Walking back home through the tree-lined streets of the French Concession is a joy especially if it’ not cold and raining. I enjoy the lights from street lights making pools of yellow on the roads and the lights from bedrooms and TV still on, flashing into the darkness as I walk home. However, I often… Read More »
There are such beautiful old colonial houses in Shanghai, especially in the French Concession where villas often have a garden and you can imagine them in former times, full of life and wealthy foreign families living the high life. Many of these houses are of course still here and preserved for posterity. However there are… Read More »
It’s hard to believe that these are small lane houses mostly inhabited by little old Chinese men and women. The rents charged to foreigners is staggering. Granted, these renovated flats are considerably nicer than those the locals inhabit bit the difference in rent is out of proportion to the difference in standards. Yesterday I was… Read More »
I often walk past these boards on the pavement advertising apartments for rent and it astounds me that anyone on a local salary can afford to live in the French Concession at all. The first flat on the list is 9 square metres for £180. So that’s about 3 metres by 3 metres, just jut… Read More »
Easter weekend and I thought I’d go on a bike tour of my area of the French Concession. I was surprised to come across Normandie Apartments on HuaiHai Lu – I have seen the flat Iron building in New York and this is a similar shape though not quite as beautiful. It was so nice… Read More »
You all know that I live in squalor in the heart of the French Concession – compared to most foreigners in Shanghai anyway. If it wasn’t for the location I would look for something with fewer rats and cockroaches but hey, location is everything so they say. However, since the winter has set in I… Read More »
I was inspired by Sue Anne Tay’s wonderful blog Shanghai Street Stories, to go out with my big camera around the old lanes near where I live in the Former French Concession. I headed down South Shaan Xi Lu towards Zhaojiabang Lu and soon there were lanes all around me (and foreign photographers too). Fortunately… Read More »
After nearly five years in Nanjing, the time has come to move on to a bigger and better city and which could be bigger and better than Shanghai. My very few boxes have been packed and the courier company is due tomorrow. I am slightly suspicious because it seems too cheap – I will be… Read More »