As Seen by TV

In my twenty-something years, I’ve hit up twenty-something different countries, and without a doubt Shanghai is the night city of night cities [so far].  I don’t mean that in the sense of things being open (NYC gets that one, minus that stupid curfew), or in regards to nightlife (although no complaints here!), but that the lights are blindly turned on and are in essence: blinding, and furthermore, the crowds disappear (which is a huge plus!).

Let me put it this way: Shanghai by day = *meh*.  Shanghai by night: *BLAHM*!

This set of images is from 3 seperate shoots, the first 3 images are around my office building at the end of Huai Hai Road East.  The following 3 images are of my quick trip to Pudong to pick up a package sent from the homefront (thanks Mom, there is nothing in the world like Belgian D&L mayonnaise!), while the final 6 were actually taken right after the previous post, at Peoples Square.

Compare image #2 above with the one below… same location 6 months earlier:

And from 4 months earlier [see my full post on the graffiti wall]:

Xintiandi (新天地; xīn tiān dì), or XTD as I call it, is an area of restored shikumen, traditional stone houses and alleyways.  It is the hot-spot in Shanghai, mostly aimed at tourists, with restaurants, bars, cafes, a shopping mall, and even a jazz club.  I had previously blogged about an area called Tianzifang, similar to XTD only not as touristy [yet]… the locals still live there washing their dishes in the alleys surrounded by small artsy boutiques and quiet restaurants.   Whereas XTD feels fake and incredibly pretentious, and if you happen to walk into one of the restaurants or cafes in XTD and see your bill, you’ll completely forget you’re in China.  

XTD holds a personal record with my Most Expensive Beer Ever, from the Paulaner Bräuhaus… a whopping 138RMB (US$ 20.29) for a 1L mug of micro brew.  There is also a Starbucks (obviously), and a steakhouse which serves a 500RMB (US$ 73) porterhouse, which might not seem like all that much, but if you know anything about Shanghai, you’ll know of the various Brazilian BBQ spots that serve all-you-can-eat steaks for 20% of the price. 
But then again, who cares when the company is paying. 

I also stumbled upon a park located just east of Xintiandi, called Taipingqiao.

And once again I must apologize for my slow posting… seems the Great Firewall of China struck again, taking out the proxy I was using before to access this blog.  Now I am forced to use an alternative, UltraSurf, which is available for free here.