2010 China tour “The Poets’ Trail” Shanghai and the Water-towns of South-east China (Suzhou, Wuxi, Yixing, Yangzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Wuzhen) 18th September to 28th September 2010 Part Three INTRODUCTION OF MAIN ATTRACTIONS Shanghai Architecture and urban Planning Shanghai has a rich collection of buildings and structures of various architectural styles. The Bund, located by the bank of the Huangpu River, contains a rich collection of early 20th century architecture, ranging in style from neoclassical HSBC Building to the art deco Sassoon House. A number of areas in the former foreign concessions are also well preserved, most notably the French Concession. Shanghai has one of the world’s largest number of Art Deco buildings as a result of the construction boom during the 1920s and 30s. One of the most famous architects working in Shanghai was László Hudec, a Hungarian architect who lived in the city between 1918-1947. Some of his most notable Art Deco buildings include the Park Hotel and the Grand Theater. Other prominent architects who contributed to the Art Deco style are Parker & Palmer who designed the Peace Hotel, Metropole Hotel and the Broadway Mansions, and Austrian architect GH Gonda who designed the Capital Theatre. Despite rampant redevelopment, the old city still retains some buildings of a traditional style, such as the Yuyuan Garden, an elaborate traditional garden in the Jiangnan style. One uniquely Shanghainese cultural element is the shikumen ( 石库门) residences, which are two or three-story townhouses, with the front yard protected by a high brick wall. Each residence is connected and arranged in straight alleys, known as a lòngtang (弄堂), pronounced longdang in Shanghainese. The entrance to each alley is usually surmounted by a stylistic stone arch. The whole resembles terrace houses or town houses commonly seen in Anglo-American countries, but distinguished by the tall, heavy brick wall in front of each house. The name "shikumen" literally means "stone storage door", referring to the strong gateway to each house. The city also has some beautiful examples of Soviet neoclassical architecture. These buildings were mostly erected during the period from the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 until the Sino-Soviet Split in the late 1960s. During this decade, large numbers of Soviet experts poured into China to aid the country in the construction of a communist state, some of them were architects. Examples of Soviet neoclassical architecture in Shanghai include what is today the Shanghai International Exhibition Center. The Pudong district of Shanghai displays a wide range of supertall skyscrapers. The most prominent examples include the Jin Mao Tower and the taller Shanghai World Financial Center, which at 492 metres tall is the tallest skyscraper in mainland China and ranks third in the world. The distinctive Oriental Pearl Tower, at 468 metres, is located nearby toward downtown Shanghai. Its lower sphere is now available for living quarters, at very high prices. Another tall high rise in the Pudong area of Shanghai is the newly finished Development Tower. It stands at 269 meters. In recent years, a large number of architecturally distinctive, even eccentric, skyscrapers have sprung up throughout Shanghai. Notable examples of contemporary architecture include the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Grand Theatre in the People's Square precinct and Shanghai Oriental Arts Center. Shanghai Expo2010 World Expo 2010 Shanghai is the occasion for China to bring the world at home, and for the world to feel at home in China. By dedicating a 5.28-square-kilometer area at the core of the city to exhibitions, events and forums on the Expo theme, "Better City, Better Life," Shanghai hopes to build a powerful and lasting pilot example of sustainable and harmonious urban living. The Culture of Shanghai The rise of modern Shanghai in just one hundred years is a miracle in the history of Chinese development. A city is alive when it is full of culture and hai pai (mainly referring to Shanghai) culture is at the root of Shanghai's energy and charm. A group of scholars in the Shanghai art and literary circles spontaneously organized 'yuanyang hudie pai', the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly genre of popular romance in the early 1900s. This style of writer, such as Zhang Henshui and Qin Shou'ou, entertained the audience with amusing and light literature. Suzhou- Venice of the East The Humble Administrator's Garden (or Zhuozheng Yuan) is one of four great Chinese gardens. The current entrance is located at 32 Dong Bei Lu, but the original entrance is located at 44 Dong Bei Lu. At 51,950 m2 it is the largest garden in Suzhou and generally considered the finest garden in southern China.