Selfie, anyone? Walkway along the Huangpu River, with Pudong in background. Photo by Catharine Norton.

Second in a Series:

I suppose the title “City of the Past, Present and Future” could apply to many cities — but few, if any, as much as Shanghai, China.

Within the course of a few blocks — or just across the street in some cases — you can go from narrow alleyways lined with shacks that have no kitchens or indoor plumbing, to magnificent old temple and garden complexes, to stately colonial-era houses sequestered behind shady sycamore-lined streets, to a pedestrian walkway lined with super-modern clothing and electronics stores that light up like Times Square at night, to a waterfront lined with more colonial-era buildings and a river walk that has to be the selfie-taking capital of the world.

And across the river (providing a background for the selfies) lies the region… Continue reading →