Tuesday Tourist

On Tuesday, I decided to start my day with a trip to snack street. I found it much quicker than I did on Monday, its literally outside my new apartment! I managed to buy some local bread that has spring onions inside - a bit like Indian naan bread, which cost 2RMB (20p) then I got 3 skewered octopus tentacles for 5RMB and then I found myself a sponge cake with almonds and cherries in the top for @RMB. What an amazing big breakfast for less than £1! Street food is the best!

After my feast, I made my way to people square and visited Shanghai museum. Before I got to the museum, I met two young girls from North China, they were visiting friends in Shanghai and told me that I sounded like the BBC English that they listened to in their classes and that I looked like a film star! This made me laugh and also think that they would then probably try to sell me something, but they just asked for my number and a photograph with them! They were really nice!

Outside Shanghai Museum, there are large white statues of mythical animals. The museum itself is divided into eleven galleries and three exhibition halls. The eleven Galleries cover most of the major categories of Chinese art: Ancient Bronze, Ancient Ceramics, Paintings, Calligraphy, Ancient Sculpture, Ancient Jade, Coins, Ming and Qing Furniture, Seals, and Minority Nationalities. Inside the museum lobby, if you look to the ceiling, there is a large round domed window, letting an abundance of light into the museum, this is designed to give the impression of heaven.

There was a sign at the beginning of the pottery section saying ‘Pottery belongs to everyone, but porcelain is China’s invention’. I love the patriotism here that seems to seep through everything and everyone! Inside the galleries, there were some beautiful Chinese calligraphies and paintings; I so wished that I could have read some of the Mandarin poems that were written on them!

After the museum, I read my book for a while in people’s park – because the weather was surprisingly sunny! Then I made my way to Dongtai Lu Antiques Market. This is a small open street market near Xintiandi, with vintage Mao items and posters, small “antique” wares and fares to some genuine old Chinese artifacts. The haggling at these markets is ferocious. You have to walk away at least twice in order to get a remotely acceptable price, and you know you are still being ripped off because you’re a tourist.  Even just the experience of walking through the road was lots of fun though!

After Dongtai Lu Antiques Market, I met my German friend Andi at the Bund, we went to a lovely piano lounge called the Compass bar, where there was classical music being played by a small Chinese man. This lounge is in the Peninsula, which is one of the Far East’s oldest hotel brands–the first Peninsula in Shanghai opened back in the ’30s. This shows in the art deco styling of the hotel, with its dark mood lighting, which blends into the Bund’s surviving historic background beautifully. Following this went up to the roof terraces overlooking Pudong and then met with some of the other interns at Windows bar, where we all got some well-appreciated Western food!

Tourist Monday

So Monday was my first day as a proper Shanghai tourist! I started the day off by retracing my steps from the day before and rediscovering snack street. I managed to find it – but definitely got lost first in the underbelly of the back of the market, where all the locals live. I felt a bit intrusive, as all the locals were just having breakfast, old people were playing mahjong (Chinese game) and cards around small tables, with babies running around in the special Chinese baby trousers that show their bottoms.

I finally found some brunch and went on my way to the first tourist attraction of my day, which was ‘The Propaganda Poster Art Museum’. Despite the slightly sinister location in the basement of an apartment block, the gallery itself was really good. It was divided into seven chronological sections and had English signs explaining everything like the slogans and seismic events such as ‘The Great Leap Forward’ and ‘Cultural Revolution’. I really enjoyed it. There was a gift shop at the end, where you could buy original items that had managed to survive the Cultural Revolution – where the government burned most propaganda, literature and art, closed schools and buried 460 scholars alive!

Following the museum, I headed over to the Jade Buddha Temple. This is a really pretty temple with a pair of jade Buddhas that were brought over from Burma more than a century ago. One of them is in the left teahouse of the temple, which seems a bit random, but the other is in its own private staffed room, where you cannot get closer than around 3 meters away from the Buddha, which is behind glass. It is a very enchanting room. You were really not allowed to take photos though, so there isn’t one of this.

However, the thing that charmed me the most, whilst I was at the temple, was whilst I was in the gardens. There was a lovely pond with multicolored lily pads and flowers, and there was a beautiful, elegant, young Chinese girl who was feeding the koi fish in the pond, however she wasn’t just feeding them, she was also stroking them, and the fish were letting her! I was so enthralled, I watched her feed the whole pouch of fish food to them, it was such a graceful thing to witness. I was also shocked to find out that koi fish generally live to be 200 years old and the oldest current living Chinese koi fish is 226!

 

After the temple, I made my way to an area called ‘M50’. It is a cultural zone that has been created from a former warehouse district into a really trendy art hub. M50 is on the banks of the murky Suzhou Creek and its exposed brickwork is deliciously raw and grimy. I was really surprised as I entered the place, that there was graffiti, as there isn’t any anywhere else in Shanghai! 

