This is our last full day in Shanghai, and China, and we booked ourselves on another walking tour, this time in the French Concession district of the city.

Unfortunately the wet weather of yesterday has hung around and we left the hotel with rain macs in hand.

Arriving at the meeting point of the tour, we were pleased to see a number of familiar faces from our last walking tour a couple of days ago.

The introduction to the tour started with everyone saying a few words about where they were from and their thoughts on the city.

From a group of c. 20, there were people from a range of countries including Panama, Mexico, Spain, Canada, Greece, Austria and ourselves ‘representing’ the UK.

The tour was run by Dinna, a very engaging and interesting local guide who made the 3hr walk so much more interesting, with snippets of knowledge about the city and life in China.

The French Concession area has been well preserved with many of the buildings dating as far back as the 1840’s when the city was opened up to European merchants and traders.

Through the next 100yrs up to the start of WWII, in the early 1940’s, the French established country clubs, mansion houses for the merchants and local low rise apartments for the Chinese workers.

We visited several Art Deco influenced buildings, including the former French Country Club, now part of a larger hotel.

From there we wandered around parts of the former French residential blocks where traders and French businessmen first lived.

These small enclaves have been well preserved and are now occupied by local people, following the French populations departure at the start of WWII when the Japanese invaded China.

After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the former French Concession properties were gifted to local residents who remain to this day.

As a result of the cheap rents that were originally granted, along with the bohemian inhabitants, plus the draw of living in central Shanghai for the young professionals, its become a vibrant and thriving part of the city.

The smarter former French residential areas were fully refurbished and today command rents of 1500 Euros per month for apartments as little as 20-30sq m in size. These are much smaller than the original French homes which were subdivided to create 4 or 5 dwellings for local Chinese.

Some are even smaller still and comprise dorm like spaces for up to 8 people, mainly for local workers and students, and are available at rents of 200 euros per month, for pretty much a bed and a cupboard, with communal kitchens and toilets!

At the end of tour we arrived at the small community area of Tianzifang, a maze of alleyways, providing craft and artist buildings to sell their wares. This is the same district we visited a couple of days ago.

The area is a maze of old Shikumen and new street buildings as well as former industrial properties.

History and future, traditional and modern, Eastern and Western, classical and popular sit within a blend that make up Tianzifang and constitute the new city of Shanghai culture.

In the transformation of this former artist colony, the government has sought to retain the integrity of the buildings and the environment that many people in Shanghai still experience living in modest small apartments and houses, with little more than 5sq m of space per person.

On a wet Wednesday the Tianzifang maze of alleys was quiet and we were soon being approached by shop owners trying to persuade us in and part with our cash.

There were some authentic and interesting stores selling a range of goods, including tea leaves, leather bags and the obligatory Chinese designed T-shirts that Andy is a sucker for. Thankfully on this occasion he held his nerve and didn’t make a purchase.

Shanghai is a city in love with both tea and coffee. Such is the demand for the latter, that it has more Starbucks than any other city in the world with over 1,000 stores across the city limits!

After the tour finished we hung around the area and grabbed lunch at a bakery we’d visited 2 days before called the Drunk Baker. With the rain showing no signs of abating, we took the decision to enact our own walking tour of the French Concession and started our route back via the Sinan Mansions and Fuxing Park, before arriving at Xintiandi, the home of high fashion designers.

As we walked we passed Max Mara, Chanel, Panerai, Hermes, Apple and Tiffany.

The wealthy Shanghai have fallen in love with fashion brands, like other SE cities such as KL, Singapore and Bangkok. There are flagship stores on every corner.

This in truth goes against our prior perceptions of the city/country before we visited. It’s definitely up there as one of the most vibrant modern cities we’ve visited on our tour to date.

After a 3 mile walk in the rain, we dried off back at the hotel and packed in readiness for our flight to Seoul at 11am tomorrow morning.

We have really enjoyed our second visit to China and feel that Shanghai has left us with a really positive impression of a country that has so much to offer.

Tonight we headed to the ‘walking street’ for one final visit to see the vibrant shopping area and the locals thirst for tech, notably Apple, Samsung and Huawei who all sit facing each other on one of the main intersections.

Time to say goodbye to China.