DLC Studio
Xiantandi tour by Dwight
Across the hall from DLC is Benwood which is the architecture firm that worked on the Xintiandi District. We got to talk to Ben Wood for awhile and he told us about some of his projects in Shanghai. After that Dwight gave us an overview of the projects DLC is working on right now including urban design, various parks, and wetlands. Then he took us out to explore the Xintiandi District.
This area maintains its historical architecture of Shikumen residences while creating a more modern feel. Many of the buildings have been converted into more upscale restaurants and boutiques. One of these Shikumen homes has been preserved as a museum that we got to tour. It was really interesting.
For lunch we went to a nice western restaurant that served mostly sandwiches, burgers, wraps, and pasta dishes. By now we are all starting to get a little weary of having Chinese food for every meal, so it was a nice change.
Burgers and fries!
After lunch we headed to Taikang Road. This area is full of art galleries, cafes, and boutiques. It is a really cool area and we explored and shopped for about an hour.
Taikang Road District
Next we took a tour of the French Concession. This area has a mix of European and Chinese architecture. All the streets are lined with mature London Plane trees. The tour was somewhat disappointing because we spent most of the time in the bus and we arrived at Sun Yat-sen’s (revolutionary father of the China’s republic) former residence after it closed so we couldn’t go inside. We did get to go to Fuxing Park though which was really pretty.
We also went to the Shanghai Museum of Arts and Crafts and Jin Jiang Hotel which is historically the best hotel in Shanghai. For dinner we went to a Tibetan restaurant that was really good. Tomorrow we head out of town to Suzhou Gardens, so hopefully the weather is nicer.
-- Jena Biondolilo
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