Shanghai: I see White people

We've been in Shanghai for a bunch of days seeing the sites and hanging with our visitors!  My good buddy Allison and her friend Kristy met us here and its been a blast.  The four of us did the heavy tourism lifting fast and early.  After checking off the Lonely Planet Top 10, we were able to get down to the good stuff: beer & acrobats, soup dumplings & massage.   

Here's the rundown:
Yuyuan Gardens & Old Town - Yes, the architecture is fantastic.  Yes, the temples are huge and insane and amazing and more beautiful even than the Forbidden City.  But.  Its way overly touristy in a horrible Chinatown way, hawkers are pretty sure that you will buy a bagwatchrolexgucciprada if they follow you down the street repeating themselves (the word "no" is merely an invitation).  At street level of the restored buildings you can find DQ, KFC, and Starbucks.  I mean, I'm not saying we didn't get blizzards and iced coffee.  I'm just saying.  

The Bund - As recently as this morning we were trying to decide what, exactly, the Bund encompasses.  Its an area along the Huangpu river with imposing, gorgeous deco architecture and windy streets.  Its lovely and impressive and like olden times except for all the people with SLR cameras.  There are huge shopping streets and a million restaurants drawing tourists and locals alike.  Funnily, we felt like we could easily have been strolling the Thames or the Seine, save for the fact that one looks across the river at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shanghaiviewpic1.jpg

French Concession & Xintiandi - I know it couldn't be more cliched than if I told you about Paris in the springtime, but we loved wandering the tree-lined streets of the French Concession.  There is just a whiff of old time Shanghai expat glamor once you're off the main drag, particularly in the far west of the neighborhood.  The streets get dark and leafy and sparkly restaurants are tucked into courtyards.  Its French, but exoticer, and the better for it.   

Oh, also, we got a little drunk and saw an acrobat show.  This was enthralling and worthwhile.  Had the show taken place in the US, a not insignificant number of child labor laws would have been broken.  But since we're in China, the land of tiny circus freaks, good times for us. 

Kristy headed back a couple of days ago, so its just been the 3 of us roaming.  Having Allison around has reminded me how much I miss her, and all of my Bro Nameths back home.  Sharing our trip with Allison has made this portion extra special and given us someone to talk to (besides each other) about everything we've done and seen so far.  Also, she's been a real trooper on our robust eating schedule, happily attending second lunch and sucking the soup out of dumplings like a champ.   

The only bummer about Shanghai is the sheer number of foreigners.  The architecturally and historically interesting neighborhoods are also chock full of tourists and expats.  I guess we're only adding to those numbers, and probably all those people are just as unhappy to see our Western mugs as we are theirs.  But when we've gotten off the beaten path, gone to random stops on the metro, explored non-guide book neighborhoods, we mostly run into residential areas. 

I shouldn't be such a snob, but we want the authentic Shanghai experience.  Could the Western folks just step off stage for a few more days and cue the local extras?  That'd be terrific.