Yuyuan
4 Sep 2005 - As promised, here we go again. We’ll just have to teleport ourselves back to Shanghai, Sep 4th. I remember it was a Sunday. So where were Tommy and I off to “today”? Yuyuan! No trip to Shanghai would be complete without it. Have a look and you’ll start to see why…
See, at Yuyuan you can find all these traditional buildings that have been restored to now house modern businesses, including…
…Starbucks and KFC!
Of course, there’s also tons of shops that sell traditional wares like chopsticks, tea sets, fans, paper-cuttings, etc. Though I must warn you, they’re pretty much a tourist trap, you could probably get the same thing a lot cheaper elsewhere.
But enough about shopping for the moment, before us stands the main reason why we are here at Yuyuan today. In fact, I was VERY abruptly jolted from my sleep by Tommy this morning for this…
It’s none other than the infamous 南翔馒头店 （Nan Xiang Dumpling Store)! Apparently, this is THE place to go for dumplings!
But first let me orientate you guys who have never been here, for you see, this place has grown so big that they now even offer different “classes”. But before you go thinking it’s the food that’s the main distinction between the classes, think again. It’s the @#$% queue! Miriam’s advice to us was: don’t even bother with the rest, just go straight to the top!
First we have here the “common man class”. No seating, just take away. Just check out the queue! Lunch-time on a Sunday, forget it!
For the next 3 levels, a pictorial guide is provided + an intro phamplet to the company’s history.
First, the “Pleasure Boat Hall”. But as you can see, no real queueing system. You basically stand around the diners and intimidate them into leaving. Then off course you pounce at the first available seat! Erh… I think not lah huh? I know I no fight with the locals, sure end up standing there the whole day one! Next!
We come to the “Chang Xing Building”, a lot more systematic and civilised. Unfortunately the queue was still quite long, and we were starving! So as Miriam said: to the top!
And so finally we come to the “Ding Xing Building”, where haha, within minutes, we were whipped into our seats!
No time to waste. Just look at the menu. Wah… didn’t realise that dumplings can come in so many shapes and sizes!
We so hungry, or rather, greedy, of course end up ordering the sets lor! Like that then can try a lot mah… but as though that’s not enough, we actually added more items to the set! Now that’s going a bit overboard, doncha think?!? Heh heh, we’re in China!
Tommy wanted me to point out that before you go thinking that China is backward, here’s another example of how high-tech they are. PDAs for taking orders ok?! But enough tech-talk, soon the food arrived, and from then on, we were so busy stuffing our faces, there was no chance to get a word in…
Whoa… this shrimp ball is filled with soup! So yummy! But if you are impressed with this, wait till you see…
…this beauty! Dumpling filled with crab ovary stuffing, and it’s got so much soup, you have to suck it through a straw!
Just look at how full our table was!
There’s also a viewing gallery where you can see the dumplings being made.
After filling our tummies, Tommy and I went to look for Yuyuan’s other famous landmark: the 城隍庙 （Cheng Huang Temple), which is so elusive that the last trip when William and I were here, we just couldn’t find it and gave up after a while. We were left wondering if there was really a temple, or is the whole area called “cheng huang miao” ‘cos everyone we asked for directions told us that we are already there, but we kept looking around and like where?!?
Anyway, there is a temple, and this is the entrance (for now anyway) in some back alley.
No wonder we couldn’t find it!?!
Tommy looking very pious… like real!
Hey talk about being innovative. How’s that!?! Electric candles!
The candles aren’t the only synthetic things around, even the temple guards look oddly plasticky these days. And check out this guy, he’s even got a western-style bowler hat on?!? What to do? Must moove with the times… gone are the days when the guards actually looked scary!
Just in case you were wondering, yes there is actually a garden in 豫园，Yuyuan (the “yuan” part stands for garden). To get to it, we must first cross this bridge.
And there’s a bridge ‘cos the pond is usually filled with water, but lo and behold, it has been completely drained for construction works today! Tommy tried to comfort me by saying that it’s a rarer sight to see the pond dry than filled?!? I failed to see the humour in that till I spotted this strange little grouping…
With the pond being drained, these poor little duckies have been left stranded! But so cute right, they’re all huddled together as though seeking comfort in one another’s company. Hopefully the water gets turned back on soon.
With that, we come to the Yuyuan Garden. But we didn’t actually go in ‘cos Tommy didn’t want to pay the admission charges.
So how did I take this funky photo of its interior?
Haha! By adopting this position and snapping through one of its many “windows” in the walls. This is only a re-enactment of course ‘cos duh! Tommy needed the camera to take this photo of me mah!
And now, we come to the most exciting part of our trip to Yuyuan — the Wholesale Centre, where young girls and aunties alike have been rumoured to disappear, never to re-emerge… With the HUGE array of goods and dirt-cheap prices spanning not 1, not 2, but FOUR LEVELS… it’s really quite possible. And now, if you dare, follow me…
Hey, this sort of old-fashioned non-battery operated, non-digital toys are long extinct in Singapore! Almost tempted to buy it for its novelty. But my future baby would probably diss me for it! Kids are so spoilt these days…
And here’s Innovation #2 for the day! Talk about convenience! Remember the hole in all the Chinese kid’s underpants? Well, I guess they’ve come up with a variation!
The sales girls having lunch.
Speaking of food… tonight we decided to try out this Teochew restaurant, which is a favourite hangout of another of Tommy and Lynn’s colleagues, came highly recommended.
Unfortunately, a group of their students with their parents came walking into the same restaurant and decided to plop themselves in a table right next to us… which means, we have to behave tonight, or at least pretend to. No laughing loudly and waving our hands wildly in the air, not that we do anyway. Ahem.
Considering this fish costs us 180 RMB, in China where 10 RMB fed all 3 of us previously and a one-hour massage only costs 40 RMB, please have a closer look at it. actually it looks way too big in the photo, in reality, it was no more than 30cm at most! We were shocked when the bill came and found out the price of it! Especially since Tommy had informed Lynn and I earlier that when he went to see it in the tank, it wasn’t even alive, it was in fact floating on the surface of the water, never a good sign. When Tommy reprimanded the waitress for recommending us such an expensive fish without first warning us of the price, guess what she said? That we looked like the sort that are accustomed to eating and hence knowing the price of these type of fish!?! Wah liao!
Anyway, 2 parting shots for the day:
1. Yet another unsolicited message on Tommy’s mobile. This time the message reads: “Oh gawd! The lengendary Z cup!”
2. A much less sexier me chomping down on my radioactive-yellow egg bun.