My Diary: 4 Nights in Shanghai! | Day 3 - Rain, Yuyuan Bazaar, Rain, Shopping + Rain

7am

I woke up and opened my curtains to see this across from me….

15 storeys up, this guy has courage and stupidity.

It’s raining today, very heavily. I guess Yuyuan Garden will have to wait for another day (again).

However today I’ll be meeting my good chum Kexiong who I haven’t seen since our Sichuan Adventure, and has since got an internship here in Shanghai! I don’t know what we can do today with this weather though.

9am – Weird…

It’s not very relevant, but I have to share some weird things I saw on the metro this morning. The first incident was with a woman and her toddler. I was waiting at the platform which is inside and packed with people. This woman right to the side of me with her toddler decided to pull her toddlers pants down and suspend the child in the air to take a wee….Splashing everywhere. Inside. Lots of people unknowingly walked through the puddle afterwards. What the f**k just happened?! It’s quite common in China that mothers make their children go in public, but usually with some common decency and making them go in some plants or something – but this woman? She’s taking the piss. Stay classy, Shanghai.

The other thing isn’t so big, but so odd – a child was wearing a shirt with his face on it… huh? Why? …how? Whenever the kid smiled his face would mimic his shirt, I don’t know, I just found it insanely weird is all…again, why?

This has been a pretty bazaar morning thus far - Speaking of which…

12pm – Yuyuan bazaar + Rain

I’ve now met up with Kexiong and we’re walking around an area called Yuyuan Bazaar. I don’t really know how it got its name, but it’s a really neat area just outside of Yuyuan Garden.

The streets are very narrow which made an ideal shelter from the rain. Most of the buildings originate from 1559, but have clearly been renovated since as their condition is exquisite. There are lots of lovely little tea houses and shops selling traditional (and some tacky) goods - I was quite tempted to buy a Chinese flute, maybe another day at a cheaper price…

We made a stop at the Taoist Temple of the Town God with its enticingly warm looking interior.


It’s a charming area which still shines through all the rain, but it’s a shame Yuyuan Garden is off limits today as the two together would have been smashing – but I’ll trust the weather report of ‘sun and slight cloud’ for tomorrow.















3pm – the Bug Market

We unknowingly made a turn into a very peculiar place, luring us in with the sound of what appeared to be crickets…










The market was vast and full of bazaar (the word for today) things. It seems some Chinese folk collect rare live insects for a hobby, and these things were huge.

They also had other animals, but the quality of their living conditions was questionable – I’ve never seen snakes in a plate before (apart from the time at a restaurant in Guangzhou where I ate a bit of one…).










8pm – Getting lost + rain


Kexiong left for his apartment leaving me to wander around the city for a bit. I got lost, but that was somewhat deliberate. I couldn’t think of how to spend my night so I thought I’d indulge in some of the parts of the city off the beaten track.

I found a huge instrument shop with a beautiful grand piano, the first time I’ve been able to play in 6 months!...I need practice. It was also a chance to finally sample playing a Guzheng, my favourite Chinese instrument which I would totally buy if they weren’t 5 foot long and made of wood…




Eventually I found myself in familiar territory, the Bund. Although not much was clear due to the rain I found the colours cast on the water looked fantastic, along with reflections on the wet pavement from the old European style architecture.


















10pm


I arrived back at my hotel to see 20 (yes, 20) ads for ‘massages’ posted under my door…


Not to mention the dozen invitations I had on my walk back to the hotel – what’s with this obsession? Why when it’s a massage (something to be had by both sexes) do they only confront men? Why is it a ‘massage’ but advertised using the term ‘beautiful lady time’? Why am I not confronted by these ‘beautiful ladies’ but instead met by the creepiest men Shanghai has to offer?


I think I’ll stick to watching no-context Chinese TV and eating chocolate in bed, cheers.



Zai’jian!

My Diary: 4 Nights in Shanghai! | Day 2 - The Deadly Souvenir, Qibao Ancient Town + the Jade Buddha Temple

6:30am

Yes, the school across from me does blast music at all hours…

8:30

I was re-awoken by the cleaning lady, am I right in thinking that 8:30 is too early for that? Despite me saying quite clearly (I think) in Chinese that I didn’t want cleaning as I was getting changed, she came in anyway and proceeded to tidy for a good 15 minutes while I sat there in just my underwear. Xiexie.

