Shanghai 老街! This place is an area full of restaurants, jewelery stores, arts and crafts. Here you will also find the YuYuan Garden (see later on this post for more on this garden). It’s really easy to get here as it’s only a 15 minute walk from the Bund. If you don’t live close to the bund, then you can just hire a cab. Just tell them Shanghai Lao Jie, and they will bring you to the front of the street.
Even if you are not a big shopper (like me), you should still come here to view the architecture. Apologize for the dark photos, but pollution in Shanghai was pretty bad when I was there. The skies were all grey, thus affecting the pictures. Maybe it is time to invest in a new camera…..
Anyways, walked around for about 1.5 hours (there’s a lot to eat and see here). Further, I finally had my first ever Smelly Tofu!! Yes.. I have never had one in my life despite all the night markets that I have been.
To be honest, it wasn’t that bad. As in..it wasn’t really that smelly. I have been told if it’s not that smelly, then it probably is not authentic. Mm..ok..well I don’t know. maybe I’ll try some more smelly tofus later.
After seeing all of lao jie, i proceeded to the YuYuan Garden which is right in the middle of the old streets. The YuYuan garden has history. It was built back in the 1500’s during the Ming dynasty, and has gone through many historical events such as the Opium war. (The British actually used parts of the garden as it’s base).
The garden itself was majestic and elegant. Unfortunately, since I have been to the summer palace in Beijing, i wasn’t as awed as I should be. But then i guess you can’t really compare the two. Summer Palace is literally a cottage for the kings and queens, while the Yuyuan Garden was..well.. a garden. Despite this, you should definitely come and pay this place a visit. A couple more pictures of the YuYuan Garden!!!
EAT SOME CHOI 