The next day I had planned to wake up and go to Old Shanghai Street and the Yuyuan Gardens. Unfortunately, the impending rain had turned into a full-out rainstorm during the night. I decided to brave the weather and go out anyway, hoping that it would stop as the day progressed. I was wrong.
The subway station at which I thought I was supposed to get off to reach Old Shanghai Street turned out to be a mile away from the actual location, but in wandering the streets I got a taste of what residential life is like in Shanghai. I seemed to be a middle-class neighborhood, with two-story buildings, little alleyways, and a few 10-15 story buildings thrown in for good measure. It was much more western than any area in Chengdu. I finally reached a different subway stop out of which were streaming people with cameras all headed in the same direction – ahhh, the march of the tourists. I knew I had to be in the right spot.
Old Shanghai Street is an area of the city that spans a few blocks and is reconstructed to look like buildings would have back in the day. I would have been charming, but there were what felt like thousands of other people and everyone was carrying umbrellas because it was pouring. Crowds in narrow streets are one thing, but add umbrellas and you run the risk of having a eye poked out at every turn. I wandered for awhile and the rain never let up so I decided the Yuyan Gardens (which are adjacent to Old Shanghai Street) wouldn’t be much fun. By this time my black flats were more like small ponds and my jeans were soaked up to my knees. I looked for a cab to call it a day but then I saw a more modern looking building, which turned out to be a mall. I went into Zara and H&M and bought some new, cute spring clothes. After spending much more money that I had anticipated, I headed back to the hotel to get ready for our Webster dinner that evening. Side Note: It took 2 days for my shoes to dry out.
Picture: Old Shanghai Street.
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