National Day

Flags and badminton

A bit of a belated post considering Chinese national day is on 1 October, but really wanted to put in these photos from the holiday in Shanghai. The national day is accompanied by a week-long national holiday … that’s why everything feels so relaxed in these photos.

Flags in my neighbourhood

Flag on a bus

Shengsi Island

On the boat to Shengsi Island

Only a few hours from Shanghai, it took me 2 years to discover Shengsi Island. With advice from this city weekend article, and article on CNN and some blogs from a Shanghai bike club we set off!

Getting there took longer than expected… it was golden week and the fast boat tickets had sold out. I’d really advise getting boat tickets in advance if you want to ensure a speedy trip!

Once there, it was a bit tricky to get a taxi, none of the drivers claimed to know where we were going. But eventually we checked in to our guest-house (booked through ctrip) and got down to some good old-fashioned relaxing (and eating of course).

Playing on the beach

Evening, getting ready for lanterns

Technical Issues!

Hi there! If you’ve visited over the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed that my blog was suffering severe technical difficulties, all self-inflicted. Thankfully I have now managed to fix these, and I am back online! Happy holidays and here’s to more blogging in 2013.

Social receipt

A shopping receipt with QQ contact information

QQ is just another form of communication, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to see the QQ information for my local print shop on the bottom of my receipt. I think my reaction comes from the juxtaposition of the digital contact information (QQ number) on the analogue receipt (handwritten). Isn’t it lovely!

QQ isn’t just for chatting with friends any more. What a good way to make sure the printing is on schedule before you leave the house!

Cityscape

Cityscape old and new buildings

Another Shanghai skyline.. this time a composition of old and new buildings in the Jing’an area of the city.

I love the trees and the small playing field. The streets actually feel a little bit green at ground level, making it a great neighbourhood to wander around.