These are some photos that I took while I was in Shanghai a few weeks back. I did not take photos of all the modern skyscrapers and famous landmarks on the Pudong side, but I took photos of those small rustic areas that I happened to stumble upon.



A busy marketplace


A roadside stall


The mobile library


Pork seller


Chickens being sold as food, some will even remove the feathers for you after you bought the chicken


A hawker selling some type of flour cake


A cobbler


A group of street hawkers


Another alleyway

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010164.JPG
A street hawker frying up some noodles

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/DSC00091.JPG
The contrast between the 2 faces of the economic divide

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/DSC00092.JPG
An alleyway

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010028.JPG
Another face of Shanghai

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010029.JPG
Where the working folk stay

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010030.JPG
Construction works in Shanghai

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010031.JPG
Reminds me of those old estates in HK in the 70s and 80s

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010032.JPG
Same estate from another angle

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010033.JPG
A place that I never got to see in Singapore

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010035.JPG
The same area again

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010037.JPG
When I took this photo, the old man in the foreground kept shooing me away

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010051.JPG
A random spot that I happened to come across

http://www.gibsontang.com/Shanghai2008/P1010052.JPG

I enjoyed seeing those pictures much more then skyscrapers. Those are the parts that I would be looking for if I were to visit. Sky scrapers are like McDonald's, they are everywhere and basically all the same.

Thanks, these areas where I took the photos are actually pretty near the Bund area which is where all the high class areas and buildings are. But this area is pretty far away from major roads and the nearest train station, so I guess modernization is slow to catch on there.

<snort> And there's where you're wrong. There's not a McDonald's in America that could possibly serve the McPork. No, you have to go to Tokyo for that "pleasure". d:

And while I understand what you're saying--seeking out the old over the modern--the modern has it's appeal as well. The interrupted views in Shanghai will be different and exciting when compared to those of New York, London or Rome. And the juxtaposition can only add to the scene.

Here's the view from my office...new and old. ^__^ (and plants...)
So, looking at Shanghai, with the skyscrapers in the distance is, IMO, pretty darn impressive. Thanks, Moose, for posting these.

Okay, the black coat hanging there is just...freakie!! I was like "They're floating..."

Ha ha! I don't want to see that black coat in the middle of night after I had a few cups of liquors!!! I have read a few Chinese ghost stories that were exactly in such situations. I think someone could get scared to death if these people forget to get their clothing in doors after dark!

Anyway, such street scenes are usually the ones I would go to when I travel as well. I especially like to hang out with those people in those small mom and pa grocery stores. It feels like home because my cousins in Taipei also have one of those small grocery shops serving the neighborhood area around the Taiwan Normal University. It is much, much nicer (in terms of human feelings) than those 7-11's showing up all over Taipei nowadays!!! I will be hanging out there when I am in Taipei in order to get to know the current pulses and undercurrents of Taipei -- 16 days more before I will be getting on the plane to go back there!!!

I have great appreciation for the architecture of modern buildings too. If I was to travel, those are the things I could not help but see. I would enjoy seeing them, but I am more interested in seeing the old areas that are hidden. Pockets of the past. Neighborhoods that still have personality and uniqueness. That is what I enjoy the most.

Sometimes, when you travel to Asia, you can see the nice street scenes of older part of the city from your hotel rooms. In Taipei, I was able to see some very nice old houses from my hotel balcony in my favorite Taipei hotel (that is both cheap and centrally located -- also very close to a 24-hour Chinese comic book shop with nice personal cubicles and two seater sofa and coffee table and telephone and very, very good food for very, very decent and cheap price!!!) In the street right next to my very (extremely) cheap Shanghai hotel are the very common part of the Shanghai, and the streets behind my Beijing hotel (that is right next to the Forbidden City) are just like what you are seeing in this thread. I think people can find interesting places just a few steps from their very modern hotel rooms if they try.

XD

Very nice pics moose. You chose the ares not often photographed and captured some true essence of other ares in China =)