Talk:Old City (Shanghai)

Factual accuracy of image

The caption of the image to the right of the "Today" section is inaccurate. The old city is almost entirely convex in shape, and the high rise inside the bend on the right of the image is in fact situated within the old city. Street view of the exact spot 129.133.74.206 (talk) 04:38, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

Photos in gallery are outdated

I just returned from Shanghai (where we spent six hours in the Old City areas) and have added updated photos to the article.

btw, the Old City in 2018 looks nothing like the photos in the Gallery which are from 2005, for example. For confirmation, see the snapshots posted by travellers recently at https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g308272-d543459-Reviews-Old_Town_Nanshi-Shanghai.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=348554291

The French Concession is now tiny, and includes a modern multi-story mall and a German restaurant. The Concession has been so significantly renovated that you might guess it was built recently. It features mostly upscale stores.

I saw nothing in the area resembling the 2008 photo that was in the Today section; I have deleted that and added newer ones. And I added a title for the Gallery to indicate that those are NOT recent photos. Peter K Burian (talk) 23:29, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean by your comments, I suspect you are extrapolating from your visit to a small part of the Old City / French Concession respectively to the whole district. I wonder if you were misled by a tour guide?

The photos you took are all from the Old City God Temple commercial zone, whereas the photos in the gallery are from the less managed parts of the Old City. There is nothing new about those gaudy golden pillars - the Old City God Temple commercial area has looked like a theme park for decades. But that is not representative of the whole Old City.

The comments about the French Concession are also a bit difficult to understand. Which multi-storey mall are you talking about? And which German restaurant? There are lots of both in the French concession, but there are also still lots of narrow lanes lined with plane trees and wet markets where local residents do their groceries. If all you saw was a multi-storey mall and a German restaurant, then you probably only saw a small portion of the French concession. --165.225.80.244 (talk) 11:32, 30 November 2018 (UTC)

No argument .. I did not spend days touring either area. But when driving to them and walking around, we never saw any areas that looked really old/run-down or covered with electric wires. (Like the photos in the Gallery) If that is still the case in places that I did not see, fine!

And yes, the French Concession is larger than the part that I saw based on my later research. e.g. https://www.vogue.com/article/shanghai-old-french-concession-guide ... this is the German restaurant:

“Good German Food in the French Concession” Paulaner Brauhaus Shanghai, No.150 Fenyang Road https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g308272-d4450615-r166562979-Paulaner_Brauhaus_Shanghai_Fenyang-Shanghai.html

The mall where we had coffee might be this one IAPM Mall Peter K Burian (talk) 18:45, 30 November 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for the additional notes. In case of any idle interest, the Paulaner you refer to is housed in the grounds of the former residence of general Pai Chung-hsi (father of writer Pai Hsien-yung), I don't know if you saw the main house while you were there. There are several other grand residences of that type in that area, including the residence of the president of the French Municipal Council just on the next block.

IAPM Mall is one of the newest large scale malls in the French Concession, but it is by no means unique. There are quite a few of comparable scale if you went further east from that corner (along Huaihai Road / Avenue Joffre) or further south. --165.225.80.94 (talk) 11:43, 3 December 2018 (UTC)