The plum bonsais exhibition is taking on in the Yuyuan Garden, inside Shanghai's old town area. Plums are known as the winter flowers and the blossom in the bonsai art matches the traditional Chinese gardens very well. Red, pink, green, white... the various colours bring more vividness to the winter view of Yuyuan garden.

Mid-lake pavilion has been a tea house since 1885 in the Qing dynasty. The building was originally a pavilion inside the Yuyuan garden, and later turned into a meeting place for cloth business men in 1784. It is located by the zigzag bridge in Shanghai old town bazaar. Visitors can have a break with nice tea in the 200-year-old building while watching lake and passersby.

The ponds in private Chinese gardens are pretty in summer. Lotus, water lily and coy fish have created a peaceful yet flowing image. Gardens of this type exist mainly in southern China around the Yangtze delta area. Some pretty gardens include Master-of-Nets Garden in Suzhou, TuiSi Garden in TongLi water town and YuYuan Garden in Shanghai.

Carrying paper lanterns, solving riddles, eating Yuan Xiao (dumplings made of glutinous rice), uniting with families...all these refer to the Lantern Festival. It falls on the 15th of January in lunar calendar (which is today) and marks the end of Chinese New Year Festival. Although the traditional celebration becomes weak, the old town in Shanghai is a place you can enjoy the warm atmosphere of such festivals. This year the old town bazaar has a three-day celebration from February 16th to 18th with various activities.

Shanghai has clear seasonal changes. The winter is usually mild with the lowest temperature around 0 degrees celsius. This winter is quite cold. We enjoy our 3rd snow today. The city is covered white and people are excited about the snow. One Chinese saying goes, "A timely snow promises a good harvest."

But, can you imagine the view - ponds in the Yuyuan garden without coy fish?