Skylines From Around The World

There are many ways to photograph a city skyline. I like pursuing high vantage points as they give you a sense of scale and layout.

Beautiful mountains frame Seoul’s sprawling skyline.

In Taipei, Taipei 101 towers above all else.

The concrete, glass and steel canyons of Tokyo’s Shinjuku has one of the most iconic modern skylines in the world.

Hong Kong’s skyline sparkles at night.

Shanghai has two skylines. The Bund and the more recent Pudong pictured here.

It’s no coincidence that the cities featured above are in Asia. That part of the world has some of the most dynamic and constantly updated skylines on earth. But I couldn’t leave you without a shot of my own city. Look closely and you’ll see the shadow of the Empire State Building.

Previous Posts in this Series:

Taxis
Mosques
Alleys

Museums From Around the World

Museums house the world’s treasures. Often the architecture is artwork in itself.

The modern aesthetic of the Shanghai Museum is home to many collections. But its roots are traditional. The building was designed in the shape of an ancient cooking vessel.

The architecture of the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico maintains the region’s true style.

The National Museum of Beirut sits on both sides of the Green Line. During the civil war priceless ancient artifacts were hidden and kept safe. It took years to restore after the war ended and is one of Lebanon’s national treasures.

It would take a lifetime to explore all that the Vatican Museum has to offer. You could rest in one of its beautiful gardens in the process.

My favorite museum is in my hometown and walking distance from where I live. I could spend days at the Metropolitan Museum of Art traveling through the ages in one of its many wings.

What’s your favorite museum?

Street Scenes: Old Town Shanghai

Pockets of what Shanghai looked like before space age skyscrapers began to sprout still exist throughout the city.

The city’s Old Town, pictured here, is like wandering through a village tucked inside a sprawling metropolis. If you find yourself in Shanghai don’t miss out on taking a stroll though one of its remaining Longtang neighborhoods.

World’s Highest Post Office Jin Mao Tower Shanghai China

The Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai may no longer be the tallest building in mainland China but it can still boast having the highest post office in the world. It lost its vertical status to the 101-storey Shanghai World Financial Center which was completed last year.

Jin Mao, completed in 1998 and 1,381 feet tall, is an integral part of the ever changing Shanghai skyline. It is located in Pudong across the Huangpu River from the Bund and next door to the World Financial Center.

The building houses offices and the swanky Shanghai Grand Hyatt Hotel on floors 53-87, which lays claim to the world’s longest laundry chute. An indoor observation deck is located on the 88th floor. It’s no coincidence that eight is an auspicious number in China.

It’s well worth a visit to the observation deck which has sweeping, panoramic views of Shanghai. A good time to go is early morning before smog shrouds the city or at dusk, when you can stay until dark, write and mail those postcards you’ve been meaning to send and watch the city light up.

It’s open 8:30 a.m.-10 p.m. and costs RMB 50, about $6. To get there take the metro to the Lujiazui stop.

Fan’s of Taiwan's Taipei 101 Tower, which is no longer the world’s tallest structure, can take solace that it is still taller than Shanghai’s World Financial Center. The Burj Dubai has surpassed Taipei 101 as the word’s tallest structure and will dethrone Taipei 101 as the world’s tallest building when completed and open.

Alleys From Around The World

When wandering the cities of the world the best voluntary detours are often alleys that beckon. You’ll regret walking by instead of wandering down one of them.

The medina of Essaouira will spoil you for choice with its Moroccan blue and whitewashed architecture, just as colorful people and treasure for sale.

In the Old City of Shanghai life spills onto the streets in its Longtang neighborhoods.

It is easy to get lost in the Old City of Varanasi. But eventually if you head downhill you’ll end up on one of the ghats along the holy Ganges River.

In Mexico, Guanajuato’s hilly cobblestone alleys are lined by colorful colonial architecture. It even has the Alley of the Kiss.

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Markets
Hats
Shoes
Graffiti

Markets From Around The World

Wandering the world’s markets can give you insight into local culture past and present. Some of the markets below have been in existence for centuries.

Maya traders travel from all around the Guatemalan highlands to sell their goods at the market in Chichicastenango twice a week.

You have to bargain hard in the labyrinth of Marrakesh’s souks.

There are probably more fakes than originals at the Dongtai Road market in Shanghai, China but you can still find an abundance of communist kitsch.

Shopping like a Roman is not expensive at Rome’s Camp De Fiori market.

I’ll just cut to the chase and zero in on the bling in Dubai’s Gold Market.

Street Scenes: French Concession Shanghai China

It was late afternoon when I came across these two. They were hauling branches on a bicycle along one of the leafy boulevards of Shanghai’s French Concession.

I like the woman’s red socks and how she sits with ease on the edge of the cart. Her companion peddled effortlessly, as if he did not have a person and cargo to transport.

Longtang Neighborhoods Shanghai China

Shanghai’ s Lontangs (or Lilong) are examples of how urban living can be far from anonymous and isolated. They are to Shanghai what Hutongs are to Beijing-- village like communities made up of lanes in the middle of a sprawling metropolis.

Wandering around these back alleys is to step back in Shanghai’s history. Lontangs, or lane homes, were built in the 1920s by British and French colonialists and were originally single-family homes. When the Communists took over multiple families were moved into these residences. At one time they made up the majority of housing in Shanghai.

