John and Jean: Shanghai Art Museum - Xin Tian Di area - Shanghai Urban Planning Exhib

Tai Chi with Mei this morning...great to be doing it again! We were in the outdoor mall and got some strange looks:-). Today we're off to the Shanghai Art Museum which was established in 1952.

It's present building, completed in 1996, is shaped with a square base and a round top attached with arches like a bronze Ding, indicating the ancient Chinese philosophy of the universe that the earth is square while the sky is round. It has over 1 million pieces in it's collection and they cover 21 areas.

There are over 400 bronzes from the Chinese Bronze Age from the 18th Century BC to the 3rd Century BC. This was a vessel for wine.

This one had small animal figures that were movable.

This set of bells has perfect pitch even today.

This ox shaped wine vessel was intriguing.

The center pot was for the wine and the two

outside pots held hot water to warm the wine.

On to the furniture gallery - this sample of Qing

furniture with his ornate carving was exquisite.

This set of Ming Furniture Models were from the tomb of Pan Yongzheng. He was an eighth-grade official in charge of cooking condiments. His tomb was discovered in Shanghai in August 1960. The wooden figures were arranged in a procession, symbolizing a ceremony in which the deceased participated during his lifetime. The set of furniture was made of local Ju wood (elm).

Elaborate carvings in this Qing Chest.

On to the Chinese Ethnic Minorities' Arts and Crafts section. There were models of 19 of the groups traditional clothing. There were rooms filled with ancient seals, coins, paintings, ceramics, sculptures, jades, and more...a marvelous collection.

Back on the bus and a short trip to Xin Tian Di shopping and restaurant area. Today we're on our own for lunch and as we wandered among the International restaurants we decided on German...and had the best beer we've had in China. Hard to beat a good German Beer and Paulaner Munchen didn't disappoint.

And when you're drinking German Beer you really need a bowl of Goulash Soup and a stack of German Sausage with sauerkraut. Excellent lunch! Reminded us of many we've had in Germany!

At first I thought this was a phone booth...

but it was a wifi hotspot.

On to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall...

where they have a sculpture of some of their

incredible buildings in this city....

and a model of downtown Shanghai in 2020.

It's too big to get into one picture...incredible.

There were three other floors of really interesting

displays with pictures, videos, drawing of

Master Plans and 3D animation of Shanghai...

very intriguing!

On the 5th floor there was a Coffee/Tea Shop and observation windows all around the building. On the inside wall there were about 40 of these wonderful old historical drawings with descriptions. They were the best part and told much about Chinese culture and customs!

We headed back to the hotel and had some free time before dinner...John and I headed over to the Haagen daz Ice Cream store and enjoyed some ice cream! We had white pizza (Chinese style) for dinner tonight...very international dining today! Then a short walk to the Shanghai Circus World theater and a great performance by the Shanghai Acrobatics Troupe...