Down an alleyway

The porosity of Shanghai's massive, walled city-blocks is astonishing... It seems regardless of how impenetrable a main street appears in perspective, the minute one peers to the right or left they can see 100 m down a deep alleyway revealing all the trappings of Shanghai's rich, quotidian life.

Taikang Lu area has capitalized on the alley for, surprise, commercial use. In about a 4 block mass almost undiscernable from the exterior sandwiching streets, intricate paths (similar to an ant farm) allow one to explore and negotiate back-alleys in their pursuit of small art galleries, shops, and restaurants, tucked away on ground-level.

Perhaps what is more interesting than the shops are the glimpses into actual alley-life-- many of the buildings are still residences housing 4-5 families with communal water facilities, etc., thus a far cry from the new-and-improved tower blocks that are quickly being constructed across the street from the development.