Tianzifang - Shanghai

While in Shanghai Margot and I visited place called Tianzifang. It is an old neighborhood that has transformed into a sort of artist and artisan area.

The neighborhood has a lot of small lanes that go here and there.

Lots of stuff. I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating. The citizens of the largest communist country in the world must know of what they speak. Check out the bag in the middle.

They haven't really tried to clean up the infrastructure. Take a look at the electrical lines.

There are also a lot of restaurants and bars there, also.

Lots of places to explore.

There were a lot of people there taking pictures. Many of them looked like students. I wonder if they were taking a photography class.

This gentleman is chopping up a tomato. I'm not sure if it is for his own consumption or as part of a restaurant menu.

The area is still a neighborhood with a lot of people living there.

This seemed like a popular spot to get your picture taken.

This picture spot was the entry way to someone's home.

I'm not sure I would enjoy living in a tourist attraction.

Around one of the corners we stumbled on this little market spot - it just reinforces the point that this is still a neighborhood.

Here is another lane. Basically the shops are downstairs and living quarters are upstairs.

I wish I would have found this at the beginning of our visit.

There is an interesting story behind the architecture of the area that you can find here --> Tianzifang

The Shikumen architecture is interesting, also --> Shikumen

In case anyone thinks that China today is completely foreign land, devoid of western influences or comforts, I leave you with a picture of moonpies in the grocery store.

Shanghai Museum

On Sunday Margot and I decided to head out to the Shanghai Museum.

On our way out of the hotel we ran into a wedding celebration. Earlier this morning at breakfast we heard fireworks going off outside the hotel in preparation for the celebration. Later, when we left for the museum, we ran into the bridal party leaving.

We took a taxi across the Pu river to the museum in downtown Shanghai.

Shanghai is divided into two parts. Pudong, east of the Pu and Puxi, west of the Pu.

Margot and I have both been to the museum before when we were in Singapore so we skipped the lower levels and started on the 3rd floor with Chinese painting.

This piece, Endless Autumn Mountains after Huang Gongwang, was painted in 1619.

Another gallery was dedicated to ancient Chinese seals. They were originally symbols of authority and later used as signatures for private persons.

Some of these seals date to the 16th century B.C.

The large piece on the right is a multi-sided seal. It produces the print in the picture below.

I didn't notice the small seal on the left until I looked at the pictures. I'm not sure what message it is supposed to be sending.

This is a print from the seal above.

The next gallery was the Chinese minorities arts and crafts gallery. This map details where the minorities are found.

In case there is any uncertainty, the large orange area is the Tibet minority area. It is just another minority area of China.






I'm not sure which minority these are from but Margot was impressed by the embroidery.

Some are very colorful.

This is a baby carrier with a lot of detailed embroidery.

Another.

As with yesterday, all the pictures were taken with Margot's iPhone 5 Samsung Galaxy S III phone.

I don't remember where these earrings are from.

I'm pretty sure this is a Tibetan mask.

This is a wooden folding book shelf made by the Uyger nationality in far western China.

Greg let me know if you figure out how to make one of these.

When we went up to the top floor, I took this picture from the escalator platform.

The museum is very nice. I think it opened in 1996. It very modern and well done - world class.

The admission cost is zero.

The figure on the left is a Tibetan statue of the white Tara. This female deity has 7 eyes.

The next gallery was the jade gallery. Some of the pieces date to the 2500 B.C.

This piece has an interesting turquoise inlaid handle.








This piece is carved on a couple of different levels.

This piece dates to the Jin dynasty (1115-1234 AD).

There is a gallery dedicated to Chinese furniture.

That window screen design looks similar to one I've seen before.

This folding chair looks really uncomfortable.

I'm not sure what the story on the stork is. I just liked the picture.

Shanghai - Dong Tai Rd and Yu Yuan

Two days after arriving in Beijing we left for Shanghai. The purpose of the trip was to apply for a work permit and residence permit.

On Saturday we went to the Dong Tai Lu antique market.

It is a pretty big place. It stretches along a couple of blocks plus a side street.

I saw a number of slide rules but only bought one.

It is a neighborhood with store fronts and stalls along the street. Notice the poles for hanging laundry at the 2nd story windows.

The place is similar to the Pan Jia Yuan market in Beijing except with more character. A lot of the same stuff.

It was surprisingly empty compared to Panjiayuan.

Click to enlarge.

Can you say TOURIST! Here I am planning our next move.

We walked along Fang Bang Lu to the Yu Yuan Garden area. The route changes character several times along the way but generally it is very local and very interesting.

The last thing Margot bought in the US was tea! I assured her that there was a lot of tea in China and she would have no trouble finding some.

Here is the proof.

We had dumplings at a restaurant in the Yu Yuan area for lunch. A little confusion about how many we wanted and when to pay for them but we got it figured out. You use the straw to suck out the HOT broth then eat the dumpling and pork filling.

This area was packed with tourists and maybe a few locals. I'd say 99% plus of the visitors were Chinese.

This is an ice cream place near the dumpling place. I've seen this sort of place before somewhere. Anyway, they use the long steel rods to mix and cool the ice cream. Sort of fun to watch.

Here is sort of a crowd picture.

I left my camera in Beijing unintentionally. All these pictures are with Margot's cell phone. It does a pretty decent job when the light is good. Especially when you consider the lens and sensor size. I did enhance them with some post processing on the computer.

There was a huge crowd around the lake or fountain. Turns out they were feeding the goldfish or carp.

They were pretty well fed judging by the size of them.

Here is another shot of the pond.

You can read Margot's account of the day on her blog  I took the one less traveled