’t you just love the last guy above?  There’s something about him that reminded me of Rowan Atkinson.  I was swept along by the wonderful things to see – and learned so much from Katie, my spirited and art-historian fellow traveller.  For example:  Question:  why are the heads of the Tang statues not glazed – like the rest of the tan and green pottery people.  (Answer: …………….)

When I last travelled in China, 41 years ago, it was very rare to find someone who could speak English.  And even now, it’s by no means common.  Not even in the international hotels and restaurants.  So it was a blessing that the big museums have great guidance and description in English – and there’s always real-time translation on your phone, if you get stuck.  Look how wonderfully I found out about the handsome young man’s white silk hat - below

And it’s how I found out about the Kunqu theatre, which pre-dates the Peking Opera and which swept my sister along in a touring production of Macbeth, in the early 80s.  Everything is exotic and different – but it is all so approachable and exciting.  There are theatres everywhere – here’s one from Suzhou and one from central Shanghai which had an intriguing wooden dome ceiling inside the stage which amplifies voices and song for all those in the audience, close and far

We also put the story of silk together between Suzhou and Shanghai.  From caterpillar to cocoon to 100 layers of the finest silk gauze to make a duvet –– see the little movie below – to the embroidery which was our guide’s favourite - and then to the blindingly complicated Heath-Robinson-like looms of Zhangduan, which were making patterned velvet, with peonies!  Breathtaking – and so rare to see this ancient craft in action.

For wonders of the modern world, look at these amazing young acrobats.  It was so compelling I almost forgot to get the camera out at all! 

We’re leaving in the morning – so it's time to say goodbye to the wonderful Johnny, who has been helping us find our way in China. We take a stroll to watch the sun go down on the Bund, a promenade alongside the Huangpu river which separates the historic baroque facades, customs house and the art deco Peace Hotel – from the towering skyscrapers of Pudong on the east side….

What a gorgeous first stop in China!