Monday, October 22, 2007
My Trip To China/Hong Kong (Part 2 of 10)
Day 2
This is the "actual" day where the fun begins =D
Location: Shanghai
Local Tour Guide: Xiao2 Li3
Attached are some clips of my first tourist attraction visit for the day:
Introducing Xiao Li and Xiao Yao:
The Story goes...
Shanghai is a place whereby the people, especially businessmen, are hardcore believers of Fengshui. Almost every high rise structure has a FengShui orientated "roofing"/exterior to "generate" the desired positive/negative effects on one's own structure or environment.
There are buildings with sword like tops to "damage" it's surrounding competitors and boost it's own benefits at the same time. One will notice that usually there are not much other tall structures near this kind of buildings and that those next nearest tall structures would have reflective slanted surface tops target towards the "sword" top building in bid to reflect it's sha1 ji4 - damaging aura. There are some alternatives to counter this though... there is also a building with a lian2 hua1 top to counter this sword top building. The lotus flower is believed to be a sign of serenity as derived from the lotus petal that the chinese goddess(Guan1 Ying1) sit/stand on. Another interesting thing to note is that the sword top building has a silver lighting at night while the lotus top has a golden lighting...what fierce FengShui competition!!
If I'am did get the right picture, the one on the top is the sword top building(too bad I was caught up listening to the tour guide and watching the tower that i forgot to get a close-up shot of it.) The one on the botoom is the "reflective" towers designed to reflect the sword aura.
This is the Golden Lotus Flower top building, totally opposite from the sword top building, it supposedly boost the performance of surrounding buildings.About the Pearl Tower...
This is the tower that you guys and gurls have seen in the previous video. The tower with 3 large purple and 9 same purple balls. This too has a story behind it's construction.
In the world map, Shanghai is shaped like that of a taichi symbol. From what I heard, Pudong developed first as it had a (forgot what was it, it was a natural object that existed without man's creation) that resembled one of the dots in the taichi symbol. Puxi developed much later, only when the Pearl Tower was constructed.
It is believed that Puxi developed as the taichi dot was completed with the Pearl Tower signifying the dot. When the Pearl Tower was completed, the rate of development of Puxi far surpassed that of Pudong. The people in Shanghai also believe that with the completion of the taichi symbol, Shanghai will now prosper by leaps and bounds.
Next On, Cheng Huang Miao...
Here's a clip to show you people how it's like there ;) kinda retarded though =X
Had you people thought it was some kinda temple?!?! LoLs... It's juz a tourist shopping attraction I guess. Had a cheesecake at the starbucks cafe and shopped around. Nothing spectacular here, juz cool ancient shophouses feel.
A Visit to Song Mei Ling's Grave area...
Here's a writing of a stone tablet found in the grave area, read if you want, skip it if your Chinese is bad =P
An introduction to Fengshui and fortune telling...
Opps...no recording by right....eh but Xiao Li added on that by left don't let them catch you doing so =X
In the late afternoon...
We headed on to SuZhou and the local tour guide we have for this province is Xiao Sun1.
Ahhh...before I forget, the people in Shanghai like to be addressed by a Xiao in front of their family name. So the tour guide names I have given so far are not their real names, it's juz a Xiao in front of their family names =D
The residence of the magistrate of SuZhou...
This tree can only be planted in official's residences as it resembles the claw of a dragon, thus signifying the "right/left hand men" of the Dragon(Emperor).
Here's a clip of introduction by Xiao Sun:
Okie dokie... now for the Did you know section!
Did you know that on each and every door in official's houses there are 5 bats?
They symbolise Wu2 Fu2 Ling1 Men1.
To be continued...
Labels: Experience Sharing
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