Where in the world is Amy G?: The New York of China

The first thing that you see in the Shanghai skyline is the Pearl Tower. We went up the tv tower our first morning in Shanghai, but the sky was overcast, and we weren't able to get a good view of the city. However, it was interesting to see all the construction that was happening from a bird's eye view. I could tell that there were many construction sites preparing to build more sky scrapers. I'm not sure if they were business or residential buildings, but there were about 4 visible plots in the vicinity of the Pearl Tower.

Next was the Yu Yuan Garden, which was surrounded by a huge tourist market. The garden itself was very beautiful. The flowers were real, the trees were real, and the architecture of the houses and walls was amazing. The main path through the garden snaked around into various corners, and each provided a great picture taking opportunity. It was amazing to think that all this nature was neighboring a loud and crowded tourist shopping area.

The Jade Buddha Temple was next on our hit list. We went through various portions of the temple, and got a chance to see monks doing their routine prayers. We later found out that this was an extremely rich temple, and that the monks here could probably afford a Mercedes a month if they were given the opportunity. Many people come to this temple because it is famous and because it has two of the largest Jade Buddhas in China. Later on we went to a Tea House and sampled some tea.

We all also signed up for the Shanghai Acrobatics Act for that night...yet another must do tourist thing in Shanghai. The acrobatics were amazing! They must have been up and coming gymnasts or has-been gymnasts because these people were buff and flexible! Their abs must have been made of steel, and I'm pretty sure that their muscles stretched to about 4 times that of a normal person. I was envious...I can barely bend down to touch my toes =(