Walk Around Old Town and Yu Gardens in Shanghai

See The More Traditional Side Of Shanghai

During our week in Shanghai, we saw Old Shanghai several times. When we joined the Viking Cruises group for our tour of China, we also visited the Yu Gardens when we went to Old Shanghai. The new parts of Shanghai and the amazing buildings along the river in the Bund area were so different to what we found when we walked back in time in Old Shanghai. On a walk around Old Town and Yu Gardens in Shanghai, we got a view of the more traditional side of China.

As we walked in Old Shanghai, every now and then we caught a glimpse of the interesting contrast with the new Bund river area.

Traditional Views In Old Shanghai

Our first view of Old Shanghai was from the top of a hop-on-hop-off bus. We used the bus when we first arrived in Shanghai to get the lay of the land. The view of pagoda tops and narrow busy alleys teased us as we rode past. But we never did get off the bus at this stop.

During our week in Shanghai, we found it was a short walk from our Westin hotel to the old part of Shanghai. The streets were crowded with people soaking up the ancient pagoda buildings. We slowly strolled the streets and gawked like everyone else with our cameras out. It definitely felt like we had gone back in time.

We enjoyed this view of a more traditional side of China on a walk around Old Town and Yu Gardens in Shanghai. It was the first but not the last we saw of fascinating traditional buildings we saw on our 4 weeks in China.

Enjoy Colourful And Artistic Old Town

Colourful displays drew in the children and the young at heart. One display showed the skyline of Shanghai in colours that changed constantly. We definitely recognized the skyline we saw when we walked along the Bund area. Fanciful lanterns drew my eye upwards.

Building arches and wall reliefs were intricate and artistic. And when we looked up, we found beautiful colourful ceiling art.

Everywhere we looked there were statues in the doorways. For the Chinese, a pair of lions were often used at the front of important buildings as protection or guardians. These lions looked like lion dogs (known as “Foo Dogs”). The male lion typically leaned his paw upon an embroidered ball (which represented supremacy over the world ). And the female restrained a playful cub (which represented nurturing). We saw more of these lions when we walked around Yu Gardens. But it was very strange to see such historic symbols in front of fast food restaurants.

Walk around Old Town and Yu Gardens in Shanghai and you will find art and colour everywhere.

A Little Bit Of Everything For Sale

The shops in Old Town sold a little bit of everything. But we were not really there to shop. And we were not going off with one of the many people who came up to us with papers showing watches or purses for sale. That is one scam to be wary of! There were food stalls piled high with tasty treats. And we even found several North American brands that tried to blend into the neighbourhood.

There were several tea shops. The smell wafted out at us. At one tea shop we stopped to watch the show put on as tea was mixed.

When you walk around Old Town and Yu Gardens in Shanghai you can satisfy your shopping urge. You will find both expensive souvenirs or the “Made in China” stuff that is available all around the world. There are lots of food options, both traditional Chinese and more familiar brands.

Find A Quiet Oasis in Yu Gardens

On our first tour day on our Viking Cruises tour in China, we spent some time exploring Yu Gardens. In the centre square, we walked across the zigzag bridge over the koi pond. Fountains and lily pads decorated the water. Small traditional boats moved through the water. The entrance to Yu Gardens was on the other end of the bridge. There was a small admission fee.

There are five elements found in Chinese gardens – rockeries (mountains and Yang), water (life and Yin), plants (human qualities like endurance), architecture (enhance the design) and animals. We found all of these as we wandered through Yu Gardens.

A walk around Old Town and Yu Gardens in Shanghai provided us with our first view of a classical Chinese garden on our busy week in Shanghai. But it was not the last garden we would see. When we explored the gardens at the Forbidden City in Beijing, we recognized many of the garden elements we learned about in Shanghai.

The Elements Of A Chinese Garden

The most interesting garden element we saw was the variety of rockeries. The rockeries with more holes and wrinkles were said to be more special.

A path moved around the gardens. In many places there were small streams and ponds. The gardens were settled under trees and in the shade of buildings. One giant weeping willow tree dropped down to the water. This would be a very tranquil spot if you managed to visit early in the morning before all the visitors crowded in.

Throughout the gardens, several of the former residence buildings were standing. And we got a chance to peek inside. But make sure to look up! The rooftops were decorated with the most intricate and artistic small statues. We saw much more of this rooftop art on the Imperial palaces in Beijing.

In many places we saw more stone lion pairs. We also found dragons overhead at the entrance to buildings. Dragons were used as decoration and symbolized prosperity and good luck. But none of the dragons had five claws. Because only the Emperor’s dragons could have 5 claws (which symbolized his actual hand).

A walk around Old Town and Yu Gardens in Shanghai gave us a view of tradition in the garden design.

Enjoy A Walk Around Old Town And Yu Gardens In Shanghai

When in Shanghai for a week, we made sure to visit Old Shanghai a few times. Each time we found something more to interest us. There were lots of places to shop or eat as we wandered. If you like people watching, this is the place to visit.

Yu Gardens were so much bigger than we expected. It is worth the price of admission. This can definitely be a quieter oasis away from the bustle of Old Shanghai.

We were glad we made plans to walk around Old Town and Yu Gardens in Shanghai. It provided a good look into the more traditional parts of Shanghai. Certainly very different from our view of the Bund area along the river in Shanghai.

Did you walk around Old Town and Yu Gardens in Shanghai? What was your favourite part?

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