Shanghai - Take One

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These photos are from walks I took in my first three months in Shanghai. They are all from three neighborhoods - Old Town (which maintains much the same character and life-style as it has had the last 60 years, Tian Zai Fang (a largely refurbished Lilong in the Former French Concession), and Jianguo Lu - a street lined with demolition and new construction, which is a fault-line between the Shanghai's new and old. Even by New York standards, it's a fast-paced city with a tremendous amount of life.

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Photos

1
Typical Lilong - network of lanes with traditional shanghai housing called "Shikumen", meaning "stone gate" after their great stone gates and doorframes.

2
bikes are everywhere, sadly now so are cars, but cars don't fit back in the lanes.

3
chairs are everywhere too. people here do a lot of sitting. and climbing?

5
shikumen roof tops with modern backdrop

6
A Lilong lane - mix of southern English terraced housing with chinese vernacular courtyard.

7
view to "PuDong" - a super modern but remote part of town - PuDong means "east of the river". we call it "PuJersey".

8
dense is shanghai. vertical too.

9
door frames like this are grand and typical in shikumen housing

10
view out my building, looking west

11
view out my building, looking east

12
rainy season

16
prevailing sentiment: down with the old, up with the new. but also: in with plumbing.

17
reduce reuse recycle

18
intersections can be a free-for-all.

19
street fair

21
a Lilong lane in Old City