This is just going to be a light post all about our visit to the YuYuan gardens (also called Yu Garden) in Shanghai - just because I am feeling nostalgic about the place and wanting to visit China again.
The entrance to the garden
YuYuan Garden is a beautiful garden spread over 5 acres believed to have been built over 400 years ago during the Ming Dynasty. In its long existence, the garden survived many historical events, such as the First Opium War, Taiping Rebellion and World War II. The garden was opened to the public in 1961 and declared a national monument in 1982.
These gardens are located very close to the CBD area in Shanghai so super-accessible, and easy to spend a couple of hours strolling.
You have to pay for tickets to the garden itself. If you buy these in India via Klook, the price is just Rs. 301 per person! Pretty good deal!
If you buy tickets at the venue, it is 40 yuan per person (approx Rs. 400/-). So Klook is definitely cheaper!
However, even if you don't want to visit the garden itself, the markets around the place are worth a visit! You get everything from cheap trinkets and souvenirs, to some really high-end artistic pieces.
I fell in love with this gorgeous origami bag. The only reason I didn't buy it was the voice of reason (Snubnose) whispering in my ear that a paper bag was not the most practical option 🙂 .
Eventually, I didn't shop for anything there. The paper bags as said earlier were not practical. The pottery was exquisite, but I wasn't about to buy anything breakable. So, eventually, we just walked around taking pretty pics to share with you 🙂 .
The shops there also had some incredibly exquisite porcelain and other art work. Needless to say, these are not budget buys.
The YuYuan garden itself was very beautiful. Lots of unusual plants and interesting architectural elements.
You can't make out from these pics, but the dragon wall surrounds most of the garden, shielding it from the modern city outside. It's got an incredibly long tail that weaves through the top of the wall as far as the eye can see.
We strolled leisurely through the gardens and the house clicking away at all the interesting sights.
It was a cloudy day, but temperature-wise perfect for exploring this wonderful garden made of water, rocks and trees spreading over 5 acres.
It was incredibly crowded though. We were later told that the time we went (approx 11 am) was the busiest time in the garden. I do wish we had gone at a slightly quieter time allowing us to just enjoy the peaceful aura around the place.
We walked through gorgeous pavilions and ponds brimming with koi, but because of the crowds it was impossible to stop and click photos. You know how it feels when you're trying to get a nice shot of the scenery only for people to walk right into your picture every single second.
We ended up hurrying through the garden and out into the market, driven away by the crowds.
Next, we tried to get some xiao long bao. This dish is very famous in China, and I was told YuYuan garden was one of the best places to try some. Unfortunately, though we couldn't find any, and we ended up settling for some good ole Starbucks and a chance to rest our legs.
And that was our time at YuYuan gardens, people! A really lovely couple of hours. Most tour guides recommend a good 3-4 hours to visit this place. And I can see why they would say that.
The garden was lovely. Just walking through such an historical place was incredible. The combinations of materials (rock was predominate), the patterns on paths created with stone, the many different window patterns, the doors! There were so many different shaped doorways. There were so many combinations and juxtapositions of patterns, materials, plantings, and rocks (which I think I was told all came from the bottom of the lake at the Summer Palace), that you need a lot of time to process it.
Because of the crowds we ended up cutting our walk short.
Definitely demands a revisit if I ever again come to Shanghai. Fingers crossed, I am in the middle of persuading hubby that he needs to visit China next year. If he agrees, Snubnose and I would love showing him around the place again!
Ending this post with some more clicks from this place.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Stay-tuned for more travel experience posts, tips and our detailed itinerary!
Nish
Voracious reader, vegetarian foodie, mostly armchair traveler, and frequent online shopper. I love to talk about all these passions (and other things happening in my life) in this blog.
