Xintiandi is a former Shikumen area transformed into a high-end leisure destinations. The buildings had undergone extensive renovations and modifications, and now house a multitude of expensive bars and restaurants, and the area has become one of the favourite locations for foreigners.

It is also part of a wider development with lots of new offices and flats, and there are plenty of scenes of juxtaposition like this.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0277.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0278.jpg

Entering Xintiandi from the north

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0279.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0280.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0281.jpg

The narrow alleyways

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0282.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0283.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0284.jpg

Brilliant brickwork

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0287.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0288.jpg

It's a popular destination for tourists photographers too ...

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0286.jpg

There's always a glass skyscraper poking its head in the distance

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0285.jpg

Back onto the main promenade. This kind of pedestrian environments are exceedingly rare ...

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0289.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0290.jpg

A guided tour group ...

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0291.jpg

There are certainly a lot of trees planted in this place.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0292.jpg

If I remember correctly hkskyline was disappointed at the overcommercialisation of the place - I do think however that it would be either unrealistic or uneconomical to expect people to live in such conditions, and bars and restaurants probably are some of the best ways to unlock the potentials of this urban richness.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0293.jpg

What I do have an issue with though, is this complete lack of Chinese!

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0294.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0295.jpg

And red telephone boxes ... entirely unecessary.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0296.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0297.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0299.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0300.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0301.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0303.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0305.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0307.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0308.jpg

A little map of the place

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0309.jpg

And a little covered passage

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0306.jpg

Xingye Road

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0310.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0311.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0313.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0314.jpg

This is the other half south of Xingye Road

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0316.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0318.jpg

Xintiandi blends itself nicely with the towers on Huaihai Road.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0319.jpg

To the south, these are some of the most expensive flats in Shanghai.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0315.jpg

Taipingqiao Park

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0328.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0326.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0331.jpg

Leaving Xintiandi through Huaihai Road commercial district

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0335.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0337.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0338.jpg

Huaihai Road itself

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0268.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0270.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0269.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Xintiandi/RDSCF0271.jpg

A little while before I visited Xintiandi I did a little tour of the old town, the part of Shanghai that stayed in Chinese control during the colonial era.

View from the Old North Gate, though there's very little old stuff that's remaining

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0220.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0236.jpg

Just 2 miles away, Wenmiao paints a completely different picture

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0242.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0243.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0244.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0254.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0245.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0252.jpg

The name Wenmiao actually refers to a temple

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0246.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0250.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0247.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laobeimen/RDSCF0258.jpg

Yes - I was unhappy with how commercialized Xintiandi has become, and how it is an expat hole than a place for locals to enjoy. However, locals have an alternative - a more intimate setting in Tianzifang.

Yes - I was unhappy with how commercialized Xintiandi has become, and how it is an expat hole than a place for locals to enjoy. However, locals have an alternative - a more intimate setting in Tianzifang.

How many of these shikumen houses have been preserved? These houses are gems and should be worth a few millions $US each due to their uniqueness, beauty and historic value.

Xintiandi = 100% mean.

Bring your girlfriend there for some Coldstone = godlike.

Yes - I was unhappy with how commercialized Xintiandi has become, and how it is an expat hole than a place for locals to enjoy. However, locals have an alternative - a more intimate setting in Tianzifang.

I see what you mean about it being a hole for expats, though IMO it's not really surprising that such a unique setting restored so meticulously attracts only the most expensive businesses. I guess what we need is more of such developments so there's some variety, for example the Shikumen estates to the north of Nanjing Road East.

Any such developments will inevitably cater for the upper end of the market though as it's very expensive to restore the houses to presentable standards and land value will be ridiculously high as there are usually only 2 storeys.

How many of these shikumen houses have been preserved? These houses are gems and should be worth a few millions $US each due to their uniqueness, beauty and historic value.

To date Xintiandi is the only example of such preservation and restoration of Shikumen, while Tianzifang still has residents and the houses not so heavily renovated. I think it's very expensive to modify these estates to include public spaces and restore these houses, and values would then become ridiculously high, but such markets are still limited at least for now.

There are still vast swathes of Shikumen in Shanghai but over time perhaps only small pockets will remain. Take Xintiandi for example, the Shikumen houses are just the central core part of the development, with the surrounding wider development being modern office towers, hotels and flats replacing the old Shikumen that once stood.

More pictures! Coming out of Xintiandi I went to a place called Laomatou, a smaller restaurant-and-bar complex by the riverside not too far south of the Bund. Laomatou means the Old Docks, or the Cool Docks as the official translation would like you to think, reminds one to the fact that this stretch of the riverfront used to be full of piers in the olden days.

When you are at the river front, you can't resist but ...

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0350.jpg

Zhongshan Nan'er Lu - a pedestrian island in the middle of a long crossing is a relatively new concept in Shanghai, and seems to be catching on.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0351.jpg

I certainly hadn't come across a staggered crossing before, so it's nice to see pedestrian safety finally being taken seriously. But, but but ... the green man for either side of the crossing are NOT staggered, and in Shanghai it's always a race to get to the other side before the green man disappears and the red man appears, staggering the damn crossing in the middle actually slows you down! Oh we'll learn...

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0352.jpg

Some newly constructed apartment blocks replacing self-built shacks which are still common in the Old Town. I'm sure these flats are of amazing quality, but they just look like a suburban estate, and IMO do a disservice to this prime urban location

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0353.jpg

Anyway, back to the Old Docks Cool Docks. These bars and restaurants are former warehouses and factories.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0354.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0355.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0356.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0357.jpg

Just a thought - if I told an unsuspecting soul this was Birmingham, they'd probably believe it ...

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0363.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0358.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0359.jpg

Unfortunately you do see the odd cars invading the pedestrian space, even though there's a car par just at the back accessible through normal roads. This driver even had the cheek to pip at pedestrians, utter **** ... :ohno:

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0360.jpg

Anyway, a 'pollution'-free shot.

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0361.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0362.jpg

Across the river there are more blocks of flats, which are just south of Lujiazui

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/Laomatou/RDSCF0364.jpg

As we are close to the bund, I'll just post these last two photos, again ... ;)

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/The%20Bund/RDSCF0369.jpg

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/ConstantInvader/Shanghai%202010/The%20Bund/RDSCF0365.jpg