There is so much amazing modern Chinese art and sculptures. There were hand made porcelain items, artists working in dusty corners of workshops and also exhibitions. It was awesome! Some of it had quite political messages which I thought was interesting. I also saw a wish tree.

Whilst I was here, I decided to get some jasmine tea, which arrived inside a gorgeous porcelain teapot and ‘chabei’ 茶杯 (teacup) – the lady serving me told me how to say it in Chinese! She explained that ‘Cha’ is tea and ‘bei’ (pronounced like baby) is cup! She gave me her card and told me that if I was in Shanghai again, to give her a call and she would help me to learn Chinese! Everyone is so friendly here! Here I read my book and relaxed for a while!

After wandering around the gorgeous galleries, during my commute home, I walked around the market in people square metro, I just loved all the kitsch, girly, blingy items like the phone covers, there was even one which had a little “Louis Vuitton’ handbag complete with charms! So funny! I feel like I’m being such a Chinese adolescent with all these things!

So difficult to type my blog though!

My Last Sunday in Shanghai

Sunday was such a fun day! Robert and I had planned to meet Sunny at 1.30pm at the fakes market. We had both woken up much earlier, so we decided to get some breakfast at ‘Snack Street’ in Yu Gardens, as this was walking distance from where we now live! Snack Street was amazing, it is a whole road of street vendors selling Chinese ‘street food’. This includes skewered fruit coated in liquid sugar that has hardened and all kinds of little meals to take away. There was also a BBQ where Robert and I purchased skewered BBQ octopus tentacles. They were so good! I also got a portion of noodles with vegetables, the portion was so huge, and only cost 5RMB which is around 50p in English! After, we walked through Yu Gardens and bought some gifts for family and friends. I also got my phone blinged up like the Shanghai girls have!

From here, we took the metro to meet Sunny at the fakes market. Sunny was late, so we waited for her in a café, where I had some green tea! When Sunny arrived, she was still very tired from the Hangzhou trip! Walking around the fakes market was fun, there is fake everything, which is sometimes amusing! Next to the fakes market, there is also a fabric market, where you can have a bespoke fitted suit made for less than £50. There were some of the shops that boasted they could turn these around in 24 hours, but the higher quality ones generally take a week and I unfortunately do not have a week left L. However, the two other female interns Holly and Monika both got one made when they first arrived and were quite pleased with the result. Unbelievably, (considering the tiny size of most Chinese women) I found an already produced suit Blazer, which had traditional Chinese detail on it. I have really wanted to buy a traditional Chinese outfit, but knew that I really wouldn’t have anywhere to wear it, so this is a good compromise! After some serious haggling, plus the aid of two Chinese speakers, we managed to get a reasonable price!

Following the markets, we all decided to go home and take a nap! I managed to catch up on my blog! In the evening, Robert and I decided to take a stroll along the river on the bund side, giving beautiful views of Pudong at night. The air was really clear also, (which is a rarity) so the view was even better than normal. Whilst on our walk, we passed three brides and grooms having professional photos taken along the bund, outside the old European buildings. The wedding system is quite different in China. When a couple decide to get married, they go to a kind of registry office to get their marriage certificate found and then they don’t have any ceremony until 6 months – 1 year later! You would think this may be to see if they withstand the test of time, however there is no divorce law!

After our walk, Robert and I went for a meal at ‘Mr and Mrs Bund’, which is a gorgeous French restaurant, giving incredible views and amazing French food. There was also French staff! After our gorgeous meal (that we even got a knife and fork with) we went upstairs in the same building to bar rouge, which also offers incredible views. 

After this, we decided to head for a massage at ‘Zen Massage’, which is a new place in the French Concession. Robert has a Shanghai app on his iPhone, which displays daily offers, which is how we found the 2-for-one 90-minute oil massages. Miguel decided to join us for this, but unfortunately, because there was only one of him, he had to pay full price.

We had got a taxi to ‘Zen’ and as it was on a one way street, we had had to walk for a while to find it, the street was very dark with people still working, eating, talking and generally living down dark alleys and back streets, making me a bit nervous. I was scared that it might not be reputable, however when we finally found the entrance, it obviously was. There was a long path leading up to the entrance that was lit by underground lighting giving an amazing ambience. When we went inside, we were given little wicker slippers to wear and asked to choose our favorite oil. I chose lavender. After, we were taken into a room – with 3 beds in it. This is when I started to feel a bit self-conscious. This only got worse, when the masseuse handed Robert a pair of normal boxer shorts and then handed me some see-through paper fiber knickers! I waited to at least receive a see-through bra to match but nothing! Robert got changed and then left the room for me to change, so I put my new paper knickers over my own and left my bra on, trying to think of it like a bikini – I can only thank God on that day I had a matching set on! My mortification increased even higher, when not just Robert entered the room, but also Miguel. Cringe.

The masseuse soon covered me in a towel and seized my bra. However, we were all soon lay on our fronts with our faces through the little hole and therapeutic music on, so it was all ok. I think we all fell asleep at least once. An amazing end to a lovely day!