Yuyuan Gardens & Bazaar

Lonely Planet review

With its shaded alcoves, glittering pools churning with carp, pavilions, pines sprouting wistfully from rockeries, whispering bamboo, jasmine clumps, stony recesses and roving bands of Japanese tourists, the Yuyuan Gardens are one of Shanghai's top-notch sights. With over 1000 visitors daily, securing an early morning visit is advisable. The adjacent bazaar is great for a browse, if you can ignore the surrounding sales roar.

Things to seek out include the Exquisite Jade Rock, which was destined for the imperial court in Beijing until the boat sank outside Shanghai, and the Hall of Heralding Spring (Dianchun Tang), which in 1853 was the headquarters of the Small Swords Society (perhaps one reason why the gardens were spared revolutionary violence in the 1960s). Note also the beautiful stage, with its gilded carved ceiling and excellent acoustics.

Next to the entrance to the Yuyuan Gardens is the Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse (Huxinting), once part of the gardens and now one of the most famous teahouses in China, visited by Queen Elizabeth II and Bill Clinton among others. The zig-zag causeway is there to thwart spirits, who can only travel in straight lines, and trap tourists. Buy a packet of fish food and enjoy the sight of dozens of thrashing koi.