Shanghai behind the Bund - National Day, 60 years on

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After catching the train from Suzhou to Shanghai on probably one of the busiest days in the year - National Day - 60 years on. And, after sitting with thousands in the station watching on plasma screens, Hu JinTao drive through the barren avenues of Beijing except for the a million army soldiers lining it for miles and miles along with military tanks and war fare for the National Day Parade - and I was just a little scared, I decided to walk behind The Bund, where you can find many beautiful buildings, windows, details and stories both past and present. Some being restored, some being pulled down.

I spent 5 hours in the rain just looking. If you have time, skip The Bund and walk more or less parallel behind it. The Astor hotel is a jewel.

The Shochu bar in the old housing lanes behind the apartment I am staying in, is also unique both in taste and aesthetics.

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Photos

Broadway Mansions Apartment block - 1934
The foreign correspondents club occupied the 9th floor from where they used to watch the Japanese bombing the city in 1937

The Astor hotel - built 1846
The first hotel in Shanghai and it's beautiful and still retains all of its original charm

Suzhou creek
Oriental Pearl tower ahead, Broadway Mansions on the Left. Garden Bridge

Shochu bar owner
dancing whilst pouring the drinks