Yuyuan Old Street

This guide to Yuyuan Old Street in Shanghai moves between two stories tied to the same garden: a Ming dynasty official named Pan Yunduan, who spent nearly twenty years building it for his aging father, and the Small Sword Society, a rebel militia that seized it as a military headquarters for seventeen months in the 1850s. It also explains the nine sharp turns on the zigzag bridge over the pond, built on a local belief about evil spirits and straight lines. Look for the teahouse at the bridge's center, built in 1784 and said to be the oldest still standing in the city.