Matt's Shanghai

Shanghai Museum and some Holland Fellows

The Shanghai Museum is well worth the 20 RMB (US $2.47) for the entrance fee and the 40 RMB (US $4.95) for the Audio Tour with handheld electronic "tour guides". Jerry, Jody and I went through the Bronze Gallery first with some amazing bronzeworks, some dating back 3,000 years. Then off to the second floor for the Ceramics Gallery, showing the history of porcelain and the history of today's "China"... the fine dining dishes that is.

My favorite exhibit was the last, the Furniture Gallery. Traditional Chinese furniture used no nails, but all hand cut mortise and tenon joints and tongue and grove. All of the furniture was amazing. The collection included a canopy bed that had latus work on three sides of the bed, keeping you in the bed at night, that was all hand cut to fit intricately together to make each joint section in the latus work. It's extremely difficult to explain, but amazing to see! The thrones of several of China's emperors were also in the collection. All of the thrones were carved out of wood and had amazing carvings of dragons and the pheonix throughout the large chair. One throne even had a tatered cloth pillow on it from an emperors reign. To think that many emperors used to sit on that throne. So much history in one museum, some peices close to 4,000 years old.

After four hours in the museum, Jerry and I met several 2004 Holland Fellows from Fudan University and MP Brenan from Appalachian at MYC restaraunt, right across from People's Square. It was great to see familiar faces and to spend some time with people my own age. Jerry and I then took the metro back to our local station and rode our bikes home.


Ticket to the Shanghai Museum


A bronze wine vessel in the Shanghai Museum... you store the wine in the middle hole of the water buffalo's back and you pour hot water in the front and back hole to heat the wine.

posted by Matt Dull @ 11:34 PM