Saturday Morning Ship

A cargo vessel makes its way past a hazy Pudong shoreline.  It seems odd that the tug boat is being pulled by a freighter, but an ancient mariner tells me otherwise: if the ship were to lose power, the tug can quickly run up alongside and nudge or pull it out of harm's way.

Coke on the Bund

Found this rather cute Coke van on the Bund this past weekend. The van operator was more interested in his lunch than he was in peddling sugared water to the masses.

OLD AND NEW

A recurring theme in Shanghai is the juxtaposition of old and new. Nowhere is this more self-evident than in the city's endless development, with the old stock of housing relentlessly torn down to be replaced by new office buildings or apartment towers.  In some cases it seems justifiable, especially where cooking facilities and/or washing/toilet areas are close to medieval.  The city government is making efforts to reclaim some of the more historically significant buildings - sometimes in response to public outcry.  Anyway, the image below is one that you see repeated time and again as you travel across the city.

THE FENCE - CLOSER UP

BAMBOO

Bamboo's ubiquity in China - and its many uses - are well noted. In Hong Kong, for example, skyscrapers are constructed using bamboo as the surrounding scaffolding. Not until I came to Shanghai, however, have I seen it used so intricately as it in fences.  This picture was also taken in the former French Concession.

THE SAME BUILDING - JUST CLOSER UP

I think this building gets more interesting with every viewing, so I have posted a slightly closer view of its facade.

ART DECO

After a couple of weeks of respite, it's time to start posting again.  I recently picked up our new camera and headed into the area now known as the former French Concession. I'll write more about it later, but it's worth noting now that the area is home to a large number of relatively well-preserved examples of 1930s Art Deco architecture.  Above is just one example.