Yuyuan Garden, Lubolang Restaurant and Old God's Temple Bazaar

This afternoon, we went to Yuyuan Gardens and the Old God's Temple Bazaar, located in Shanghai about 30 minutes from the ECNU campus. We ate lunch at a famous dim-sum restaurant called Lubolang (series of small appetizer-like food, similar to Spanish tapas) where Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro have dined. Then we toured the Yuyuan Gardens - the four-hundred year-old former estate of a wealthy man who built the gardens to please his elderly parents, now turned into public gardens - and bartered with marketplace vendors in the Old God's Temple Bazaar. Two videos from Old God's Temple can be accessed below. I will also post a photo or two of the gardens.
















According to Chinese website "etours," which can be accessed by clicking HERE:

"Yuyuan is the famous gardens in Shanghai, Located in the center of Shanghai"s Old City, one of the few remaining old tourist sites in Shanghai. Surrounding the gardens is Shanghai"s bazaar, a maze of small streets and alleyways where vendors sell their wares and food stuffs to the visiting tourist and locals. That is why he called this garden "Yuyuan" - because "yu" in Chinese means "peace and health"-- a place of peace and comfort in the heart of bustling Shanghai, dates back to the fabled Ming Dynasty. Now a popular tourist destination, Yuyuan began as a private garden created by Pan Yunduan, who spent almost 20 years - and all of his savings - to build a garden in order to please his parents in their old age.

"During the past 400 years, Yuyuan, although restored and reopened several times, was most often in disarray. Due to the decline of Pan"s family after Pan Yuduan"s death, Yuyuan gradually fell into disuse. Although the garden was improved by the local signiors, several civil conflicts in the mid-19th century caused great damage. In 1956, after Shanghai"s liberation, the city government reconstructed the garden and refurbished its mien and beauty as in the old days. Yuyuan Garden was finally reopened to the public in 1961, and the State Department declared it a national monument in 1982. Now Yuyuan Garden attracts countless visitors at home and abroad every year."

Here are some photos of Old God's Temple Bazaar...










According to a Penn University Wharton School Alumni website, which can be accessed by clicking HERE:

"The Old City God's Temple Bazaar originates from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) although the current Temple was built during the Ming Dynasty (1403-1425). Both foreign and Chinese visitors to Shanghai take a great pleasure in seeing it and experiencing the myriad of quaint side streets lined with antique shops and traditional boutiques."