While looking for the “Peasant Farmers Painting” Village of Jinshan, we drove through the ancient village of Fenjing and stopped for a walk through the water town. We wandered along the crowded walkways between the canals and the shops and enjoyed the unusual displays of food and handicrafts.
The Shanghai province is located in the Yangtze river delta, hence many smaller rivers and lakes flow throughout the region. Villages took advantage of the water for transportation and built up canals and bridges, creating numerous water towns. One of the best preserved water towns, Zhujiajiao is referred to as the “Venice of China”. There are many bridges, the Fangsheng Bridge being the largest stone bridge in the Shanghai province. Fangsheng means “setting fish free”, and I like to envision all the fish swimming under the arches to freedom. Our private gondola ride was a fun way to see the village, skimming along the canals with red lanterns swinging in the trees. I kept waiting for the serenade. We enjoyed the art gallery of international watercolors and the lovely garden featuring an outdoor theatre.
It is hard to know where to begin to tell you about living in Shanghai. The city is a sensory crash and I find that after one month, I have already adjusted my sense of “normal” to include things such as bicycle carts piled high with bamboo furniture, or a mountain of toilets, or buckets of flowers. When it rains, 2 or 3 people pile on each bike and scurry along holding umbrellas.
Today is a blue sky day, lan tian (say lawn tee en) in Shanghai, every time I look up, it reminds me that we are all under the same blue sky!