[1] In 1997, Zhuozheng Yuan, along with other classical gardens of Suzhou was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today's garden is only very loosely related to its earliest version, but closely resembles its late Qing appearance, with numerous pavilions and bridges set among a maze of connected pools and islands. It consists of three major parts set about a large lake: the central part (Zhuozheng Yuan), the eastern part (once called Guitianyuanju, Dwelling Upon Return to the Countryside), and a western part (the Supplementary Garden). The house lies in the south of the garden. In total, the garden contains 48 different buildings with 101 tablets, 40 stelae, 21 precious old trees, and over 700 Suzhou-style penjing/penzai.[1] Eastern Garden Composed of a few buildings around a central great lawn and pond combination. The lawn is ringed by a grove of crape myrtle trees which is an allusion to the Tang Dynasty State Secretariat which was nicknamed the Crape Myrtle Department. Central Garden This section is composed of many scenes arranged around the Surging Wave Pond. Within the pond three islands recreate the scenery of the fariy islands of the east sea. Hanshan Temple is famed in East Asia because of the poem "A Night Mooring by Maple Bridge" (楓橋夜 泊), by Tang Dynasty poet, Zhang Ji. The poem describes the melancholy scene of a dejected traveller, moored at night at Fengqiao, hearing the bells of Hanshan Temple: 月落烏啼霜滿天， While I watch the moon go down, a crow caws through the frost; 江楓漁火對愁眠。Under the shadows of maple-trees a fisherman moves with his torch; 姑蘇城外寒山寺， And I hear, from beyond Suzhou, from the temple on Cold Mountain, 夜半鐘聲到客船。Ringing for me, here in my boat, the midnight bell. Snapshot of Local culture "Su" embroidery Suzhou or "Su" embroidery is one of the oldest embroidery techniques in the world, with origins stretching back more than 2,000 years. Suzhou embroidery was one of the first embroidery styles to be developed in China, but its detailed needlework and intricate images are still produced today. It is a style characterized by brightly colored silk embroidered with well-proportioned and uncluttered representations of almost any pastoral scene, person, animal, or object. Examples of Suzhou embroidery were so detailed and intricate that many people used the pieces as artwork, and some of the oldest pieces still in existence date back hundreds of years. Suzhou embroidery consists of very detailed representations of almost any subject embroidered onto fine silk with silk thread. One of the distinctive features of Suzhou embroidery is that some pieces two-sided; that is, the picture is repeated on both sides of the embroidered piece. The stitching on Suzhou embroidered pieces is done with silk threads that have been divided until the actual thread is almost impossible to see. Through the repetition of stitches a very dense embroidering occurs. Suzhou embroidery has been used in clothing, wall hangings, and even intricate book covers dating back almost 1,000 years. Wuxi-“Pearl of Lake Tai” Wuxi is an old city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. Split into halves by Lake Taihu, Wuxi borders Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east. The northern half looks across to Taizhou to the north over the Yangtze River, while the southern half also borders the province of Zhejiang to the south. Wuxi earned its nickname “Pearl of Lake Tai” because it’s built on the shore of Lake Tai with beautiful sceneries. Wuxi was also dubbed "little Shanghai" because of its close proximity to the city and its fast urbanization and booming economy. As an important city for "Wu" area, its culture bears distinctive "wu" characteristics, which can be identified in its dialect, architecture, waterway transportation and various art types. It was one of the arts and cultural center in "Jiangnan", with several famous Chinese authors claiming Wuxi as their home town. Among them, most recently, Qian Zhongshu, author of Fortress Besieged, a comedy of manners set in China in the 1930s. One of the handicraft specialties of Wuxi is the production of Huishan clay figurines. In modern times Wuxi has produced a number of cultural figures such as Hua Yanjun (1893-1950) also known as "Blind Abing" (瞎子阿炳), famous for his erhu and pipa music. Another famous musician is Liu Tianhua, who was the first to compile folk music using staff. Lake Tai The waters of the lake belong to the former in its entirety with part of its southern shore forming the boundary between the two provinces. With an area of 2,250 km² and an average depth of 2 metres[1], it is the third largest freshwater lake in China, after the Poyang and Dongting Lakes. The lake houses about 90 islands, ranging in size from a few square meters to several square miles. Lake Tai is linked to the renowned Grand Canal. The lake is also the origin for a number of rivers, including Suzhou Creek.