We lived there continuously for almost 5 years, as Rick's company, Alcatel, moved the Asia Pacific Headquarters from Sydney to Shanghai at the beginning of 2000. Initially we lived in a huge villa in what was the French Concession area of Shanghai before the communist revolution in 1949. We relocated to a nearby apartment in April 2002, in one Shanghai's most famous streets, Tai Yuan Rd.

Work took up most of the time, but we did occasionally get to have a look outside Shanghai, visiting fascinating places such as The Great Wall and Imperial Palace in Beijing; the ice carvings in Harbin, Yellow Mountain, and the Terra Cotta Warriors near Xi'an.

The Chinese people are wonderful! Everyone is so helpful, and there are plenty of challenges, particularly with language. We did our best to learn Mandarin, but its a slow process!

Shanghai is a very exciting city of almost 20 million people! There is a rich culture with lots of fascinating things to see and do.

On weekends, we often travelled outside Shanghai to nearby cities such as Hangzhou and Suzhou, and to the Mercury Marina at Lake Tai. When we stayed in Shanghai, we would walk for miles around the city, absorbing the remarkable culture. Shanghai is punctuated with thousands of restaurants of every variety - one could go to a different restaurant every day for years! And the price was usually exceptionally good.

 

We have been back to Shanghai for a visit in 2005, and we plan to go back again!