# NCT's Shanghai Series - Off the beaten path



## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

*NCT's Shanghai Series - Off the beaten path (Zhongshan Park, Thames Town, Hongqiao Hub ...)*

After the usual dose of The Bund, Lujiazui, Xintiandi and whatnot, I thought It's time to see some of the other faces of Shanghai.

First off, Zhongshan Park, a fairly recent business district in west central Shanghai that took off as a result of the Metro Interchange. In the areas surrounding there are a lot of high-rise apartment blocks.



















Changning Road is the main thoroughfare cutting through the CBD.


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Suning Electricals










Entrance to Zhongshan Park Station (Line 2)










Some office towers ...










Cloud Nine Shopping Mall, with another Metro entrance










Cloud Nine is currently the biggest shopping centre of Zhongshan Park.










Not unlike many others, there is an office tower to go with it. My cousin says it looks like a banana ...


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Inevitably whenever there's a shopping centre I always find something to rant about.










No interaction at all with the street, and people think Westfield London is bad.










The back of the shopping centre










Words fail me...


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

The back end of the the CBD houses some non-descript old blocks of flats. It seems in some places ground subsidence has been fairly substantial.










Suzhou Creek runs along the north-end of Zhongshan Park (the park itself)










Alas, disabled access is still an afterthought










Doubling back. The elevated bit is the tracks for lines 3 and 4, which make an interchange with line 2 at Zhongshan Park.



















Outside Zhongshan Park Station (Line 3 and 4)










A footbridge linking the station to Cloud Nine


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Bus station round the back of Cloud Nine










Route 13 approaches the station from the other side ...










... so passengers have to board from the road, fantastic!










Another bus station to the south



















Behind this station is a piece of land earmarked for a new Raffles City.


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

At Zhongshan park Station (Lines 3/4)
































































A multi-storey car park










'Beethoven Plaza ...'


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Some views from apartments.

Crap summer's day vs beautiful summer's day





































Old Housing


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

A typical modern residential area in Pudong


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## Munwon (Dec 9, 2010)

Love this thread!! Thanks NCT... So tired of seeing Pudong and the Bund.


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Thanks Munwon!

Songjiang old town














































And a little scene from Songjiang University Town


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Songjiang Thames Town, part of Songjiang new town


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

British-style housing stock





































Apprently this development incorporated British urban planning best practices










They've used Zebra crossing street furnature without really understanding what a zebra crossing is for, and definitely forgot to lowever the curb for wheelchair users



















Security gate - extremely un-British










The only thing remotely British is the weather.


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)




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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

It'd be unfair to call this place a ghost town as people do actually live here. However as Thames Town is not designed as a focal point for the wider Songjiang New Town, there is no retail and the 'town centre' is completely dead.














































Nice brick-work though ...










... or not


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## Cumulus (Dec 27, 2008)

Well done on the photos, although British town is a bit weird.


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## GSAA (Nov 2, 2009)

Living in that "British town" must be very expensive, am I right? I mean, it's gated and it seems to offer a "village atmosphere" in an extremely hectic city known for its skyline. Do you know roughly how far this "British town" is from People's Square?

Nice pics! 

EDIT: About 34 km, according to Google Maps.


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

To be fair, all residential complexes in Shanghai are gated, but yes those single-family houses are indeed very expensive.


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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

Nice to see these European looking neighboorhouds!


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

More photos!














































A few of many empty shop units



















And a jolly empty high street


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

An actual shop - such a rarety in that place.























































Could be Hampstead Heath this could










And I'm sure this is meant to be River Thames ...


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## theeconomist (Mar 10, 2009)

Is that an actual church?


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Probably just sits empty.


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

Love the beautiful pics on this thread.....thanks.:cheers:


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Shanghai Railway Station, South Square





































Bus bays, not too well designed in terms of space efficiency IMO - they do it a lot better in Hong Kong










Tianmu Road










Hengfeng Road


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Close-up of station entrance










Office towers under construction




























Shanghai Station Station ...










Through the tunnel to the rebuilt northern square. These low rise buildings turned out to be yellowy ...


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

More gigantic bus bays



















Station square


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## Munwon (Dec 9, 2010)

More!!! More!!!


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Took an express bus to an Expo bus station.










A vast amount of space for fairly few buses which, for the most time, carried fresh air.










On another bus towards Hongqiao Airport and Railway Station. Going past some newly-built rural dwelling.










Approaching the airport


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Arrived into Hongqiao Airport bus station. The driver dumped me and a handful of other passengers unceremoniously onto the tarmac.










Interior of bus station























































A car park across some road inaccessible by pedestrians from here.


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Hongqiao Airport Metro Station ticket hall



















Airport entrance to the east. Didn't go inside the doors as I couldn't be bothered with the security checks.



















Railway station to the west - 400 metres away.










200 ...










There we are! Oh still some distance to go


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Another hall of empty space



















Arrival hall, quite empty this time last year, but as Hangzhou and Beijing trains subsequently began operation from this station this hall has become steadily busier










Information board










Ticket machines


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Shops in the arrival hall










Departure level can be accessed via escalators and lifts either end of the arrival hall. The nearside (eastside) escalators were not yet in operation so I had to walk all the way to the far (west) side of the arrival hall to go upstairs.










A diagram of the layout of the complex










Taxi ranks










Towards the Metro station serving the train station, a different one to the one serving the airport on the east side










This is the Line 2 bit.










The Line 10 bit has now been opened.


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Take a look back at the arrival hall, towards the east










Looks like a train has just arrived chucking out a load of passengers










Going up to the departure hall










A cheaky peak at a train










First sight of departures










Oh not the blasted security checks again!


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

Thames town is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen! It looked so much like England until you see the Chinese characters! 

Very interesting thread indeed!


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Svartmetall said:


> Thames town is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen! It looked so much like England until you see the Chinese characters!
> 
> Very interesting thread indeed!


Thanks! There's a Scandinavian Town (New Luodian) and a Dutch Town (New Gaoqiao) too, but I didn't have enough time last summer to explore them.


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## SkyscraperSuperman (Nov 1, 2008)

Very nice indeed! I took a high-speed train from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao - a pretty amazing experience. It doesn't feel like you're going nearly 200mph until you look out the window and see how fast things are going by. Made it to Shanghai in just under 5 hours, passing through Nanjing. 
Loving the photos, showing more than just the tourist-filled areas of the Bund/Pudong. Keep it going!


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## NCT (Aug 14, 2009)

Thanks SSSM!

Just a few more from Hongqiao to finish this thread -

Turned out once I had come upstairs there was no way back down unless I went through the security check, so there was no reason not to explore the waiting hall!




























The balcony at the back provided good views for both the interior and the exterior




























Anyone who says Hongqiao is in a good location for Central Shanghai needs their head examined.










Scene of emptiness outside the west gate










Station building exterior which probably only 1 in 100 passengers will ever see


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

shanghai railway staion improved a lot. it used to be dirty and chaos eara before.


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## Harrington (Aug 21, 2012)

NCT said:


> They've used Zebra crossing street furnature without really understanding what a zebra crossing is for, and definitely forgot to lowever the curb for wheelchair users


Oh dear! Ha-ha!


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## gambler21 (Feb 9, 2014)

very interesting !


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