Shanghai on two wheels

If you didn't already know, I have a bicycle in Shanghai and am part of a wannabe "Bicycle Gang" (or BG for short) *cue snigger*.  My bike is a very pretty baby-blue and I love it to bits because on it, I have been to interesting side streets, seen very non-touristy stuff and even visited places in the dead of the night. 

Only a very small part of the BG. Don't play play!

So here's a collection of the cool spots we have been to (either collectively as the BG or with a few members) thanks to our bikes, at all times of the day and night and for all sorts of activities.

Lazy weekends

Yongkang Road is a quaint short lane filled with cafes and restaurants. It is situated between two busy roads but when you step onto Yongkang Road, you get the feeling like you are in another world altogether.  There are fewer cars and people in cool cords hang out by the roadside chatting beside their Vespas.  We sat by a fish & chips stall and imagined we were in Europe, until someone sped by on a lao pok bike with huge cartons behind the rider, honking away. So much for our fantasy... siansss...

 

The strangest cafe ever. The fish, wedges and salad were delivered to the shop by 2 separate persons on bikes
The guy behind the counter was only in charge of plating!

Dead of the night
I think the soya bean place has been mentioned enough times on FB by people who have visited. It is one of the places we relish going to via bike even though it is probably around 15-mins walk away from home.  With the bikes, we were able to mount an emergency birthday SOS for Jasmine who was in office till late (past midnight!) on her birthday.

Jas looks happy right? This is just before I spilled half a bowl of soya bean milk on her table
and set her back by half an hour on her work. Ooops...

Chen Ann and I also had a mini adventure, cycling to the Bund and arriving at midnight. It was such a unique experience speeding down the Bund and not having to worry about the hundreds of people who usually crowd the place.  Ok, it was fun until we saw a lady in a red dress standing by the railings... *shudder*...

An almost empty Bund - how precious this is!

And on our way back, we uncovered a bustling night food market! So haps right? We went back there again with Grace and Vic another time in the day - of course on the bike!

Exploring...

And of course, the bike has been most helpful when exploring the myriad streets of Shanghai.  We went on a bike tour using Shermaine's walking tour book and discovered some otherwise-very hidden gems.

Tadah! The er...former residence of Xu Bei Hong as it says on the plaque.

And maybe more importantly, while exploring an avenue, we made a fabulous find in Pasha, a Turkish restaurant. The pic below is of the charming balcony that caught our eyes (& stomachs).

Of course, we couldn't resist doing our own photo-shoot at the picturesque balcony.  Oh, and the food was yummsss...

En-route someplace...  
We have also taken the bikes to cool events.  In fall, we visited DAFF, the Design Art and Fashion Fair, which was held at the Cool Docks. To get to the fashionable outdoor art market, we meandered through a proper Shanghainese roadside market.

Good use of a disused van.

Not immediately apparent here, but we were snacking on bananas cos cycling is such hard exercise

And this is where refrigerators come to dieeeeee

Then we finally got to DAFF, thinking we were all cool and hip with our bikes...

And proceeded to suffer major bike envy... Fixies!

I just watched the Joseph Gordon-Lewitt movie, Premium Rush.  He made riding a fixie way too cool...Maybe next year we can graduate to owning one of these (but we will need 5 locks for each bike). Or maybe I can go straight to owning a Vespa so I can zip around in style... oohhh..

Anyway, it's winter now and I really miss hanging out with the BG on our trusty bikes - that's not to say we haven't cycled but just not as often.  In fact, we just did yesterday but having the cold wind biting your face and feeling like your fingers are on the verge of being frostbitten is well, another kind of fun...I AM LYING! 

Xoxo,
Tracy 

No, this isn't my bike.
Lime green doesn't go with my fair skin and most of my clothes.