An antique or not an antique? That is the question!

For the past few months we have been on the look out for a large Chinese vase to use as an umbrella holder.  We have seen some that were pretty good but have never found exactly what we were looking for.  Therefore, at the weekend we decided to pay a visit to the Dong Tai Lu Antiques Market.  We had driven past a few times and were keen to go as it is a good example of an Asian street market in one of the few traditional lanes left in Shanghai.

As we arrived we were on our guard as we had been warned that this was the place for getting lots of hassle off the vendors.  However, we were pleasantly surprised.  They did call out but there was nothing like the scale of hassle that you get somewhere like Mumbai.  It was fairly busy but the initial crush thinned out.

 

It became clear quite quickly that the the term 'antique' was to be taken with a pinch of salt!  There are over 100 'antique' stalls spread over two roads which make up the market.  As we walked along it became clear that a lot of the goods were mass produced Chairman Mao memorbillia!  This was the place to come if you needed a statue of Mao and they were available in a variety of sizes! 

There were also copious copies of the 'Little Red Book' which is full of quotations from Mao explaining the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party to the people of China.  We gave that a miss!  You could also get crickets in cages just in case you wanted to join a local cricket fight but we decided against that too!

William and Oliver were fascinated by every stall and the bric a brac it contained.

Oliver quite liked a pair of old binoculars he found and William seems to have developed an intrest in 'art'!

Although both boys seemed keen on photographic art at one stall and I breathed a sigh of relief when they reached for the picture of the pandas...

Eventually we came to a stall which also was part of a shop and that we had been recommended.  We found a lovely vase and proceeded to haggle.  Our opening gambit is always that we live here and if we get a good price we'll come back and will bring our family. The owner's opening gambit was that we were looking at a unique piece of Ming Dynasty pottery!  We negotiated for a bit and finally settled on a good price after agreeing that we would bring our visitors and that they would pay tourist prices!!  

If it does, by some fluke, turn out to be an antique we'll be selling it and snapping up a mass produced replacement!

Oliver and William were on good form but bric a brac and antique shopping can tire everyone in the end.  Although we weren't sure if they wanted a rest or fancied themselves as sellers as this was about as active as most stall holders got in the heat!

Scorchio!

Following the end of the rainy season the temperature in Shanghai has soared,  Most days it is in the mid 30s and every so often it's hitting 40.  Earlier this week we had a bit of a storm and it cooled (!) off to 28 degrees!  We are not finding it as bad as we have thought and are adapting to it by taking life slowly - like the locals.  I have also gone a bit native and use a parasol!  It is brilliant and makes it more bearable and is UV 40!

Other ways of cooling off include air con shopping centres and soft play areas, although they are still a little hot.  Apparently they are waiting until the real heat in August kicks in before cranking it up!

A few of us have been meeting at Lisa's for play dates and she has had some great activities to do including making rice crispie cakes.  Although a lot of the mixture ended up getting eaten!

We have held a few play dates at ours.  The main entertainment we offer is a great view of the building site next door!  It has proved quite a hit.

It has also provided us with an education in the health and safety laws of China:  there are none!  One thing Chineses builders are though is fast.  There was nothing the other side of the wall when we got here in January!  The other morning as we were watching the progress Oliver suddenly noticed that one of the builders was urinating off the roof of the house all over the power cables!  William and Oliver delighted in giving him a big wave!

Another good hot weather activity is messy play, it is the reverse of the UK.  We use all of our wet weather activites in the summer!  It can get a bit too messy at times!

At Lisa and Darren's compound they have an outdoor pool we can use and it's only a five minute walk.  William and Oliver cooled off in there with Henry and Charlie.  I can see we will be going there lots this summer and recomending it to our all of our visitors!

And of course if it really is too hot, there is always ice cream!

My Chongqing Business and Birthday Experience

My first Chinese birthday was spent on a business trip at the Ford assembly plant in Chongqing, a major city in South Central China that was temporarily the Chinese capital during the Second World War.

I set off on Sunday evening for what was to prove a slightly disappointing travel experience.  As it was a domestic flight, rather than the business travel to which I have become accustomed, I flew economy class on Sichuan Airlines.  The food is of dubious quality, so I had planned ahead and saved some pizza from the night before to take with me.  As I checked in I had a heart sinking moment as I realized my very tasty dinner was still sitting in the fridge.  Still, I managed to put the disappointment behind me and boarded the flight.  I got stuck in to my book, when suddenly I started to hear what sounded like Chinese singing; confused I looked around only to realize that a fellow passenger in my row was indeed singing.  The man in between us did not seem at all fazed by this so I decided to just try to ignore it for the rest of the flight.

The week proved to be quite a culinary adventure.  On the Monday night we had the local delicacy of Chongqing Hot Pot.  This is rather like a fondue, only instead of cooking your meat and vegetables in oil, you boil it in a pot of spicy soup.  We opted for the medium spiced soup with lamb, beef, pork and prawns.  When the prawns arrived they were on skewers sticking out of a bed of ice and one of my colleagues took great enjoyment from picking one out and then demonstrating how the legs started to move frantically, as yes, you’ve guessed it, they were still alive!!! 

