Just some random pictures from a sunny Saturday and Sunday in Zhangjiang (张江) and Chuansha (川沙), and why I love this area so much more than downtown Shanghai.

A 15-minute wait for the crispiest scallion pancake (葱油饼) I’ve ever had.

More hole-in-the-wall food. (I trust my stomach is strong enough for the food from these places that have lots of customers.)

Ending the bicycle ride with this:

A lady complains to the owner that this game is way too hard. And yes, the rings only just fit around the reward, requiring a perfect if not impossible throw.

In a back alley there’s a Chaste Widow’s Monument from the year 1751. It now has one leg inside an (illegaly built) building, and a splash of paint on it from the building on the other side.

Some crazy, more modern architecture.

Also some rapeseed flowers as a mild redemption for not seeing them in Xinghua last week.

Shanghai still building, maybe not as crazy as two decades ago, but still pretty crazy.

My favorite road in the area. So much life packed in here. Cars trying to squeeze through — roasted duck, old buildings, and live poultry & fish on both sides. In the back, Shanghai’s tallest twin-towers, the “Gate of Science” (科学之门). Now back home with vegetables & shrimp.

And that’s 15K steps in Chuansha (川沙) on a sunny Sunday. Everywhere busy with cheerful people.