Saturday, March 27, 2010

Shanghai City Tour Part 1

I had booked a city tour online for February 14th, basically the only activity I did in Shanghai due to sickness, weather, and time constraints. Because it was the first day of the lunar new year, a major holiday, I was the only one on the tour. I felt kind of bad that they had to work on a holiday just for one person. It also made the day extremely difficult for me, since I had to converse with the tour guide. I'd rather have just listened to her drone on to a group, and not have had to open my mouth all day.

Our first stop was the Shanghai Museum, where we had to stand outside in the rain and wait in line for at least 30 minutes. It was grueling. Once inside, I was given an hour to wander around and see the exhibits.

First I looked at some furniture:




This is supposed to be a detail of the above, but the detail is kind of hard to see. Pretty much everything in this hall was intricately carved.



Same problem here:



I totally want this set:


I enjoyed the architecture of the museum. These are the stairs:


Next I saw some paintings. Many of them would look like something else, then I would realize I was looking at it wrong, and I'd see what it was supposed to be.

Like, I think I must have been seeing some grumpy, disfigured old man in this one, but then I saw the bird and realized I was looking at a rock:




Next was pottery:





Floor design in the lobby:


Ceiling:


The End.