On Friday, my program director, who doubles as my modern Chinese history teacher took my class on a field trip down to the historic Bund section of Shanghai. The Bund, is a water front section of Shanghai that during the late 1800's and early 1900's was part of Shanghai's international settlement. British and American merchants set up communities on and around the Bund (similar to the French communities in the French concession) that enjoyed extra-territoriality and ultimately great economic development. To this day the architecture of the Bund still resembles a European city much more than a Chinese one.
Though I have been down to the Bund countless times to hit the bar scene, it was very interesting go during the day, and even more so to go with a historian who had much insight on the history and architecture of the area. One notable Bund sight that we visited was the Astor House Hotel, established in 1846, it was well known for its luxurious accomodations and and its marvelous ball room which housed social events for the wealthy western Shanghai elites.
On Saturday my roommate and I visited the Yu Yuan Gardens in old town Shanghai, and afterwards ate soup dumplings at one of the most famous Shanghai dumpling houses. Though the garden was beautiful, it was a miserably humid so we didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked.
Sunday I spent the entire day working on a research paper, so I never got around to posting.... Also, having to navigate proxy servers to gain access to and post on my blog is quite a pain.
Ballroom
Yu Yuan Garden
More of the Garden
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