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October 31, 2011

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HomeDistrictJiading

Storytelling salons shimmer among district's ancient appeal

BESIDES Jiading Old Street, numerous other great spots of traditional culture exist in this old town. These spots include pingtan salons, teahouses and an absolute must - Guyi Garden.

Let's look at some popular venues where we can listen to pingtan performances, while sipping on fine tea and enjoying typical Jiading culture.

Huangdu Pingtan Salon

This recently opened pingtan salon on Luyuan Road in Huangdu area of Anting Town is gaining popularity. Pingtan is a traditional Chinese art form (storytelling with Suzhou dialect), and the new salon attracts many elderly locals who are ardent fans.

The salon covers over 200 square meters and the 90-square-meter audience hall is carefully decorated with good lighting, air conditioning and sounds facilities. Besides, the small entertainment room of 30 square meters provides chess and cards games.

The entrance fee is only 3 yuan (47 US cents) per person, including selected teas.

Xincheng Pingtan Salon

Xincheng Pingtan Salon is located at No. 16 Yinyuan Sifang on Cangchang Road. The customers are mostly nearby residents aged over 60 years old. Renovation on the salon was completed at the end of 2007, when it was enlarged to 300 square meters with a capacity of 100 seats.

Equipped with good facilities like water boilers, fans, air conditioners and sounds facilities, the salon stages some classic pingtan programs like "Emperor Qianlong Visited Jiangnan," "Sui and Tang Dynasties" and "Romance of the West Chamber." Performers are from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, as well as from Shanghai.

The tickets are inexpensive and a monthly pass is merely 70 yuan.

Tea tasting in Guyi Garden

With a history of 480 years, Guyi Garden was built during the reign of Emperor Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Covering an area of 10 hectares in size, Guyi Garden is the biggest classic garden in Shanghai.

The garden holds dozens of famous bamboo varieties, like tortoise shell bamboo and Buddha's belly bamboo. Grouped together, the bamboo clusters are elegant and evoke scenes of ancient China. It's exactly this characteristic that makes Guyi Garden unique.

Structures in the gardens, like the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) stone pillar, Song Dynasty (960-1279) pagoda along with the buildings in the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties such as the Recluse Hall, Untied Boat, White Crane Pavilion, South Hall and Little Sound Attic, all have a profound historical and cultural impact.

The garden offers fine tea for only 15 yuan and a discounted price of 3 yuan per cup is available before 8:30am every day. In addition, famous snacks like Nanxiang xiaolongbao (little steamed buns) and lotus root starch can also be enjoyed there.


 

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