Wednesday 24 October – In the morning we had a very enjoyable bike tour round Shanghai.  The highlight of which was going to a park where lots of retired people were dancing, doing light exercise, playing open air badminton, writing slogans on the ground with large brushes and water and standing round talking and debating with each other.  Most were dressed in everyday clothes but a few were dressed up as if they were going out dancing for the evening in their best gear, one guy had a white suit on.  Sue had a dance with one of the men but I just watched!!

We also toured round the very narrow interconnected passageways of old Shanghai.  The low rise houses are in a very poor condition, they have few if any facilities.  Looking inside they are very small and cramped, it makes you wonder how anyone lives there.  They are not connected to the water or sewerage system, so residents still use chamber pots, or the public toilets and communal bath houses. They have nowhere to dry their washing so they hang it across the narrow passageways.  But despite all this the area is a hive of activity.

In the afternoon we went to the Jewish Ghetto.  In the late 1930s China was the only country that accepted large numbers of Jewish immigrants fleeing Nazi persecution.  Most other countries expressed their sympathy for the Jews but did not allow them into their country.  Most of those who travelled to China, around 25,000 settled in Shanghai were they lived in terrible conditions in the Jewish Ghetto.