Greenpossum in Hainan Island and Shanghai: Old Town

I decided to devote the day to the Old Town and French Concession neighbourhoods of Shanghai. To get there I took line 2 again, changed at Nanjing Road East to line 10, and got out one stop south at Yuyuan (豫园) Garden (which is redundant, because yuan means garden). Even though it was one stop, distances are far in Shanghai and crossing roads is no fun. There was still some way to walk and on the way a visitor who had emerged from a hotel showed me a scrap of paper with Yuyuan written on it. I'm a visitor too, I speak English, and I'm going there too, so come with me, I said. He was an Israeli doing some sightseeing at the tail end of a trip. He told me about this "village" he visited in the hinterland and it turned out to have 200,000 inhabitants. Some village.

The streets around Yuyuan are old style buildings, but totally devoted to selling things to tourists. Well I suppose you can't expect residents to go about their lives like living museum pieces, they have to earn money to eat after all.

Eventually after asking around a bit, we were directed to a very commercial like entrance. Are you sure the man you asked didn't mean the Yuyuan Shopping Centre?, I joked. But it indeed was the entrance. Seeing the scrum, my companion was concerned for his wallet. Don't worry, I said, they prefer to talk you out of your money. Hallo, you need Lorex watch! Goochee bag!

Wow, look at that Starbucks, it must be 200 years old, he said. No, at least 2000 years, I replied.

And here's Old China with New China behind it, I said, at this point.

I have to say the gardens were pretty, but in the artificial way these places invariably are.

And of course they would be more pleasant without the crowds, but that would never happen. It was a weekday. I hate to think what it must be like on weekends.

Around this time we parted ways since he wanted to see another part of the tourist complex.

One of the narrow streets lined with trinket shops. The smoky air is due to the fumes from snack shops. Shopping and food, both dear to the Chinese heart.

But I'm just as susceptible to food as the next person and seeing a snack shop selling deep fried crab claws, I decided to try some. It was alright. Eating crustaceans is always messy, but at least salesgirls don't bother you while you are eating; Chinese respect that.

Gold too is dear to the Chinese heart.

I wandered a bit and found myself on a residential street where things were quite a bit messier but was really how people who hadn't moved away still lived.