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If you are worried about the crowds at Yuyuan Garden, the Baifu (Hundred Buddhas) Garden in northwest Shanghai is a good alternative for a peaceful weekend day with friends and family. Some 1,000 statues of Buddhas, some dating back to the West Jin Dynasty (265-316 AD), greet you in the two-hectare garden. The owner, Xu Sihai, is a chubby man who looks like a farmer. So if you meet a gardener-like man in his 50s, it may be the legendary Xu, a famous ceramic artist and collector who spent part of his childhood as a beggar. The Hundred Buddhas Garden is now Xu's home. It also houses his teapot workshop, where visitors can watch and participate in the making of fine teapots by craftsmen from Yixing, Jiangsu Province, known as China's pottery capital. Although a busy man with many businesses, Xu still enjoys making teapots himself. His creations now command steep market prices. Xu's personal teapot museum is amazing, claiming to have collectables from 5,000 years ago. You may spend hours appreciating the hundreds of fine teapots, reflecting China's long history. Sipping fresh green tea in the teahouse/restaurant inside the garden helps you relax and digest what you have just marveled at in the museum. Xu's amiable wife runs the teahouse/restaurant, furnished with traditional Chinese woodcarvings and mahogany tables and chairs. The food here is as surprising as the museum and the garden. Several dishes, such as Fish on Net, Pork Wrapped with Straw, and Fried Prawn Ball with Fine Beancurd are the specialities. Xu said he is expanding the garden to 6 hectares to include a large tea tree garden. A jumbo restaurant is also in the pipeline. Travel tips Baifu Garden is at 1978 Cao'an Lu near the Outer Ring Road. A taxi from Jing An Temple in downtown Shanghai costs about 25 yuan (US$3.00). Admission is free.