Old Shanghai

History Lesson Time:  When Shanghai was carved up by foreign powers way back when, one part of the central city (the first part to be settled) remained under Chinese law and administration.  These old back alleys eventually became notorious as a gangster- and opium-filled slum, and today the narrow meandering lanes and tiny pre-1949 houses are still standing.  The Old City seems to be the one part of Shanghai's metropolitan hodgepodge that conforms to romantic ideas of what China should look like.

Though the present buildings only go back for 150 years, the Confucius Temple is the most ancient site in the entire city center.  A temple was instituted here in 1294, probably when Shanghai was just a small fishing village.  My first challenge of the day was to try to find where to buy a ticket.  There wasn't a soul in sight, but a sign said "Do not enter without ticket", and I'm not exactly one to break the rules.  Finally, I found the ticket "hole" in the wall around the corner:

And with my 8 yuan ticket (about $1) in hand, I legally entered.  It was beautiful, and I practically had the place all to myself.

This rock is called "Cries of Dragons and Tigers".  According to the sign, the upper side of the stone looks like the deafening crying dragons and tigers, and the part near the water looks like dragons whispering.  Can you see it?

Exiting the temple, I started walking down the old city alleyways.  A common site were pet cages along the sidewalk, and these kitties looked utterly content.

But this one looked like it just had a bath and was pissed about it.

I almost missed the turn that the tour book noted because it was covered in laundry.  I though maybe that was on purpose (they had to get tired of tourists peering in their windows)...

But then I saw that there was pretty much laundry everywhere.

On an overpass going through the Old City, you get a glimpse of the old rooftops...

...overshadowed by towering high rise apartments.

Among the alleyways were small crowded rooms of people gathered playing mahjong.  It's that chinese game with tiles, sort of like gin rummy, but with major gambling.  I asked with a smile to take a picture of the inside, but the glares I got were so intense (the evil eye is the same in every language), that I quickly moved away and just took a picture of the outside.

Having had enough culture for one day, my tour ended at the perfect place - Din Tai Fun (an awesome chain dumpling place) followed by Dairy Queen and shopping for cheap tourist crap.  Shanghai fun!