Shanghai Weekend {Antique Market}

Here in Nanjing, we don't have many dining options so it's usually Cafe McCoy, Jimmy's Pizza or room service (but we are pretty OVER that menu).

So, one mission while in Shanghai is to eat as much good food as we can.

Bright and early, we headed to Hong Mei Lu.

(The sign says Hong Mei Pedestrian Street and it's right between that building and that car.)

A little Chinese Lesson for ya:

1. If the word ends in Lu it is a street.

2. If you EVER go to Shanghai, you NEED to know that street! It is fun!

It's actually a long alley off of Hong Mei Lu with TONS of restaurants and bars. We love this area. There is every type of restaurant you can imagine and lots of outdoor seating, which is always a fun atmosphere.

(Notice we are the only ones here at the moment. Think 6th Street and North Gate at 8:00 am.)

We don't mind being here that early!

Hey buddy! I see you through the window!!

Breakfast is ready!!!

Come and get it! We had waffles, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, eggs, hash browns, bacon, fruit and coffee. What? Carter was hungry, okay!

One of the things I love about a big city is that there are SO many things you can do in such a short amount of time. When we head "to town" for the weekend, I'm a busy bee!

So on Day 2 of our weekend, which was actually Monday, due to the Chinese Tomb Sweeping Holiday, I snuck out again durning Carter/Daddy's nap.

I headed to Dong Tai Lu.

Remember what Lu means? Street! Yes!

This is a SUPER fun antique market!!!

Notice all of the goods! I heart the bird cages.

Tons of Chairman Mao memorabilia.

Tons of abacus! (I got one like the dark middle one! Eeek!)

Look at these printed tins! So cute! I like the black one with the flowers.

See the red colorful painted decor? That is Tibetan furniture. Beautiful!

P.S. I have that blue plate, bottom, second from the left. I bought it when we first moved here at a not so good antique market. I thought it was original and paid $25 USD. Oops! Tai gue la/ too expensive! Most of this is all replicated and you should only pay about 1/3 of their starting price.

I love those hat boxes on the bench! I forgot that I've wanted a pointy one! Maybe next trip. John will be so happy. :)

He teases like:

Sarah, I think you should buy more abacuses, you can never have too many.

and

I think we need a big Chinese drum in our living room. (It's coming!!!)

He secretly likes it and thinks I have good taste. We make a good pair!

I also love those old wooden benches. They are so little! Cute for maybe a plant to sit on! Also, the oval tub holding some trays looks really neat too. Wouldn't that be cute with some rolled up towels in a bathroom or to hold drinks at a party!?

Finally, my favorite!

I LOVE these paint brushes! They look like jewelry to me and they have beautiful mahogany stands to hang them on.

Here is what I got:

1. The abacus like the one shown above. (No picture)

2. I filled in and completed my Paint Brush collection. Still working on the arrangement though. I'm not sure if I like the smaller ones hiding the larger ones. :(

My little Chinese corner! There is the blue plate I was telling you about!

I found the orange pottery there a long time ago. Both the blue and orange have dragons on them! That is for good luck! I'm kind of in love with dragons now. Strange? I think this old pattern is so ornate but the hidden dragons make it kind of cool and edgy.

And in case you are wondering those are chopsticks in the orange vase.

3. My third and final purchase:

What? We NEEDED a horse! I bet you didn't see that one coming! Again, I think it's ornate yet edgy! And to me, ornate and edgy cancel each other out to keep the room laid back and comfortable. (Not sure if this makes sense to anyone else but John and I! Ha!)

Oh...and that blue vase in the back is also a Dong Tai Lu find from way-back when!

Remember everything is at Wal-Mart SALE prices! Fabulous!!

Shanghai Weekend {Friends & Pearl Market}

Shanghai, here we come!

305 Km/h = 190 Miles/Hour from Nanjing to Shanghai.

(It goes much faster...but I forgot to take a picture)

With Carter, we now have this easy trip down to a science.

-Pack light has a whole new level of lightness now.

-20 minutes in the car to the train station...pre-arranged.

-1.25 hours on the train:

Breakfast, then a walk up and down the aisles waving in every aisle person's face with an "eye!!"

-30 minutes from cab to the hotel room with Pack-n-Play set up for nap #1.

