Tunxi Ancient Street Located in the heart of Tunxi City, the Tunxi Ancient Street is an area filled with ancient Ming and Qing Dynasty buildings that have been restored and transformed into a shopping area. I know what you're thinking, another shopping street. This one is unique. The buildings have not been restored to new condition. I guess the word "restored" is a bad choice, maintained is more accurate. Because of this, the street has a lot of charm. It is filled with shops selling all sorts of local g [View Full Entry]

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Xidi Village Located outside of Huangshan Mountain, Xidi Village is a stunning example of an ancient Chinese village. Since the village was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List, I was afraid it was now touristy and had nothing left to make it feel like a living village. I was happily wrong. Although Xidi Village receives a lot of visitors, it doesn't show. The houses have remained untouched and although there are a lot of shops selling souvenirs, they are kept indoors and do not sprawl out into the lanes so if I [View Full Entry]

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Shanghai's Nanjing Road Nanjing Road is known as China's No.1 shopping street. I totally agree with that reputation. I have been to shopping streets all over China and Shanghai's is without a doubt the best I have ever visited. Many shopping streets sell overpriced touristy things and overpriced clothing, but Nanjing Road is not like that. Nanjing Road literally has something for everybody. It has very high end name brand botiques such as Georgio Armani, Versace, Rolex, and many more. It also has shops selling very affordable clothing and jewelry. There are also book stores, toy stor [View Full Entry]

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Shanghai's Yuyuan Garden The Yuyuan Garden was originally built during the Ming Dynasty. I must say that it is my favorite classic Chinese garden. The place is really like strolling through an ancient Chinese painting. I have visited almost all of the gardens in Suzhou and many gardens in other parts of China, but I feel none of them compare with this one. I know, I sound like a commercial, but it is the truth. I hadn't heard anything about it before I visited it and was very pleasantly surprised. The garden is smaller in scale than most Chinese gardens, but [View Full Entry]

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Shanghai Acrobatics Show On the evening of my first day in Shanghai I went to the Shanghai Acrobatics Showat the Shanghai Centre Theatre. It was incredible. I have seen acrobatic shows in China before but this is the best one in the country. They have performed all over the world. The show is a combination of traditional Chinese acrobatics with modern performance techniques. The director said that they change the show and are always adding new performances to keep up to date and keep the show from getting [View Full Entry]

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Shanghai's Huxinting Teahouse Located right outside of the Yuyuan Garden is the Huxinting Teahouse. It is located in the middle of a large goldfish filled pond. It is an ancient structure originally built during the Qing Dynasty and part of the Yuyuan Garden. It is currently located outside of the garden. It can only be reached by a zig zagging bridge. Here is yet another place that I really enjoyed. Being a lover of tea it was a real joy to sit and drink in an ancient teahouse. The building is very simple and tastefully decorated and the staff really goes [View Full Entry]

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Shanghai's Yuyuan Market The Yuyuan Market was not at all what I was expecting it to be. I figured it to be another tourist trap with exorbitant prices. I was pleasantly surprised. The market is located outside of the Yuyuan Garden and is really large. It consists of many streets and all of the buildings are built in the traditional architecture style. There are small booths set up between the buildings which sell local arts and crafts. I picked up a couple of wooden whip tops there. I collect Chinese traditional whip tops. They are great fun, and each area has [View Full Entry]

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Shanghai's Jade Buddha Temple The Jade buddha Temple in Shanghai is unique. It was built to house two jade Buddhas, hence the name. What makes the temple unique is that visitors are allowed to photograph any part of the temple. In most temples in China, people are not allowed to photograph inside the temple buildings. The temple is fairly new and in fantastic condition. It is very clean and beautifully crafted. To view the jade Buddhas that the temple is named after, you need to pay an extra 10rmb. I found it to be worth it because they were exquisite. I [View Full Entry]

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Shanghai's Jinmao Tower I visited the Jinmao Tower on my first day in Shanghai. I was quite impressed with the architecture of the building. It was quite cool. It is covered with glass and stainless steel and the top is very spikey. The building is comprised mostly of offices and has the highest hotel in the world inside. When they say highest, they mean the highest from the ground floor. The hotel is the Shanghai Hyatt. Its lobby is really impressive! Visitors to the Jinmao Tower can look down into the hotel's lobby from the o [View Full Entry]

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Shanghai History Museum I found the Shanghai History Museum by accident. Well, not exactly by accident, my guide Wendy suggested it. It is located in the pavilion in the base of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. The museum is absolutely incredible! If you ever head to Shanghai, do not miss it! The museum has several sections. The main part of the museum is a recreation of old Shanghai and its people. This section is made to appear like the old streets and alleyways of Shanghai. Visitors wander down the streets exploring. In each shop or ho [View Full Entry]

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