SHINE | 03-Aug-2020 | Tang Shi, Wang Haoling
Parting with your native country and moving abroad isn’t an easy experience. The unfamiliar environment, limited social network, language barrier and culture shock can be formidable for foreigners moving to Shanghai.
German Silvia Kettelhut has embraced the city’s cultural heritage during the time she’s lived here. Along with a few friends, the German dean of a college at Shanghai Dianji University founded a group called “Save Shanghai Heritage” in 2002, and has been holding lectures in the German consulate almost every month since. “Shanghai has a history you can see — you see the influence of the East and the influence of the West and they mix,” Kettelhut said. “I think if there’s no memory of how it was in the past, it’s more difficult to move into the future.”
She is happy to welcome an increasing number of Chinese listeners and lecturers, because it “shows people’s rising awareness of cultural heritage preservation.” Discovering new places via the Metro and meeting new people are always a great source of enjoyment for 25-year-old Maximilian Reiff from the United States. “It’s like a constant treasure hunt in this city,” Reiff said. “You never know what you’re going to find, but it’s bound to be exciting.” Drive down to nearby cities and towns, like Suzhou, Hangzhou and Wuzhen
Expats’ favorite places that not everyone knows:
- Luxun Park in Hongkou District
- Laochengxiang, or literally“old Chinese town,”in Huangpu District
- A small lane between Huashan Road and Tianping Road, which is of old Chinese style
- Disneytown outside the Disney Resort
- Bars in Pudong Lujiazui area with a fantastic view of the Huangpu River
- Shake, a restaurant which offers music show on Huaihai Road M
- A walkway near the Marriot Riverside in the West Bund area
- The orchid garden inside the Shanghai Botanical Garden
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