Day 35: Volkswagen & 2nd Visit to the Yuyuan Garden

Day 35: Today we had another company visit, except today's company was Volkswagen (more specifically, the Shanghai Volkswagen Car Plant III). I didn't like this one as much as the Bao Steel visit because this visit seemed more accessible to anyone who was interested, and to be honest, I didn't really have a positive opinion about Volkswagen due to the company's relatively recent emission scandal. However, I did my best to give the tour guide my full attention and learn about the company. One of the most shocking fact I learned was the the shares of Volkswagen were divided 50:50 between China and Germany; I would've imagined that Germany would have had more shares. My favorite part of the trip was riding the battery train around one of the workshops (where we weren't allowed to take pictures). Enjoy the pictures I took!

 

  

  

 

After our quick trip to Volkswagen, we had a group lunch, and my roommate and I headed back to the Yuyuan Garden after our first visit many weeks ago. Like I mentioned in an earlier post about the Yuyuan Garden, when we went initially, it was raining and hot, so many of us had quickly left after getting something to eat. However, I felt that the Yuyuan was the best place to get souvenirs for friends and family, so I was planning to go back on a better day, and today was the day! We headed out at night because we heard that the Yuyuan area was really beautiful at night, and it truly was. The weather was nice and cool, and the traditional buildings came to life with the lights around it turned on. It looked beautiful from even afar, and luckily, due to the lights, we were able to find our way back to the Yuyuan Garden after coming out of the wrong subway exit.

  

Before arriving in the actual YuYuan district, we found ourselves in the Yuyuan residential district, and this was where I saw "real" China. Not the tourists, not the huge buildings, but the actual people of China. We walked through a neighborhood where people sat around and talked, where children ran around, and where people were exercising on oddly shaped exercising machines. I really enjoyed it. It also amazed my roommate and me to see how the city aspect of Shanghai juxtaposed these houses of the locals. You can see my roommate in the right of the picture (she tried to escape but failed!).

Like I mentioned before, the Yuyuan at night was beautiful. I didn't want to leave. Before eating or going shopping, we went around taking pictures, and here are some of the pictures! Again, the first two pictures are pictures that show the contradictory image of traditional Chinese architecture and a completely foreign food chain, which you can see a lot in many parts of China. I feel like the reason behind this also lies in the fact that China is quickly changing and modernizing in many areas, and China as a country knows that it carries a rich and long culture from the past, so it seems to be trying to preserve traditional China while also trying to let changes happen. The rest of the pictures are pictures of the Yuyuan area at night (we didn't go into the actual garden because our purpose of coming back was to buy souvenirs), and like I always say, it's impossible to get the effect of the area through just pictures, so it's important for you to go visit!

 

  

 

 

  

After taking pictures, we should've started shopping right away, but we were hungry, so we went to eat at the cafeteria-like building in the Yuyuan. This place honestly reminds me of Spirited Away where the piles of food prepared reminds me of the food prepared for the spirits (that the main character's parents eventually eat) in the movie. After gathering stuff we liked on our tray, we payed, and it came to be about USD $10 for each of us, which is quite cheap for the amount of food we got. We also met a man (one of the men who cleans the tables after we leave) who tried to talk to us, and he told my roommate that all Vietnamese people come from China, and he showed me pictures of all the vegetables that Korean people eat. It was a very interesting conversation, but I felt that my roommate and I were able to practice our Chinese listening and speaking skill, which is always awesome. We actually ate for so long that when we came out, many shops, including the handmade crafts stalls that we wanted to visit, were closing. We quickly visited a store that was open, but except for a fan that my roommate bought, we didn't buy anything else and decided to come back again the following day. I had a great time back at the Yuyuan today, so I definitely didn't mind coming back.