The Old District and Ge Yuan Garden - Yangzhou, China - March 11th, 2012
The next day Randy and I would head to the old street, where most of the historical locations were located. How we actually arrived there was by mistranslation. We were looking for the Yangzhou Museum and where we thought it had been pointed out on the map, but instead had ended up in the area where all the Gardens were, as well as a House Temple (that I will write about later) and a resort.
I really like old areas like this...where the architecture is mostly unchanged. At the entrance (where we exited) There is an ancient gate that built during the Song Dynasty. Most of the architecture on the streets themselves are made in the style of the Qing and Ming Dynasty. Even as Nations end, if they built big enough or created things that survived and that appealed to peoples' general interests...then their legacy in turn would survive.
The first area we crossed through was the tourist resort. It is open and has a lot of connections to the areas in the old district. It was a peaceful place (I've been saying that word a lot...and it is true of most of the sites I've been too...) though once we crossed into the main area where people were it became a zoo. It's the main tourist area for a reason. There are modern and specialty shops, as well as cafes and restaurants.
The place I wish to write about is the Ge Yuan Gardens. The Gardens were built for a rich salt merchant during the Qing Dynasty and you get to visit his house before entering the gardens. The house is beautiful and large and even has some stone passageways that transport one back to the past. We visited the kitchen, the quarters for guests and other rooms before entering the gardens themselves.
The Gardens are quite large and have many small buildings in them. There are forests of bamboo and areas where flowers have been grown. There is also a rocky maze area right next to rebuilding going on on the outside of the building. It was out here where a young women asked to have her picture with us (this happened to me and my prof. in Hangzhou too). Even though Yangzhou is a big city, foreigners are pretty uncommon. Most foreign students are at Universities in the bigger cities, not Yangzhou which feels like its half the size of Nanjing and still industrializing in some areas.
After going to the gardens I talked to two of the craftswomen in the gift shop. One who did detailed paper over paper art, and the other who did calligraphy and paintings.
After that we searched for the Museum and came up empty after grabbing coffee at a shop that sold postcards and reminded me of any small cafe in Seattle or Olympia. It turns out the museum was much farther away then expected but it didn't stop the adventure that day. We would later visit the Tomb of Puhading...which is an entry for another day.
I really like old areas like this...where the architecture is mostly unchanged. At the entrance (where we exited) There is an ancient gate that built during the Song Dynasty. Most of the architecture on the streets themselves are made in the style of the Qing and Ming Dynasty. Even as Nations end, if they built big enough or created things that survived and that appealed to peoples' general interests...then their legacy in turn would survive.
The first area we crossed through was the tourist resort. It is open and has a lot of connections to the areas in the old district. It was a peaceful place (I've been saying that word a lot...and it is true of most of the sites I've been too...) though once we crossed into the main area where people were it became a zoo. It's the main tourist area for a reason. There are modern and specialty shops, as well as cafes and restaurants.
The place I wish to write about is the Ge Yuan Gardens. The Gardens were built for a rich salt merchant during the Qing Dynasty and you get to visit his house before entering the gardens. The house is beautiful and large and even has some stone passageways that transport one back to the past. We visited the kitchen, the quarters for guests and other rooms before entering the gardens themselves.
The Gardens are quite large and have many small buildings in them. There are forests of bamboo and areas where flowers have been grown. There is also a rocky maze area right next to rebuilding going on on the outside of the building. It was out here where a young women asked to have her picture with us (this happened to me and my prof. in Hangzhou too). Even though Yangzhou is a big city, foreigners are pretty uncommon. Most foreign students are at Universities in the bigger cities, not Yangzhou which feels like its half the size of Nanjing and still industrializing in some areas.
After going to the gardens I talked to two of the craftswomen in the gift shop. One who did detailed paper over paper art, and the other who did calligraphy and paintings.
After that we searched for the Museum and came up empty after grabbing coffee at a shop that sold postcards and reminded me of any small cafe in Seattle or Olympia. It turns out the museum was much farther away then expected but it didn't stop the adventure that day. We would later visit the Tomb of Puhading...which is an entry for another day.