Surrounding the Yuyuan Garden is the bazaar, or known as the Old Town Bazaar. Peeping through the windows, it’s easy to be dazzled by Chinese silk and beautiful jade on display and in its own right, this is one of the best places to get them. As I wonder deeper through a maze of shops and alleys within the Old Town Bazaar, my mind is picturing them during the days of Imperial China. On the go, I’m mentally replacing the Starbucks with a traditional tea house. The Haagen-Dazs around the corner I’m replacing with a traditional Chinese restaurant with locals slurping down noodles instead of ice-cream. Some traditional things still remain, such as the named business signboard on top of the store entrance, lanterns hanging everywhere and shops serving hot food. This is a really interesting place to spend additional time to explore. Not many Chinese architecture survived today because early Chinese period building materials were chiefly wood until the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty, perhaps one of the most influential imperial rule of all China established many precedents. This include moving the capital to Beijing and establishing the Forbidden City. Plenty of China’s historical landmarks are derived during this period including a big part of the Great Wall as it exists today. It’s architectural influence impacted not just China but plenty of places in Asia as the Ming also had one of the largest naval fleet and commanded influence over much of East Asia. One of the great examples of Ming architecture can be found at the Yuyuan. Gabled roofs with symbolically decorated and coloured eaves.