[Editor's Note: It seems that while she was able to make the last post, she needed me to post these next ones.]
Today I decided to see if I could find the Yuyuan Gardens because they have a beautiful old pagoda in the middle and there is a famous tea-house just outside the gates. I got off at Yuyuan Station, and followed the signs, but of gardens I saw nothing. As I wandered my way along the street, I came to one of China's giant crazy intersections and took out my map. A man came up and tried to help, but his English wasn't really sufficient for what I needed, so I just asked him "Bund?" and pointed.
The Bund is another famous landmark in Shanghai. It is a stretch along the Huangpu river that is built up with Western-style architecture, and on the other side of the river rises the Oriental Pearl TV tower, which is the tallest TV tower in Asia. I wandered in the direction the man pointed me in and actually ran into a park! I got excited, because I thought I might have accidently stumbled on the Gardens, but it turns out I had found Gucheng Park. It was cute, with little shady winding pathways beneath tall bamboo. It was very pleasant, frankly. That day it was kind of overcast and hazy, but a stifling 37 degrees out! (Celsius, btw, going for authenticity here.) So, standing in the shade was at least a little bit of relief. Walking through the park, I spotted the river and the Pearl Tower rising up through the haze, so I set off in that direction.
I love wandering around, because sometimes you stumble across the most perfect moments when you weren't even looking for them. On my way through the park, I found a fish pond that was literally teeming with Japanese koi and gold fish, teeming because people were feeding the fish. I snapped a couple of shots of the big fish and then noticed a woman with her two kids. The woman and her daughter were taking turns chucking handfuls of food at a concentration of fish and then giggling as they watched them fight over the little pellets. The little boy was crouching very patiently on the edge of the water and deliberately dropping pellets one at a time into the water. He had a plastic cup in one hand and every once in a while, he would plunge his cup into the water and scoop, trying to catch the little fish who came to nibble at his pellets. He would let out a triumphant "Ha!" every time he pulled the cup up, and then his face would fall dramatically when, every time, there was nothing in the cup. But, stoically, he would just empty the water, drop another pellet, and wait patiently to try again. It was unspeakable adorable.
I surreptitiously took a couple pictures of them, and then went on my way, leaving them to their afternoon of family bonding. Eventually I found my way to the Bund, and walked down it, but because the sky was so full of haze, it didn't really have the same effect as on a clear day.
I didn't really mind, though. I had my perfect moment for the day, so I found my way to Nanjing Street (now that I know where it is, I can go back there!) and caught a train home.
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