Market and communal area

One of the sights Shanghai has to offer is the old town. It's not really old though, don't expect too much. Nothing is China is really old, but this is where old Shanghai was and it's still part of the city centre. In this part of town you can see a few temples, the city wall, which is apparently 5 km long (I saw something that was 50 metres long), there is an indoor market where you can buy fruit, vegetables, fish and meat, there are many shops, restaurants and food places and there is a communal area. I'm not sure if the communal area is mentioned in any tourist guide, but it's worth a visit. This could explain why I didn't see any tourists there and why some people gave me a funny look. The houses look run down and are in a poor state. Everything looks shabby, but not dirty. I saw some poor, but also some wealthier people there. At least they made an impression of being wealthier, due to the clothes they were wearing and the cars they were driving. The windows and doors of most houses are open, with open I mean really open, not just unlocked, so you can look inside and if you dare walk inside. Some of the buildings are very beautiful and classy. Such communal areas can be found in many parts of the city. You can see some from above if you take the metro and travel between overground stations. 

I walked into the area by sheer coincidence. First I went to the area you see in the first photos, in search of the market, because this is mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide book, then I tried to find the City Wall, but discovered only a small piece of it (no idea where the rest of it is, there are no signs and none of the locals knew), then I walked around the corner to see if there are any more surprises and this is how I walked into the communal area.

The area where the market is.

Inside the market

Again the area around the market.

Part of the City Wall

Two temples behind the City Wall

Entering the communal area

If you would like to read more by me, here are my novel and my diary from Ar'ar, in the northern Saudi desert. Both available on Amazon as soft and hard copy.