Had to go to the library today.....

      .....cos I left my map of Shanghai at Charlotte's, so when I was sorting out my photos last night I could remember the place names, but spell them?....oh no....so off to the library it was.  I also wanted some books on what life must have been like in China in the last century.

      Well I've got some place names now, so I can sort of sort myself out a bit....
This was the view from Charlotte's bedroom window, and every morning we had a commentary from Darsh on the state of the traffic-our very own "eye in the sky"

    ....we even took a walk over one evening to get a proper look at all that traffic...

     .....and that brave little policeman trying to control it and doing very well too, considering there was about 10 lanes of it heading his way....

Nanjing Lu

I was more interested in the evening streets, bursting with people always, but far prettier at night...

      ....Bikes and scooters where everywhere, and if the road was busy they simply drove on the pavement.  The scooters were battery operated too and you couldn't hear them coming...and at night they saved their batteries, so they didn't put their lights on and then you couldn't see them either.  Crossing the road was a nightmare in the day or night.  Charlotte just ploughed in and said "Don't stop, and never make eye-contact"!!!

          .....Charlotte was in charge of the map, or the I-Pad, or the "Lonely Planet".  She was our official tour guide.

     On our first trip to the Bund, to see the old 1920 and 30's buildings on one side of the Huangpu River, and the ultra modern skyline over on the Pudong side.  This visit was murky and I wanted to see the view on a clear day too.

When Charlotte was at work, Darsh was in charge of the map.....

....Boy did we get lost a lot on those days...

Xintiandi, near to Charlotte's work and the wonderful "Shikumen" museum.  We visited here several times, but we got lost the first time even though it was so close to "home"

The whole area had been allowed to fall derelict a few years ago, but instead of demolishing it, they salvaged and restored it as part of Shanghai's heritage.  It was a lovely place to wander round, and eat in....