Here at Bespoke we try to make things as straightforward as possible for you, so here are a few things to know before doing our Beihai Park Scavenger Hunt.
Here’s a quick summary so you don’t miss the most important takeaways:
Purchase Bespoke Speaker Series recordings – the sale is on!
There’s no substitute for joining in live of course: Getting your questions answered on the spot by some of the world’s top China experts; toasting friends around the world as they join you in the same cooking class; laughing at Team Bespoke as they fluff their intros…
Hongkou: The Revolutionary Quarter
Shanghai Old City Hidden Gems to Visit Before they Vanish
The windows are being boarded up and the roads blocked. The cricket market has closed and the booksellers that once set up shop in the Confucius Temple have been moved elsewhere. If you want to see some of the very oldest living parts of Shanghai before they’re either gone for good or ‘Yu Garden-ified’ then we have but one suggestion: go rightnow! Many parts of the former walled city that pre-date the Bund and former French Concession by centuries are about to change forever.
We started our tours of this slightly chaotic but incredibly charismatic area a few years back, inspired (and often led) by expert Katya Knyazeva who has written two excellent books on the old city. On Tuesday, August 11th, Katya will host an online talk on the area’s history as part of the Bespoke Speaker Series. In the meantime, here are a few of our favorite little corners in which you can still get a real feel – and a taste! – of the area’s heritage.