South Bund Fabric Market-Sort of

What did I do today? Not much. I went out to lunch with Eric's office ladies, Wu Jin and Penny. Yu Xiao Lin and Tina couldn't make it. We had a good visit over a delicious South China (Guangdong Province) meal consisting of soup, a dish of fish heads, a savory egg custard, and broccoli. I hadn't seen the women in a while so it was good to catch up.

After lunch, I went on to Carrefour to start buying ingredients for a dinner party we're invited to on Saturday. There will be about 16 people there and the dinner is potluck. I'm making garlic black bean ribs and I need to get enough ribs to go around. I bought about 2 kg today, which I put in the freezer. I'm going back to Carrefour again later this week to buy 2 kg more. I know how to say 'I want 4 kg' in Mandarin, but it doesn't seem to really matter since the butcher doesn't pay attention and just grabs a handful of ribs and tosses them at you.

Once I returned home, I simply sat around the house stretching my calf muscles. I had a massive walk yesterday and the day before. I need to study my Shanghai map and figure out exactly how far I walked.

Saturday I took the metro to Jing'An Temple. The temple is really old (as are many things in China) -- the original structure was built in 240 AD. It's undergone multiple restorations and it's undergoing one now.

'Jing'An' is Chinese for 'Tranquility and Peace.' Given that the temple is located on a busy intersection surrounded by skyscrapers and shopping centers, the name seems contradictory. Admission to the temple is 10 RMB (about 1 USD). Inside the temple are all sorts of tourists mixed with worshippers burning incense. In the center of the courtyard is a large metal urn (for lack of a better word).



As you can see, there were streams of banners hung on the metal urn and strung out to the eaves of the roofs. People were tossing coins into the big urn, which is much more difficult than it may seem. Upon entering the temple courtyard, you see two large rooms on either side, each housing a Buddha. One of the statutes is a female form of Buddha called the Goddess of Mercy. That's what is in the following picture.



From the temple, I took the metro on to People's Square. It was my intent to find the fabric market. I had studied a map and thought that I would like to attempt walking to the fabric market from People's Square. It would be a long walk, but still doable. If I got tired or lost, I could always hail a taxi. As I walked down Tibet Road, one of the main roads going north-south, I saw a lane filled with stalls selling every imaginable piece of Chinese kitsch you could think of and then some. I don't know if it has an 'official' name, but I refer to it as the Liuhekou Curio Lane.

(Yes, there's a lot of pictures in today's post. You should see the activity in my Flickr account lately. We got a new camera so I'm going wild with it.)




You know me. If there's something to sidetrack my attention, I'm all there.




There were stores behind the stalls selling yet more stuff. Statues, figurines, clocks, old coins, brushes, mahjong sets, Little Red Books, lanterns, birds, old photographs, dishes. I think that there even may have been a kitchen sink available for sale. I walked on some more before calling it a day and heading home. I was meeting the women from my American women's group for drinks and snacks. Husbands were invited and it was interesting to see who paired up with whom.

Sunday, I took a taxi to the fabric market (I didn't make it there on Saturday). After seeing where my taxi driver took me, I don't think I would have made it there.



The fabric market is a large building with 3 floors with fabric of all kinds and in all sorts of patterns. Not far in the distance was the Nanpu Bridge. Like most markets, the building is populated with many, many individual stalls. Each stall has clothing samples hanging outside and I believe that most are able to tailor clothes. I would like to get some blouses, perhaps a dress, and some pillow covers. I didn't buy anything. I couldn't decide what sort of blouse I wanted and I wasn't feeling all that inspired by any of the ready-mades I saw. I'll have to go buy a copy of Chinese Glamour or the like and find something to copy. I should also have Eric with me when I pick out material for pillow covers since my taste tends to be a bit too gaudy for him.

Leaving the fabric market, I decided to walk around before hailing a taxi home. Just up the street was a promising lane. I had seen one fabric market and now, had found another. Here the vendors were selling fabric out in the open under an awning.



I didn't see any of the fine silks that I saw in the other building, but everything else looked much the same. At the corner, I turned and walked on further. I bought something that seemed to be a fried egg patty. At least the main ingredients seemed to be egg and scallions. I got one fresh off the griddle for about 1-2 RMB. I bought a milk tea-tapioca ball drink further on. I walked down a narrow road where people were selling fruit, vegetables, and household goods from sheets spread out on the ground and men were offering tubs filled with bulk tea. Around them were crumbling buildings, rubbish heaped in piles 8 feet high, and children openly urinating in the streets. Tables were set out in the streets and men in pajamas played cards or drank tea.



Though the streets were narrow and filled with tables and people busy at various tasks, there were still mopeds, and even cars, edging through.

I must have been wandering these little streets for nearly 3 hours. I managed to find my way to a major street and then nearly had a heart attack. I saw the Pearl Tower and it seemed so close that I could have sworn I was on the other side of the river in Pudong. Using the Pearl Tower as a landmark, I walked towards it. After awhile, I realized that, remarkably, I had somehow managed to land on my feet. I was on Zhongshan 2 Road walking along the river and I found my way to the Bund. I was still in Puxi (whew!) and near People's Square metro station. I lingered at the Bund a bit before walking to a nearby deli to pick up a burrito and salsa for supper. I was quite tired by the time I got to the metro station and to home. Of course being tired didn't mean I went to bed at a decent hour. Eric is out of town and I typically keep odd hours when I'm home alone. No exception here. I got engrossed in a movie and didn't turn out the lights until 2am.

So now Monday is coming to a close. Eric comes home tomorrow. Mugsy goes to the vet on Wednesday. I go to mahjong on Friday. I just learned mahjong last Friday and I'm still studying the rule sheet. It's about 10p and my bed is screaming out to me.