Impressions of Shanghai, Part II: Xujiahui, Tianzifang, the Bund

We continued our tour of Shanghai by heading to Xujiahui, where a grand Catholic Cathedral, built by Jesuits in 1847, stands. The area is called Xujiahui because it was once grounds owned by Xu Guangqi, who was China's most famous convert in the 1500s, and collaborated with Matteo Ricci to translate famous Western mathematical and philosophical texts into Chinese. This is a statue of him.

The plaque memorializing Xu conveniently skips over the fact that he was a Christian convert. Instead, it focuses on the fact that he was a scientist and a famous Chinese official.

This is the Catholic cathedral, with a nice and well-kept park surrounding it. Unfortunately, we missed its opening hours and weren't able to go inside.

The park was filled with dog-walkers, and we caught sight of this ridiculous dog outfit. I have no idea why he had pajamas on, it wasn't even cold out! The little booties killed me. They were part of a wedding party that was taking glamour shots in front of the Cathedral.

We then moved more into the heart of the old French concession, and we went to Tianzifang, which is an area filled with shikumen houses -- two or three story town houses built in the 1860s that blended Western and traditional Chinese architecture. Shanghai was filled with these old style houses at one point, but soon were replaced by tall high-rises and apartment blocks. This area still retains its shikumen style buildings, but was renovated and revitalized in 2007 into a boutique shops/bars/touristy area. The old narrow street ways are still the primary attraction of the place, and it's nice to walk around to get the feel of "old Shanghai," with its winding alleyways and omnipresent electric lines.




Revitalized area of Taikang Road.


We then ended our day by heading towards the Bund, which was the center of the British settlement (and later the International Settlement), and had many of the major financial institutions on its banks. The Bund was amazingly crowded and lively at night, there was a vibe and excitement there that I hadn't really experienced before. Most of the tourists there were Chinese tourists visiting Shanghai -- there were massive tour groups of Chinese people walking around.
This is a major pedestrian and shopping area that heads towards the Bund.

This is on the Bund, I think this is the chartered Bank of India, Australia and China.

More banks on the Bund.

This is the view of the bank opposite the Bund, where the Oriental Pearl Tower looms in the distance. Also known as Pudong, the area has developed rapidly since the 1990s and has now become the financial hub of China.

Statue of Chen Yi, major of Shanghai from 1949 to 1958, envisioning the rise of the New China.