Omg is all I have to say, the Garden shopping area in Old Town Shanghai is the best place to find souvenirs and little gifts for the whole family and friends. This plaza is filled with stores with Chinese crafts, chinese candy, silk scarves, and much much more. Not only the architecture of the buildings is amazing, but the feeling of the place is awesome! The streets surrounding this place is also crowded with kiosks selling jewelry and anything else!
The plaza is busy all day long, crowded with locals shopping for their kids and people offering you fake watches, purses and electronics, be very careful, some times they ask you to go with them to buildings and offices apart from public view and robbery has occurred, it's best to avoid this type of conflicts in a foreign country.
There is a great amount of local food being sold in the street, but my favorite place is the tea house i n the top floor of the plaza, I can not remember the name, but once you get there and you ask about the traditional chinese tea house, people will point you to the right direction. My favorite part is the view, breath taking.
Followed by a traditional chinese tea ceremony in which we tried over 12 kinds of tea! Some were very yummy, some others, the medicinal ones were sour and not too good in taste, but it is a fun experience and if you have never seen it, I think you are in for a treat!
After you have tried all of your teas you are expected to get some to go, they are not cheap, but hey how many times you go to China!? My favorite tea of all is Jasmine tea, the sweetness of it makes me feel I am having dessert after a heavy meal and I do not know if this is with everyone, but it does not have any caffeine effect on me! Love it before going to bed! You can also try many medicinal teas, like for example some will help you clean your liver after a night of partying, some will help with your blood pressure and others release stress and stomach pains... there is a tea for every need, you just need to ask!
You can also find here tea sets and the always popular flower tea, which is nothing else than a big jazmine flower attached to a bunch of leaves, it looks very cool, but I have to say paying 3 times more for the flower tea, is not a priority for me...
No comments:
Post a Comment