The pace moves slower in Longtangs than it does in the hustle and bustle of the surrounding city. Residents sit outside watching the world go by. Children play while elders gossip. Passersby greet one another. Street vendors tout their goods.

A few stories tall apartments are typically on the top and shops on the ground floor on the main streets of Longtang housing, which are essentially townhouses. Living space expands into the lanes. A lounge chair and cooking pots sit side by side. Alleys are punctuated with hanging laundry. All that anyone would need is sold within a few blocks ranging from a wide variety of food to bicycle repair shops.

Like the Hutongs of Beijing many are also being demolished and replaced with modern high rises. A Longtang community I like to wander through close to the hotel I call home when in Shanghai was half torn down when I was there last. What was left fell in the shadow of newly built towering apartment blocks. The remainder of the old neighborhood probably no longer exists.

Shanghai Museum

Shanghai is a night photography paradise. There is no shortage of neon and its major landmarks are lit up each night in the most flattering way including the Shanghai Museum pictured here.

Founded in 1952 its current abode was built in the 1990s. The modern Chinese aesthetic houses more than 100,000 pieces of ancient art. You could easily spend a day here. Located in People’s Square not far from Nanjing Road the museum is open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. every day except Saturday when it stays open until 7 p.m. Admission is 20 yuan.

You can see more night photography of Shanghai here and here.

World’s Most Densely Populated Cities

Forbes recently ran a feature on the world’s most densely populated cities. It came as no surprise that cities in the world’s most two most populated countries, China and India, showed up repeatedly.

Below are photos of the cities on the list I’ve taken. New York was no where to be found. This comes as no surprise. After returning from any of these cities Gotham always seems empty.

Checking in at No. 1 is Mumbai (Bombay) India. Below is a street scene photographed near the Gateway of India.


Taipei, Taiwan ranked 7th. This photograph is of the city center.


Shanghai, China was 10th. Here is an overview of its smoggy skyline.


Beijjng, China is in 12th place. This was taken near Tiananmen Square on National Day.


Delhi, India was 13th. With 14.3 million people even Delhi seems less crowded when compared to Mumbai.


For a list of all the cities check out the Forbes feature here.

City Icons – Bund, Pudong Shanghai China

Shanghai’s icons are all about its cityscapes and the juxtaposition of old and new. The city has two distinct skylines competing with one another, the colonial era Bund and directly across the Huangpu River futuristic Pudong. Both are brilliantly lit up at night.

The grand and elegant architecture of The Bund was built during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of the most distinct buildings include Customs House, the Peace Hotel and the granddaddy of them all the former Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation building.

Pudong’s space age skyline is always being updated, each new structure looking to steal the show. The Feng Shui compliant Jin Mao Tower was the tallest building in mainland China until the Shanghai World Financial Center, which will be completed next year, surpassed it.

It’s hard to believe the land on which Pudong’s buildings sit was farmland less than 20 years ago. Its young skyline is flashy in comparison to the elder Bund. The bling bling neon of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the glass orb of the Shanghai International Convention Center glow well into the night.

Previous City Icons: Beirut and Jaipur.

Dongtai Road Antique Market Shanghai China

Shanghai is a shopping city and a great place to go treasure hunting is Dongtai Road Antique Market. It’s a nice change of pace from the large department stores and malls on Nanjing Road.

Outdoor vendors line several streets on the outskirts of the Old Town. Antiques are few and far between and replicas, or fakes, abound but you will find plenty of vintage items, traditional crafts, curios and assorted knick-knacks. Among the stalls with embroidered slippers for bound feet, chopsticks, lanterns and furniture you will also come across Communist-era posters, calligraphy brushes and copies of The Little Red Book in several languages.

Dongtai Lu (which means road) also overflows with Cultural Revolution kitsch. Mao memorabilia includes alarm clocks, lighters and ceramic figures like those in the photograph above.

Be prepared to bargain. Open from about 9 a.m. until dark seven days a week the best time to go is in the late afternoon when vendors may lower their prices to secure a sale at the end of the long day.

The residential lanes surrounding the market are atmospheric and worth prowling. Low rise buildings are adorned with hanging laundry and narrow lanes beckon you to wander through and see where they lead.

How To Get There
The metro stop closest to the market is South Huangpi Road. Taxis are abundant and inexpensive in Shanghai and while most cab drivers know the market they do not speak English. Ask the reception at your hotel to write down the name of the market in Chinese so you can hand it to the driver. Most hotels have business cards with their address in English and Chinese and a space on the back where the Chinese name of a destination can be filled in.

Night Photography Nanjing Road Shanghai China

The neon forests of Asia’s metropolises are a night photographer’s dream. Hong Kong’s Nathan Road, Tokyo’s Shinjuku district and Shanghai’s Nanjing Road, shown in this photograph, are some of the classic Asian urban landscapes to photograph at night. These densely populated cities are also high energy so regardless of how exhausted you are from a full day of pounding the pavement a second wind easily kicks in.

I’ve often stayed until the lights have been shut off on Nanjing Road. A few miles long it is the main and busiest shopping street in Shanghai, part of which is pedestrianized. It’s also a great place to people watch---families gather, couples canoodle and Shanghai’s fashion conscious strut their stuff.

The above photo was taken in November of last year.