Shanghai old town

I went to Shanghai's 'old town' today. It's a part of central Shanghai that hasn't been completely demolished yet, and they've even done parts of it up to make into a toursist attraction. However, it's clear most of this area will be gone in five years, as the houses here are simply not renovatable. Walking through the narrow alleys off the main street, some houses had just crumbled and nobody is going to rebuild them- why bother when the entire streets is going to be a site for a high-rise a few years from now?

This is the main street, which has been done up. In the far distance you can see the walls around a China architecture themed shopping and eating area.


I thought this was an interesting picture. The old houses, entangled in power cords, with the encroaching high-rises in the background.



This the wall to Yuanyi garden. Unfortunately it was closed when I got there, but it was just fascinating to walk around with these kind of buildings and walls everywhere around you.



But the most thrilling part of the excursion was walking down the most narrow alleyways. Life here seemed to be lived just as much out on the street as inside in the small rooms/apartments. There wasn't really any sense of privacy here, more like a massive commune. Most of the doors and windows were open, and people were sitting around outside tanning or talking. In fact, I felt as if I was walking around these folks' gardens. It was a thrilling experience, and I couldnt' make myself take up my camera to capture anything that I saw, out of respect.



I spent a good few hours here, then spent most of the early evening walking from old town all the way to JingAn temple (about a two hour walk). It's nice to be finally my bearings here.



And tonigh is party night :-)