travel - Shanghai promenade

The Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club took today 20 of its members on a tour in our own town, and I was amazed to see what I have been missing in the past ten years. Author Steffi Schmitt took us from the former Chinese town, walking mostly over Sichuan Road north to the former French concession, the International Settlement, the American settlement and small Tokyo.
I had never discovered the beautiful French Catholic St Joseph Church, built in 1860 and still in use, although it went through rough times during and after the Cultural Revolution. Amazing how many churches are still in place and operational. A former Methodist Church could - and did - host up to 4,500 people for services: it had two floors, the ground floor had to follow the services on a TV screen.
Much redevelopment taking place in the northern sections of Sichuan Road, but Steffi could point us to some nice little places. That is going to be a regular feature: tours in our own Shanghai.