Shanghai Essence Private Tour: Explore Zhujiajiao, Bund, and Yu Garden

We will drive 1.5 hours to Zhujiajiao, a cultural ancient water town aged more than 1,700 years, where you will spend two hours leisurely. Think of it as a small-scale version of Venice featuring Chinese elements. Your guide will take you to walk some of the 36 ancient stone bridges and pass folk houses along calm rivers with greenery casting reflections, all of which make this town a land of antiquity, leisure and tranquility. Those bridges are one of the biggest drawcards and Fangsheng Bridge with over 200 years’ history is the most famous. “Fangsheng” means “setting fish free”, encouraging people to do good deeds. On the first and 15th day of every Chinese lunar month, monks and pilgrims will release aquatic animals under the bridge. Zhujiajiao is also a great place to find Shanghai’s local food. Your guide will be happy to introduce different snacks, like famous Zhujiajiao Sticky Rice Dumplings (Zongzi), which tastes nicer if eaten hot.
In the afternoon, go back to downtown Shanghai on a comfortable drive. Your guide will first take you for a tour of longtang, Shanghainese way of saying historical lane, to check out their traditional residential architecture. At some point, stop for a one-hour local family visit for you to drink tea, savor Chinese-style desserts and chat with the household to learn about local life. Next on our agenda is the iconic Bund. Here, appreciate a magnificent colonial-era architecture complex where Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, and Neo-classical edifices sit next to each other. With your guide’s commentaries, you will glimpse into the glorious past of this fabulous city.

Let’s call it a day now. We will take you to the well-selected hotel for check-in. If you haven’t got enough of Shanghai’s unique charms, just continue to walk the lively Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street for more, until you think it’s time to leave (on your own).
"Overnight at Holiday Inn Hotel,a4-star level hotel"

Today’s sightseeing will begin from Shanghai Museum, which is renowned for its diverse comprehensiveness. Bronzeware, wood and stone carvings, pottery sculptures, jade ware, Chinese porcelain, Chinese calligraphy and paintings… You get to feast your eyes on some of a million Chinese ancient artworks housed here. The exterior is also what sets the museum apart. Look at it from afar, and you will find it with a round top and a square base, which corresponds to an idea in Chinese philosophy that the sky is round and the earth square. The design was inspired by the museum’s most precious treasure, Da Ke Ding from the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 - 771 BC). This large bronze vessel, 0.93-meter (3 ft.) high and weighing about 200 kg, is one of the "Three Bronzeware Treasures in China". Commentating on all the most noted treasures, your professional guide will take you on a dive deep into the traditional Chinese culture.
Later, we will proceed to the Yu Garden, a typical traditional classical garden dating back to the 16th century. Such garden is known for its meticulously-structured layout, and Yu garden will amaze you with how it blends wooden pavilions, vegetation, rockeries, winding corridors and crystalline ponds to reflect a harmony between man and nature. Its charms and tranquility make it a wonderland for an escape from bustling Shanghai. After that, you can stroll around the nearby Yuyuan Old Street and Yuyuan Bazaar to browse for some authentic Shanghai specialties. We don’t arrange a lunch for you because - trust us - you will find it hard to resist feasting on those delicious local snacks the bazaar has to offer!