-While he sleeps, we confirm meet-up times by text with friends, fill the hotel room with balloons for some Carter fun and unpack/set-up!

Once awake and refreshed, we met up with some of our favorite people for some "Texas" BBQ, our tradition with these people! This was a special visit, because our good friends Kellee and Francious just had their precious baby, Violette, and we finally got to meet her! Of course, too much fun so I didn't get any pictures!? Grr.

2nd Nap Time (for Daddy and Carter) I snuck off to the Pearl Market. With out knowing where and when we will be moving, this COULD possibly be my last visit to this place. :(

Many friends have asked about this place. I have never taken too many pictures because it isn't something you think about in your everyday life, but since we MAY never be back...I did!!

This is where the creativity begins!

Stones of every color! Just imagine all of the jewelry designing you can do!

Here are my two favorite people at the pearl market. I LOVE them!

I buy all of my jewelry from them. If you've ever bought jewelry from me...it is from these two! Sweetest people ever.

This is their big store they moved into (thanks to all you girls who bought jewelry). They used to have a booth like the ones pictured above!

These are all pearls! Again, imagine all you can do! Do you see why I love this place?

Me and Jennifer, that is her English name. My Chinese name is Sha La.

(Named by my Chinese teacher...she said after "Sha La" Jessica Parker.)

Okay, so Jennifer and I had a big cry. You know, you can only really cry with your real friends. I cried because I'm sad to be leaving this life. She cried because their business is not doing so well this year. This breaks my heart. She told me that her daughter said "we must be poor because all day long you've played with me and no customers have come in here."

So....I think I'm going to be doing another shipment. (Let me know if you would be interested.)

and..

I found these little pretties for myself!

Fabric Negotiating and Pillow Cases

Today, on our daily trip to the grocery store across the street from our house, we took the long way home to peek at a fabric shop.

I am trying to walk past this shop a few times a week. Each time I walk past I make sure that the owner notices me. I wave and give him a "Ni Hao!" (Hello!) I want him to know that I live here. I'm not a tourist. I'm comfortable here, not intimidated, confident, friendly and shop (DAILY). "You want me as a customer, you want me as a customer."

China business is run with the term Guanxi (pronounced guan-she) which means: relationships. And this is very real. You need to establish relationships for good deals. Because nobody pays the same price.

Grocery and big chains...not so much. Little businesses...for sure. Except for a Chinese Airline (I'll have to ask John the name, it has slipped my mind), if you have to read the website in English you pay 3x the amount. If you can read it in Chinese characters...a third of the price.

Okay, so back to the fabric. In Shanghai, they are so used to foreigners, negotiations are "game on" for all. No matter what color your skin is! Of course, you can never negotiate as low as a local. They will let you walk away if you try to pay that little. BUT here in Nanjing, they are trying to charge ridiculous prices!!! I can't stand it. I got pretty good at navigating the Shanghai markets but am way out of practice since I've have the little man in tow. Nanjing is a whole new ballgame.

I am trying to get some table linens made from this man. I want him to be my "fabric guy" because he is SOOO close and this all takes so much time. So a few weeks ago I went into his shop, picked everything out and started the negotiations. He was at $180 for table cloth, 2 runners, napkins, chair pillows and place mats.

I'm so used to Chinese prices now that I don't even know if that is good at home or not. But not good here. Nice joke guy!!

Usually, they throw a price, you throw half (or a third of the price), and you meet near half of the starting price. You have to have a mean face, act all serious, business like and fake walk away a few times. Gather your purse, calculator, pen and paper, huff and puff, etc. They usually say "okay, okay, okay."

Well, Mr. Nanjing Fabric Guy....didn't budge. At ALL!!!

So today, he was selling some extra pillow cases he made. I collected this hodge-podge of extras for $15! Not too shabby!!

One of these.

Three of these. Okay, maybe if we have a girl someday? Who knows, but I thought the fabric was cool.

Three of these. I can always use a little blue and brown!

2 of these gray. My least favorite, but could look neat with black.

One of the bottom right. I liked the two on the bottom even though they didn't have any matching, they look pretty neat together.

I'm sure I'll find a home for all of them!

