Shanghai's Old Town 10/20/06

Shanghai's Old Town is the picture of classic Chinese architecture and it functioned as the main Chinese district of downtown Shanghai during the colonial era (1842-1949). Located just a few blocks southwest of the Bund, it is considered the oldest district in Shanghai with the most traditional shops and best steamed dumplings--which we can attest to! Old Town is the location of Yu Garden and the Huxinting Teahouse, two of Shanghai's most striking treasures, and the area draws as many as 200,000 visitors daily.






Behind us is the Huxinting Teahouse (Huxinting Chashi). China's quintessential teahouse has floated atop the lake at the heart of Old Town since 1784, built by area cotton-cloth merchants as a brokerage hall. Tea drinking was forbidden inside for nearly a century, until the late 1800s, when it became what it is today.


Huxinting (meaning "mid-lake pavilion") is reached via the Bridge of Nine Turnings, so designed to deflect evil spirits who are said to travel only in straight lines. The five-sided, two-story pavilion with uplifted eaves and turrets has served everyone from visiting heads of State to local laborers.


More Western influence...notice the Starbucks and Dairy Queen signs? It definitely takes away from the China charm. Although I can just imagine the various emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties sitting down to enjoy a nice Blizzard or a Grande Skim Latte.