Shanghai by night: lanterns, LEDs and steaming skewers
Shanghai on winter nights: an underground food court steaming with skewers, lanterns over the temple crowd, painted birds in paper cages and a last neon.
Hù (沪) is the short name for Shanghai. This album is the city at night, during the ten days my friends and I spent there in the middle of winter.
Fun, but chill
Winter kept the nights quiet. It was really fun, but quite chill, and the people were really friendly: they shared their drinks with us.
Steam dream
One of the best places was underground: a street food court with many restaurants and neon. In Steam dream, bowls of skewers in red spicy broth are lined up under the lights, all steaming at once.
The old town at night
Around the Chenghuang Temple, the City God Temple, golden roofs rise above the water with a statue lit in blue below them. In Crowded temple, red lanterns and temple roofs hang above the night crowd, under the branches of the plane trees. In a covered street of shops, the whole ceiling is made of lanterns inscribed with Chinese calligraphy, lit in warm orange: Elevated lights.
Lanterns without birds
Birdcage lanterns hang in the dark. There are no birds in the cages, only fake ones painted on the paper of the lamps. That is the title.
One of the few neons
In Shanghai the signs are LEDs, not neon, unlike Hong Kong. One of the few neons is the Xinghualou sign, glowing red on an old brick building.
Photographer's notes
All six were shot on the X-T5 with the 25mm, wide open at f/1.7, between 1/100s and 1/500s. ISO went from 125 under the bright lights to 640 for the temple and the lanterns, and 1000 for the crowd.
AlbumDark side of Hù
Practical tips
- Look for the underground food courts for street food at night.
- Winter nights are calm: fun, but quiet.
- Neon is rare: most signs are LEDs, so the real ones stand out.