Today’s weather is a lot clearer but not suitable for visiting Yuyuan Garden this morning as I planned, for that I’ll hang on for a sunnier day. So I think today I’ll check out some of the ancient shopping streets and antique places that are about and maybe I’ll find the time to visit some of the outer ancient towns!

12pm – The Deadly Souvenir

This morning I decided to start the day with a (what I thought would be) short visit to an antique-y part of town called Dongtai lu. It was going to be simple – just take a look around, try and bargain for something to make for another addition to my shelf of souvenirs from around China; however the morning mutated into something bizarre and rather stressful, but luckily with a happy ending.

I was walking down this rather peculiarly decorated street when a woman beckoned me to her stall. One thing caught my eye immediately. I didn’t know what it was but it was made of wood and looked so intricately carved with dragons and phoenixes. The woman wanted 850 kuai (about £85) but I didn’t want to spend over 100 kuai (I’ve become a pro at haggling – the key is to make yourself a stubborn cheapskate). 

She took it down to around 450 but I still refused and tried to walk away when she suddenly grabbed my arm. It was getting rather scary, but she clearly was desperate for a sale. She wasn’t happy with my offer of 150 kuai but as I began to walk off she grabbed me again and accepted, however she was not pleased.

‘Hurrah!’ I thought as I skipped merrily to the subway station and put my bag on the conveyor belt for security inspection. I picked my bag up on the other end as usual, but this time the woman called me back. She showed me the screen and what appeared to look like a knife, in my bag? I gave her my purchase and she inspected it. Suddenly with a slight tug on one side a blade appeared. WHAT.

Before you think I was stupid for not realising, I must explain more about how this object looked – in NO WAY like a knife. For starters, it was nearly as wide as it was long…

She refused to let me enter the metro. I paced the streets for a while thinking how I can manage to get on a plane back to Guangzhou with it in my possession, eventually realising that the best course of action was to try and take it back to the shop.

After searching the incredibly long and monotonous street stalls I eventually recognised the woman. I explained in basic Chinese what the case was while showing her the blade, but as I expected, she refused to refund (probably rather sour still). She did however let me choose another item from her stall to exchange. Nothing caught my fancy until I saw what looked like a pipe. It had similar carvings to the knife but was carved from bone. It looked incredibly cool, and with a little more haggling and arm grabbing we settled on an additional payment of 50 kuai – 200 in total. I personally think that’s a bargain! At close inspection it looks legit, you can tell it’s hand carved and not plastic or anything.

She told me that it’s very old, apparently late 19^th century, but I’m not sure about that. It looks old, it may very well be old, but eitherway I think it looks pretty sweet – and all it took was 2 threats from a sales lady and 1 threat from a security officer…

2pm – Qibao Ancient Town

On the outskirts of Shanghai are a series of traditional water villages, the most famous of which I will visit this weekend. But in closer proximity is Qibao Ancient Town.

It’s a great little area; it reminds me of ‘The Shambles’ and Camden lock as if they were merged together with a dusting of oriental charm. There was a lot of local food stalls, but I daren’t brave them without a guide – if Yinzi was with me she could give me warnings as she knows my taste by now (and she finds it boring, she may be right).

Walking around the area was fantastic as it really made me feel immersed in China. However, after a pretty chaotic morning I could do with a contrast against narrow streets and loud noises – so I’ll head on down to the Jade Buddha Temple!

4pm – The Jade Buddha Temple

I came at just the right time; it’s nearly closing so most of the people have left and I arrived just before a pretty awesome display by the Taoist folk. They began a group chant which I hadn’t yet really experienced fully – despite being in hundreds of temples by this point.

It was a great chance to just sit for a while with a mellower soundtrack. The sun is close to setting and the sky is clearer now, so maybe it’s time to check out the Bund again to get a clear shot of the city skyline!

5:30pm – A clear view!

Today's conclusion: Travelling by myself in China can be mighty difficult sometimes, but I find a way. 

I have however learnt a valuable lesson - Before you buy anything, always check for concealed weapons.

Zai'jian!