Shanghai Day 4: Tianzifang

Shanghai & Hangzhou travelogue so far:
Shanghai Day 1: MAS again, Maglev Train, The Bund & Becoming Zombie!
Shanghai Day 2: City God Temple, Zig Zag Bridge at Yu Garden & Xintiandi (Part 1)
Shanghai Day 2: Oriental Pearl Tower, Lujiazui Pedestrian Bridge, The Bund & Pudong Skyline at Night (Part 2)
Hangzhou Day 3: West Lake

This is officially our last full day in Shanghai, so we took it easy. We reached Tianzifang 田子坊 via Dapuqiao metro stop (with 3 metro changes) at 10am. Like Xintiandi, Tianzifang is made of shops and restaurant from Shanghainese’ Shikumen (real home of Shanghai people). While Xintiandi is more upscale and modern, Tianzifang still retain some of its olden days charm with windings alleyways off Taikang Lu. Tianzifang’s tiny alleys remind me of Venice a little bit minus the canal. Go without a map and try to get lost while maneuvering the alleys!

Tianzifang is also the place for souvenir. Make sure you bargain. If it doesn’t work, just walk away. Some might call you back. While some will not, you will find similar souvenir easily at another shop.

Entrance to Tianzifang. Several entrances to Tianzifang look quite similar to this. Make sure you know where you’re coming from.


Hi, I’m at Tianzifang 田子坊!

Very early on, I saw a Shikumen house among all the shops. I think it was no longer occupied. It was a bit unsightly therefore I’m not showing it here. At least I get to see what it’s like inside the house.

Teddy Bear Thailand Restaurant. Can you see a giant teddy bear saying hi from the balcony?

Too bad the place was still close.

Cute chairs! I want to bring a set home. Can? Haha

Lanes and more lanes!

So many things to buy here. Arts, clothes, accessories, bags, shoes, etc.

Then we have restaurants of many cuisines.

Cute ways to recycle the bottles.

Cute hanging plant pots.

An old well in Tianzifang.

Some of the alleys are this narrow while some are wider.

Just before noon, my friend recommended a cool restaurant to us for some snacking. It’s called Cafe Dan. Read on to find out why I was choking blood! After an hour of rest in the restaurant, we carried on…

Very cute stools and I bet it’s expensive!

Map of Tianzifang.

At nearly 2pm, I was feeling hungry but my friends doesn’t want to have lunch in restaurant so I just resort to takeaway waffle. 🙁 Either they still felt the pain from Cafe Dan or they were really not hungry?! This Taiwanese waffle freeze their batter and then use an ice-cream scoop to place the batter in the waffle maker. Weird and unique!

My corn waffle. The thing about this waffle is that it’s so chewy. I dislike it very much at first but the more I ate it, the more I love it. At last I got addicted to it. Wish I bought more. Haha Meanwhile my sis ordered chocolate waffles.

Then we chanced on another part of lane with Shikumen house. I think these still have occupants.

I couldn’t remember which lane it is, you just have to take your chances.

Cute decoration on the tree.

Pretty letter boxes decoration.

Beautiful window at Tianzifang.

Nice.

A cool restaurant.

This is Tianzifang.

Another type of entrance to Tianzifang.

By 3pm, we finished our Tianzifang tour and head to our final destination of the day which is our friend’s condo. Remember we have a Malaysian friend staying in Shanghai with her hubby? We went there to visit her and her baby. We ended up having dinner there as she has a part-time Shanghainese cook.

When we got back to East Nanjing Road metro, all of us head to Nanjing Road again. For them, they went there for shopping, for sis and me we went there to sample xiaolongbao! (Ahh finallllllyyyy!!!)

That’s it for day 4.