How do you like me now, Mr. Nanjing Fabric Guy!? I see how low you can go!! Because your mama (seriously) sold me 10 pillow cases at $1.50 each. I'll be back for my table cloth later! Get your game face on!

Shang-high Days and Shang-low Days

Living in China is always an adventure. I am a pretty open-minded person and like to learn about other cultures. I think of myself as easy-going and usually see the positive side to people, places and new experiences. However, some of the things we deal with on a daily basis can be a bit stressful.

Like the public toilets.

In case you are wondering. This toilet is called a "squatter" by other foreigners like myself. It is level with the ground. The grooves on either side are where you put your feet. There is no seat. Get my point. If we are in a place that only has "squatters" I usually enter the restroom and exit with in the same ten seconds...leaving John to navigate us to another location quickly where I can try again. I refuse, unless it is an absolute emergency.

Another stressful time can be grocery shopping.

This is HuaLuan....or as John and I call it "Walmart." (We do have a real Walmart here but this is our Chinese Walmart.) Our Chinese Walmart is across the street and we frequent it regularly. It has all of your personal and household needs. Clothes, bedding, dishes, appliances, cleaning supplies and groceries.

This is a picture of the fresh produce. Yummy! Toads and Turtles!

This is not the stressful part anymore. During my first trimester it was SUPER disturbing because I couldn't stand the different smells. Like dealing with a "squatter" I would bolt out of there as fast as I entered.

The true stress and frustration comes with waiting to check out.

I have learned to totally appreciate my personal space of about 3 feet. Here that doesn't exist. In fact if you aren't inches behind someone you get cut off. With no regard, they will cut in front of you and pretend like nothing happened. And that TOTALLY gets me fired up. (Just thinking about it now gets me so angry.) But this happens to me quite a bit.

*Some of the other things to add to the list:
-People hawking lugies. (not even sure how to spell this)
-Loud, I mean REALLY loud yawning.
-Throwing trash on the street, even when there is a trash can.
-Being asked "You want Coach, Gucci, Louis Vuitton?" Over and over and over again.
-"I give you special price." "This is best quality."
-Driving on the wrong side of the road or on sidewalks.
-People driving while holding down their horn. WHY?
-Picking noses in public, even at a restaurant.
-People staring at you.
-Rushing into the elevator before you have a change to get off.
-Taking a #1 and #2 on the sidewalk.


When you have had too many of these things in a row on a particular day and you feel like you have had enough, this is called a Shang-Low Day. We all have them from time to time. They are horrible and can even make you cry.

A bad Shang-Low Day can be cured by following these two little steps:

1. First, head across the street to Bamboo 7 immediately.

Spend the $10 and get an hour long foot and back massage. I love you Bamboo!

2. Go shopping for something fun. Like a new handbag, jewelry or my latest China obsession....furniture. Here are some pics of pieces we are having made.






Once these two little steps are followed you are back to saying "I love Shanghai!" and that is called a Shang-High Day!

*I could go on and on with that list. I'll save some others for when I catch a picture of them!

Being Artsy-Fartsy on Taiking Lu

Recently, we have joined forces with a fun group of people. They are showing us the in's and out's of Shanghai and seem to know all of the really cool spots.

First lesson: Eating Duck. Wonderful...love it.

Second lesson: Brunch is a weekend must.

So our first brunch to join them, they took us to Taiking Lu (Lu means street). From the main street...this place looks very shady. However, once you get into the alleys it is amazing! It is a crazy combination of old and new. The bottom floors of the old homes have been converted to cafes, art gallery's, photography studios, boutiques...you get the idea. The upper floors are still homes. VERY COOL.

View of some cafes.

Here are some pics of the new group! Bohemia was our brunch spot. Yummy.

After brunch we wandered the area and got some pretty "different" pictures. I seemed to have taken more pictures of the strange stuff...and not so much the whole idea (or new, normal stuff) of the place. But as I've already explained, we are not the best tourists.

Love the lanterns.



Random arched alley way.



Birds in the upper window!

Laundry hanging above all of the alleys amongst cafes and art galleries. Strange...I told you!

Loving the birdies!

A larger view. See the mixture!

Pantie Chandelier!

Last but not least...........


Chicken anyone? Need I say more?

I'll leave you with that. Another day in the life of China.