Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Heading into the
North Block
, you'll first have to pass the city's most
popular
Starbucks
. The branch of the popular Shanghai Tang on the left is
lovely, with a great tiled floor, but the prices are mind-boggling; for similar
stuff at more reasonable prices visit imitators such as nearby Shanghai Trio
(see p.140), or you'll find crude knock offs at the fake market (see p.138). I t 's
also worth having a jaunt down the narrow lane on the east side; that impres-
sive mansion is 1 Xintiandi, where its Hong Kong owners hang out and count
their money. At the southern edge of the north block are two sights worth
having a nose around: t he
Shikumen Open House Museum
and the
First
National Congress
.
After this, Xintiandi's
South Block
is rather anticlimactic, with a modern
glass mall at the end rather spoiling the olde-worlde effect. Inside it, as well
72
The Shikumen Open House Museum