14-Day Three Gorges with classic China Tour

Yuyuan Garden is located in the center of Shanghai old quarters. It was a private garden built in 1559 during the Ming Dynasty, with typical Chinese classic architecture and style. The complex covers an area of 2 hectares, with rockeries, pavilions, ponds and corridors. Yuyuan Garden is surrounding by a busy market place, where visitors can find everything from popular local snacks, handicrafts, antiques and souvenirs to some famous time-honored restaurants.

Yuyuan Garden is a traditional Chinese park complete with beautiful pavilions, miniature lakes, bridges and rock formations. This small park is located in the heart of Shanghai's old Chinese quarter and links to Yuyuan Market. Built in 1559, in the Suzhou style by a high official in honor of his father, the garden has maintained its classic beauty over the centuries. The Pavilion of Spring in the northeast section of the park is famous for being the headquarters of the anti-imperialist "Little Sword Society", who in 1853 led an uprising against Qing rule and occupied Shanghai for 17 months. Weapons, coins and other objects used by the society are now housed in an exhibition hall. Yuyuan Garden's Huxin Ting teahouse is very popular and numerous stalls sell delicious Chinese snacks and desserts. It was first established in Ming Dynasty by a Mandarin named Pan Yunduan who used to be the governor of Sichuan and later expanded greatly; the Yuyuan Garden was considered the best garden in Southeast China. The Yuyuan Garden enjoyed a history over 400 years since its first establishment by Pan Yunduan who had intended to bring happiness and pleasure to his parents and relatives. It became the headquarters of the Dagger Association or Small-Sword Group Uprising (an uprising in 1853 led by the Dagger Association, a secret organization, against the foreign imperialists in Shanghai and Xiamen of Fujian Province). Now a great number of weapons, home-made coins and announcements used by the Dagger Association are on display in the Spring Hall of the Garden. A large-scale restoration of the Yuyuan Garden was conducted after the establishment of PRC and it was opened to the public formally in 1961. a. Sansui Hall Originally named “Leshou Hall”, the Sansui Hall was built with five commodious rooms in Qing Dynasty to treat and entertain his guests. Later it was used for celebration and announcement of imperial edicts. b. Grand Rockery The Grand Rockery, created by Zhang Nanyan, a celebrated rockery artist in Ming Dynasty, is seen as the best treasure of the Yuyuan Garden and the best rockery in South China. c. Exquisite Jade Rock The Exquisite Jade Rock in front of the Yuhua Hall is one of the three most well-known rocks in China. The other two are “Ruiyun Rock” in Liu garden, Suzhou and “Zhouyun Rock” in Hangzhou flower nursery. Beautifully shaped, the Exquisite Jade Rock is about 4 meters in height. It is a piece of grotesque rock from Lake Tai in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and it is characterized by its wrinkled appearance, slender shape, translucent nature, and numerous holes eroded by water. d. Stone City It is a stone exhibition gallery housing a great quantity of stone sculptures and engravings. It finds favor in tourists’ eyes for its visual arts and human values.

This 1.5-kilometer-long embankment runs along the western bank of Huangpu River. On its west side it is the "architecture gallery" with 52 well-preserved old European style buildings. Once the major trading and commercial center of old Shanghai, the Bund has now taken on new vitality, with futuristic developments, chic restaurants, top end shops and bars offer plenty to see and do-and by night it's magic!

It's a outside beach,after more than 100 years' constructing ,now the buildings here combine both modernistic and classic style.The Bund, which extends from Jinling Road in the south to the Waibaidu Bridge in the north, is a 1.5-kilometer-long boulevard on the western bank of the Huangpu River. Walking along Zhongshan Road, not only can visitors enjoy the scenery of Huangpu River but have a glimpse of the development of Lujiazui district on the other side of Huangpu River. The architecture along the Bund is unanimously honored as a “World Architectural Fair”, including all kinds of tall buildings like the Gothic style, the Baroque style, the Roman style, the classical style, the Renaissance style and the combination of Chinese and Western style. a. lover’s wall Being 1700 meters long, the lover’s wall is a box-structure wall with reviewing stand built above to prevent the flood. The reviewing stand was paved with 140 thousand colored bricks and granite stone with 32 semi-circled reviewing balconies facing the Huangpu River, 64 squared lights along those balconies. The reviewing stand is arranged with 21 bowl-shaped flower terraces, square or six-angled pavilions and stone benches of all shapes. b. “World Architectural Fair” The quintessence of the Bund is architectures lined up along the Bund, the so-called “World Architectural Fair”. There are well-known China Bank building, Peace Hotel, Customs building and HSBC Bank building. Those buildings are harmonious both in architecture colors and skyline. No matter it is a far look or a stroll between the buildings, you can feel its grandeur, elegant and dignified bearing.