Adventures at Yuyuan Garden and the ancient water town Zhujiajiao!

On Friday, after presenting our weekly projects, our class headed to Yuyuan (豫园) Garden, which was an intricate and enormous gift from a high ranking government official in the Ming Dynasty to his parents. We enjoyed the serene aura of the garden, as the architecture gracefully combined with nature. As we approached the pond, koi fish swarmed by our feet, dazzling us with their graceful movements. Miniature statues of warriors and mythical creatures on the rooftops encircled the top of the buildings. Rockeries made up winding caves and peaks. The curved pagodas and architecture gave us all the feeling that we stepped back into time into an ancient palace. Outside of the Yu Garden, we bought Shanghainese street food — savory skewered meat and crispy scallion pancakes. In addition, there were plenty of pop-up shops where we put our bargaining skills to the test.

On Saturday, after eating a large 3-course meal in a small family restaurant, we visited Zhujiajiao (朱家角), a water village on the outskirts of Shanghai. We rode a gondolier-like boat that held 6 riders and a boatman. The scenery consisted of many stores that sold traditional Hanfu (汉服) clothing and Shanghai dishes. The swaying boat led us to the center of Zhujiajiao where we partook in a scavenger hunt of authentic food (特色菜) native to the area. Scents bombarded us from the fatty braised pork (扎肉)wrapped in lotus leaves to stinky tofu (臭豆腐).