Xintiandi - Xujiahui Park
Look closely and you will find Storey peaking her head around the corner! (Click on the picture for a bigger view) This is Xintiandi, a redevelopment of old Shanghai lane houses that preserved the exterior of these beautiful lane houses while transforming the actual houses into restaurants, boutiques, coffee houses. It is very upscale and has become one of the most lucrative redevelopment projects in Shanghai. A great place to wander, eat and shop. We went with Diana on her last day here, and she showed us a museum of an original lane house that is in this development that she had been to before. We were then treated to a fabulous sushi lunch and ColdStone ice cream afterwards! Lots of western enjoyments in this complex. We then took Diana to Taicong Lu which is an area like Xintiandi, but in its formative stages. Tiny little lanes in a maze, filled with boutiques, restaurants and the people who are still living there - laundry drying above your heads, tables surrounded by men playing cards, mahjongg or some other raucous game, crickets fights, women sitting in their chairs in the lane cleaning vegetables for dinner that night. Shanghai life.
I toured one of the 122 parks in Shanghai yesterday. Xujiahei Park which was completed in 2002. Green space has been a very prominent part of city planning since the mid-1990's in Shanghai. This park was built on a site that used to be old factories, workhouses and colonial buildings. An old factory chimney stands as a reminder of what used to be, but unfortunately none of the workhouses or colonial buildings remain. There is a beautiful stream that runs through the park, under an overhead walkway that drops into a beautiful koi pond. My photo from my phone of a grandmother and child walking the stone path.
My friend Julie's photo of the same scene. I think I need a real camera that can zoom and has better color as I see the difference side by side of the photos! You deserve better photos of China!
Again, my photo of the koi pond and young boys feeding the swans. . . 
. . . .and Julie's zoom photo of the same.
Julie's artistic eye capturing one of many scenes of contemplation in this beautiful park. There are rocky areas, grassy (although you are never allowed to trod on the grass), water, a water fall that runs over manmade stone drop and begins when you walk by.
We ventured into another small, gated park across the street on Huashan and found that it is an "exercize" park. There were all kinds of exercize equipment permanently installed that people, mostly older people, were using. Here, another gal on the tour, Carol, and I were trying them out. There were a lot of good twisting, balance machines that would be fun to use.
Julie and I then met up with Carol, a woman Julie had met, at H Cafe. Carol regalled us a story of her introduction to a small town out west in Hunnan province and the relationships she is building in order to try and help the local doctor with supplies he needs. "Three Cups of Tea" in China. We tried to encourage her to write it all down.
We are excited about the elections tomorrow! The American Consulate and several other American organizations are sponsoring an election even at the Hilton here where we can watch the returns (they start coming in at 8 a.m. our time Wednesday) and here from a couple different speakers. Ridley teaches at that time and he is hoping to get back in time to see the final results!!!!
I toured one of the 122 parks in Shanghai yesterday. Xujiahei Park which was completed in 2002. Green space has been a very prominent part of city planning since the mid-1990's in Shanghai. This park was built on a site that used to be old factories, workhouses and colonial buildings. An old factory chimney stands as a reminder of what used to be, but unfortunately none of the workhouses or colonial buildings remain. There is a beautiful stream that runs through the park, under an overhead walkway that drops into a beautiful koi pond. My photo from my phone of a grandmother and child walking the stone path.
My friend Julie's photo of the same scene. I think I need a real camera that can zoom and has better color as I see the difference side by side of the photos! You deserve better photos of China!
Again, my photo of the koi pond and young boys feeding the swans. . . 
. . . .and Julie's zoom photo of the same.
Julie's artistic eye capturing one of many scenes of contemplation in this beautiful park. There are rocky areas, grassy (although you are never allowed to trod on the grass), water, a water fall that runs over manmade stone drop and begins when you walk by.
We ventured into another small, gated park across the street on Huashan and found that it is an "exercize" park. There were all kinds of exercize equipment permanently installed that people, mostly older people, were using. Here, another gal on the tour, Carol, and I were trying them out. There were a lot of good twisting, balance machines that would be fun to use.
Julie and I then met up with Carol, a woman Julie had met, at H Cafe. Carol regalled us a story of her introduction to a small town out west in Hunnan province and the relationships she is building in order to try and help the local doctor with supplies he needs. "Three Cups of Tea" in China. We tried to encourage her to write it all down.
We are excited about the elections tomorrow! The American Consulate and several other American organizations are sponsoring an election even at the Hilton here where we can watch the returns (they start coming in at 8 a.m. our time Wednesday) and here from a couple different speakers. Ridley teaches at that time and he is hoping to get back in time to see the final results!!!!
2 comments:
So, now you have been there several months before the election and what is the spin from the Chinese perspective? Do they like Obama? Is it a big deal to them in the EAST?
Not much about it in the newspapers, but when trying to talk about the Presidential election with a gal who works for us - not easy communication - she said, "Clinton!"
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