One of the things I love about Shanghai so far is that even living so far out of the centre the city is always busy and vibrant with a multitude of crazy sights to absorb. People driving ridiculous scooters balancing anything from furniture to children and fruit, shops open all hours of the day and restaurants and cafes lining every street.

One of the sights we’ve become accustomed to seeing is the street dances (“square dance”) – kind of a free for all, semi organised gentle workout every morning and evening in various squares around the neighbourhood. People seem remarkably in time and in sync, in contrast to the madness surrounding them. It doesn’t strike me as particularly energetic, a very gentle version of aerobics, but it’s fantastic to see how community minded the Chinese can be, in an otherwise enormous metropolis.

One of my favourite treats so far is to stop for a fresh coconut – cheap and readily available at greengrocers every 100m or so. We’ve also tries to venture into little massage parlours (experiencing some tough language barriers) and tried as many unusual snacks as we can find in the local shops around here. It would be nice to know eventually what we’re buying, but for the moment, the novelty of buying food we can’t fully identify is still exciting.

– Him