Painter Street

 Shortly after arriving in Shanghai we started hearing about a place called "Painter Street."  This great location with store after store of artists, from originals to copies of anything you were interested in.  We took a friend and the boys and tried best to explore.

The street was clearly labeled and there were dozens of stores.  If you were adventurous you would climb small staircases and explore above the stores.  We found many pieces of art that interested us.  We each took turns watching the boys and going in and out of the stores.

 There were families hanging out at their home/store.  And lots of cats.  They seem to be everywhere in Shanghai.

 That was our first trip in May.  We decided to go back this past Friday while the boys were in school and really get into some of the back corners of the studios and see what we might find.  This picture was from May:

 The picture below was from Friday.  Half of the street is gone, completely gone.  And many of the studios appeared to be packing up.  Some moved to the 2nd floor of the building next door, but many seemed to be missing entirely.  We have been told this happens regularly here.  Whole markets will  need to relocate due to construction and/or ownership changes.  We attempted to ask questions, but no one spoke English.

As we drove away we looked back and saw the "Painter Street" sign had been covered by a large red banner with Chinese righting on it.  Unfortunately we did not get a picture of this so we left assuming it might be an eviction notice of some type.  We were disappointed.  Obviously we need to find out if they move to a new location.  For the time being we will keep our eyes open for paintings we might like in our travels and keep exploring new places.