Shanghai Zoological Park: Peep and I woke early on our second full day in Shanghai and immediately set out on foot to the nearest Metro station, about a twenty minute walk away, along with Dragon. We rode the Metro all the way across town before finally arriving at the Shanghai Zoological Park. After purchasing entry tickets and making our way into the zoo, he headed for the Amphibians & Reptiles section, encountering many people exercising and even a large group of couples dancing to music.
Amphibians & Reptiles: This section of the zoo is located mainly indoors, where we came across tanks full of fish, turtles, lizard and snakes. Heading outdoors, we walked through the butterfly zone which, it being November, was completely devoid of butterflies. But it wasn't completely lifeless, with alligators and turtles resting on the ground below our elevated walkway. This area served as a segue to the next section of the park: the Birds.
Birds: Here we saw all manner of local and exotic birds, some in pens and others in cages. The zoo is laid out with the animal displays running around a large open park, and we were making our way counter-clockwise through the zoo. The pathway through the Birds section cut into the central green space and some of the waterfowl could be seen a large, open lake there.
Near the end of our time in the bird section, we stopped at a path-side vendor and purchased something to eat, not having had breakfast before leaving for the zoo.
Carnivores: Now in the carnivores section, we started off seeing some big cats, before getting to the red panda and finally, the top priority for Peep on the visit, the giant panda. (Even though their diet is almost entirely made up of bamboo, giant pandas are still classified as carnivores.) By this time in the day, the pandas in each of the two displays were content to lie around and sleep. Perhaps we would have caught them in a more active state if we had arrived closer to the zoo opening time.
After seeing some bears, wolves, more big cats, wild dogs and even seals, we headed out of the carnivores section and on to the herbivores.
Herbivores: Here we saw animals from many parts of the world, including elephants, giraffes, zebras, camels, kangaroos, and wombats, among many others, all housed in outdoor pens. Next to the herbivores section, some small fair rides were set up for the kids to enjoy. The rides were not running at the time of our visit, but probably get better business in the warmer months.
Primates: It was back indoors to see the first of the primates, the great apes. Behind the glass walls we saw gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees. These were all a hit with the groups of schoolchildren visiting them the same time we were there.
In the outdoor portion of the primate section were pens holding the lemurs and monkeys on display at the zoo. These primates were our last sights before completing our trip around the zoo and heading back toward the Metro station at which we arrived four and a half hours earlier.
Do Not Feed the Animals: Despite the plethora of signs posted by each cage, and with no zoo officials present to stop them (our pleas fell on deaf ears), many of the Chinese visitors to the zoo could be seen feeding the animals. The bears and particularly the monkeys were their favorite targets. Only those animals safely behind glass were spared this abuse.
Next Destination: After our time at the zoo, we headed to the downtown area of Shanghai, known as the "Old City of Shanghai", getting off at the Yu Yuan Metro Station. We stopped for dinner at a Pizza Hut before proceeding to the City God Temple area and the entrance to Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan: Yu Yuan, the Garden of Peace and Comfort, was first constructed in 1559-1577 by Pan Yunduan, a government officer of the Ming Dynasty, for his aging parents. As the Pan family's wealth and influence declined, the gardens fell into disrepair until being sold and renovated by a group of local leaders, work taking 20 years and finishing in 1780. The First Opium War, the Taiping Rebellion, and World War II all caused extensive damage to the gardens until little of the original structures remained. Finally, in 1956, the Shanghai government completely renovated the gardens, opening them to the public in 1961. It was declared a national monument in 1982.
Garden Layout: On the 2 hectare (5 acre) grounds sits towers, halls, pavilions, studies, and stages amongst the numerous rockeries, ponds, streams, trees, courtyards, paths and bridges. The garden is divided into six main sections, each separated by walls topped with dragons. The southernmost section, known as the Inner Garden, wasn't added to the original layout until 1709. Sitting outside the main entrance is the Mid-Lake Pavilion, attached to the shores by the Nine Zigzag Bridge.
A Quick Stroll: Following the posted signs took us to the back entrance to the gardens, starting our tour by the Inner Garden. We made our way through each of the sections until arriving at the main entrance, where we turned around and walked back though the gardens, exiting through the same gate we had entered. Being such a popular tourist spot, the gardens were quite crowded and we ended up not spending much time there.
Nanxiang Bun Shop: Founded in 1900 and located just outside the main entrance to Yu Yuan, we stopped here to eat xiaolongbao, a special kind of tang bao, or Chinese soup dumpling. Many varieties of dumplings are eaten throughout China, but the soup dumpling is particularly famous in Shanghai.
After our snack, we roamed the walkways of the Yu Yuan Market, admiring the ancient Chinese style architecture lit up in the evening din, stopping to purchase gifts at one of the small souvenir shops there.
Oriental Fantasy Acrobat Show: A day earlier we purchased tickets to see a traditional Chinese acrobat show at the Wanping Theatre. So it was back on the Metro with the three-day passes we purchased that morning for a short trip to the theater, where we arrived early for the 7:30 performance.
The show consisted of traditional Chinese acrobatics, including hoop diving, foot juggling, human pyramids, aerial silk, contortionism, bicycle balancing, mask quick change, and motorcycles in a steel cage ball. The finale was meant to be eight motorcycles in the cage at the same time, but one crashed into another as they were entering, leaving only six in the cage to end the show.