Grass-roots appreciators of Shanghai's legacy Historic Shanghai are doing a tour along the Suzhou Creek on August 12th, the anniversary of the Second Battle of Shanghai, when Japanese gunboats shelled the city and began a three-month war. Fast forward 70 years, and what war didn't destroy, gentrification will! Read on for info on how to sign-up (and details on other upcoming walks).

* The walk, entitled The Suzhou Creek: Conflict, Commerce & Everyday Life will start at 10am on August 12, and explore the traces of wartime, commerce and everyday life found in the buildings along the Suzhou Creek, including the Sihang Warehouse, site of a tenacious last stand against encroaching Japanese forces by 400 Chinese defenders in October of 1937, literally under the noses of the foreign concession. Sign-up via email to info@historic-shanghai.com. It's 150rmb for members, non-members 250rmb.

Photo credit: Peter Hack via Historic Shanghai

Plenty of other events coming up if you can't make that. On August 19, they have a talk on a book called Stray Bird on the Huangpu: A History of Indians in Shanghai, compiling untold stories of the Sindhis, Parsis, Sephardic Jews, Sikhs, and more who called this city home. On August 25, there's a tour of what's left of Laoximen and the Old City, taking you down some of the oldest surviving lanes in Shanghai. Check those (and more) out on the Historic Shanghai website.