This past weekend Matthew Silvia, Erin Eastman, Doug Courtot, Mark Holmes, Adam Rabesa, Jullian (German), Marc (German), Sandra (German), and a couple of our roommates decided to travel into the old side of Shanghai. During our stay we wanted to feel experience the entire atmosphere and soak in the Chinese culture as much as we could. So we decided to stay at a nearby International Hostel that was close to the Yuyuan Garden and the City God Temple which are located next to each other. Friday like I mentioned the whole business department decided it would be nice to take part in some volunteer work and decided to visit a retirement home to try and give back to the community. From there we traveled into downtown and decided to have a nice dinner where we could see different sites.
Saturday morning we all woke up bright and early and walked around various parts of the old Shanghai and did some shopping. After shopping or at least attempting to shop and try to bargain with various owners I must say we walked away with great deals. Through my shopping I was able to create what everyone describes as "The Mexican Panda". It was pretty fun because many locals would come up to me and want to take a picture with me, however both Matthew and Mark joined in by buying a traditional Chinese shirt as well. The best part was while we were walking a group of three local kids with jackets took them off and yelled in laughter because they were also wearing the same shirt!
On Sunday we decided to visit the Yuyuan Garden and the City God Temple which were both mind blowing. The Yuyuan Garden was first conceived in 1559 during the Ming Dynasty by Pan Yunduan as a sense of comfort for his elderly father the minister Pan En. The garden was so amazing and enormous there were so many different entrances and it felt as if it would never end. The bridges the connect the garden are designed with square corners because it is believed that bad spirits can only travel through straight lines, which was pretty interesting. As far as the City God Temple that was amazing as well, different types of people around the world as well as locals travel to this destination to make sure they pray. At the temple one can purchase incense to pray for money,wealth, or both. Upon praying one must bow three times in each direction, and with the square shape of the temple one must bow in all four directions and then throw the lit incense in the fire.This weekend was amazing, and we are planning to visit many more temples during our stay in Shanghai and cannot wait to continue sharing our experiences during our stay.
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