Elvis spotted in Shanghai

We're in the middle of a four-day weekend thanks to the Chinese May Day holiday. Thursday and Friday were spent on walking tours of Shanghai. Thursday we explored an area near Jiangsu Road that used to lie just outside the International Concession and where the well-to-do built country estates in the early decades of the 20th century. Now these country estates are surrounded by a mishmash of buildings and storefronts. To get to them you have to wind your way through alleys and doorways and slip through gates. Most of these former mansions are now occupied by several families and tenants and are being encroached upon by skyscrapers. Many are already gone because Shanghai has done such a lousy job of preserving their history.

On Friday we revisited the area north of Suzhou Creek where American missionaries concentrated in the late 19th century. What struck me on this walk were how many lovely old buildings there are in this area close to Shanghai's heartland but what terrible shape they are in. A casual visitor would hardly notice the buildings as they walk along the streets because the ground floors have been covered in ugly cladding or turned into shops of unspeakable ugliness. If one steps back, looks up, and mentally removes all of the air-conditioners, clothes wires, electric wires, plastic signage and other detritus that hangs on these buildings like an infestation of barnacles, one can almost imagine their grandness in the 1930s and earlier.

Anti-foreigner feelings are on the rise in China as a result of the protests that dogged the Olympic torch relays around the world. On May 1st there was an anti-French demonstration outside the local French-owned Carrfour Supermarket. While most Shanghainese continue to go about their business and act friendly towards foreigners, yesterday was the first time a local passerby looked at me and said "go home" in English.

On a lighter note, we ate at Papa John's Pizza today and brought part of the pizza home. When we opened the pizza box later we discovered this image of Elvis Presley left by the grease of the pizza. I'll see what I can get for it on e-Bay.