For my birthday I started the day by opening all my cards whilst enjoying a Chinese style Full English of bacon, eggs and of course chicken sausages.  For dinner we went to a river boat restaurant and had some Chinese wine to toast.  Having had a good fill of various Chinese dishes, I was surprised to see a large bowl of noodles being put on the table.  This I was informed was the main course, as it is traditional in China to eat ‘long noodles’ on you birthday as they symbolise long life. 

On returning to my hotel room I discovered a box on the coffeee table and inside was a birthday cake, that one of my colleagues had organised for me, which I took it into the office the following day.

On the final evening my boss and I went to a very small basic noodle restaurant, where you sit on plastic stools.  The rather dirty looking, innocuous looking establishment turns out to have featured as one of the best restaurants in Chongqing in a travel programme and did indeed serve excellent spicy noodles.  I inadvertently ended buying my boss dinner as when we asked for the bill we were informed it would be 14RMB, which we assumed was per person.  I handed over my money and when my boss then did likewise they informed her that I had already paid, so she promptly put her money back in her purse.  Hopefully this can only be a career enhancing move though, due to the generosity I showed by paying the full £1.30!!

During our first 6 months in China we have become used to all the fake goods on offer, but in Chongqing I managed to experience a new fake first.  When heading back to our hotel one evening we got an unofficial taxi.  I was surprised to see that he had a new looking Mercedes, but on closer inspection it became apparent that this was in fact a fake.  It was a simple deception, which I am sure you could all try at home.  Simply rip of the badge of the low cost Chinese brand and stick in it’s place a Mercedes badge.  The disguise is completed inside by simply blacking out the badge on the steering wheel and Voila! you are now the proud owner of a Mercedes!!

All in all it was a good week, although, rather like the Queen must feel every year, it was lovely to return home to celebrate my ‘official birthday with Lucy, William and Oliver.  They surprised me by coming to meet me at the airport and when we got home this is what greeted me.....

William and Oliver's 4th Birthday

As soon as William and Oliver had demolished the ladybird and hedgehog cakes I made for their 3rd birthday William requested his next cake be a lion and Oliver requested a tiger.  I agreed and put it out of my mind.  As the 2nd July approached I asked them what cakes they would like and the reply was still a lion and tiger.  I was dubious as to whether I would find what I needed in Shanghai without having to remortgage the house!  Over the month leading up to the 2nd we visited numerous shops and I eventually found enough to have a go at some sort of lion and tiger except the shaped tins I really desired!  Icing them proved interesting in the hot weather and they had several cool offs in the fridge before they were finished.

On the morning of their birthday Oliver and William came downstairs and were greeted by the sight of a huge pile of presents. 

We asked them if they would like to open some before breakfast but they said no - either overwhelmed or led by their stomachs like their father! 






We had breakfast at 7am local time - just as it was their birthday in the UK!

After breakfast they opened all of their cards and presents and were delighted with them.  Sam and I bought them a bike each.  They had a quick go but since then it's been a bit hot to ride them. 

William, Oliver and Sam went off to get the balloons for the party while I started getting everthing ready. The bouncy castle arrived and despite having been measured up it didn't fit in the garden!  We put it on the road outside which was fine and a bit cooler.  Socks were a must until the sun went off it as it was boiling!  We also set up a paddling pool.

Guests began arriving from 3pm.  Once all of the older children arrived they were told the bad news that the party bags had gone missing!  William, Oliver, Henry, Teigan and Ryan had to follow clues all over the compound and eventually managed to find them!  After that there was biscuit and party hat decorating followed by bouncing on the castle (now cool enough to be naked!!) and jumping in the paddling pool.

At 5pm there was a birthday tea followed by cake.  By 7 everyone had left and I whisked the boys in to bed.  By 8 Sam, Aled and I were sipping champagne and ordering a takeaway - the perfect end to the day!

Fathers's Day

We decided to have a quiet family day for Father's Day.  Sam had a lie in and was then given cards that Oliver and William had made plus a voucher for a massage.  We headed off to a local mall to do a bit of shopping and to try out a Chinese restaurant we'd spotted.  The food was delicious and of course included our firm favourites of dumplings and honey roast pork!

We then decided to head off in search of an ice cream and it was on the way that Sam spotted the shopping centres gift for Father's day.  A lingerie shop was having a fashion show and was attracting quite a crowd of men!  I tried to not look too strange as, under Sam's instructions I snapped a couple of pictures - strictly for the blog of course!  He didn't want to take them incase it impeeded his view!

We finally managed to drag Sam away to find an ice cream.  The rest of the day was spent cooling off in the Aquarium!  I think that it ranked as one of the best Father's days so far!