GRAND VIEW GARDEN AREA,

If one drives for, about, one hour, West, and South, of Shanghai, on the freeway, you reach an area of many lakes. Dianshan lake is in the county of Qing Pu in Shanghai..

Near the Western end of the lake is a series of islands nearly forming an isthmus between the North and South shores. The islands themselves are indented with small inlets and lakes.

The islands are joined by bridges and causeways, most of which are foot paths. There is a lot of walking to see the entire area but the main sights can be easily toured within a couple of hours.

We went fairly early in the morning and had the place, nearly, to ourselves. When we drove past, later in the day, the parking lot was filled with tour busses.

Covering approximately 100 hectares the estate was not a temple, although it does have a lovely pagoda, but the home of Pao Yu.

There is a souvenir shop called `the Jade boat' which doesn't move anymore. It doesn't actually float but is mounted on underwater tracks, but, apparently they can't get parts for the tracks anymore.