we've been in shanghai for 3 days now. out of all the places we've been to, this is my favorite. it's the most "westernized" but it's also not... you can see it in the architecture and in the way people dress and act.
Before I go any further I would just like to say that we finally found our "di tans" (street markets)... they're basically hole in the wall stores that sell crap. But unique, can't-get-it-anywhere-else crap. Not bad lacoste/polo ripoffs but stickers of robots and laminated cards of canto pop stars, stuff like that. we found this amazing place where these guys just had their boxes of toys spilling out into the streets, and it was like new arrivals day or something because they had a bunch of new boxes loaded with cheap, multi-colored toys:
Also you may wonder what happens to cute plush toys no one wants anymore... they end up in the CUTE PLUSH TOY GRAVEYARD:
I am now a firm believer that you need a friendly local in whatever area you plan on going to. without one, we were like our parents: going to temples, monasteries, etc. there's nothing wrong with that but our impressions of the cities we went to were very traditional and conservative.
anytime we've hooked up with a local (sylvia in HK, monica in guilin) our impressions of the city were greatly improved. I guess it's kind of obvious to say that now, but this point was driven home last night when we went to an expat party in shanghai. Adrian hooked me up with his buddy Adam, who throws this roller rink party where they play nothing but disco. Quick shout outs to Adam, Mike, Dan and Chris and of course Adrian for the hookup for a great time. The party was insano-vision. Adam was good enough to let me get on and at the end we switched off song for song. Here's a quick video of what it was like from my POV... the people stage right are rollerskating, you can't really see them b/c there's no lighting on the floor:
On an unrelated note, here's a video of me almost dying:
3 comments:
Be careful!
I would love to be shopping at the cheapie market!!
Louise
Shanghai is probably the most westerner-friendly city in China. It has hundbreds of years of dealing with foreigners. It understands the western systems, speaks the language, operats in the western way. So you don't encounter as many barriers here as in other cities. I hope this is your experience too.
On the other hand, the city is too big. It's like New York. When I was in Shanghai in the dowmtown area (e.g. Hwai Hai Road), except the people, everything else could almost be disgised as a big city in America.
You can still find bargains in Shanghai. Last year, I was able to spend RMB $5 for a good meal. A small won ton soup was only RMB $2. It had about 10 won tons and that was enough for me. One bao tz with meat (or with red beans) was RMB $1. A big bowl of soy milk was RMB $1. I had a ball.
oh gee, looks like good fodder for a CERTAIN blog for a CERTAIN museum.
toys, robots, oh you know, that sorta thing.
do they call him deathwish woody?
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