Explorations and re-visits

New territory for me

I thought we’d explore the French Concession around Huaihai Road today as it would be new to me. We took the metro there. On board, Kim noticed a lady with red expensive-looking shoes but wondered how they could stay on. It was only the toes that were slipped into the shoe. I told him that they were normal shoes but she had folded the backs/ankles over but he didn’t believe me. He walked over for a closer look and came back in disbelief and laughter that I was right. Obviously I’ve had more experience with this country and know it better!

The French area was nice and leafy with some old French style mansions and art deco buildings too. Some had been modified but I could still see glimpses of their heritage. We also stopped for a light brunch at an Iranian cafe which surprisingly had bacon and ham; this is China!

From there, we metro’ed to Xujiahui which was famous for its IT malls. The station itself is possibly the largest in Shanghai and walking distances were pretty lengthy. We found a food court with lots of appealing food while getting to the exit and refuelled ourselves.

We shared a large spicy seafood stirfry. It was all good quality seafood and vegetables, made more interesting with a sprinkle of peanuts and deepfried taro balls.

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The IT malls proved disappointing, stocking the very standard Dell, Lenovo, HP products. Pricing was actually higher than in New Zealand. I had hoped to find all the Chinese brands that can be found on Aliexpress; I had recently bought a high-spec Chinese phone online and been very happy with it. The lesson is that it’s probably easier to buy online than to find the right places in China. Further, the prices may be better online too.

Revisiting old ground and chilling

We took a different line back, stopping at Tianzifang, an arty area housed in the French Concession. I had been there before and thought that Kim would enjoy it, and he did.
After a rest in the room, we headed out for a massage. The place appeared to be staffed mainly by men from Henan who weren’t young (nor old). I was attended to by a large woman who was strong enough while Kim opted only for reflexology.

For dinner, I was craving for the Sheng Jian Bao which we discovered yesterday. We found a restaurant that had pictures of them. After we had sat down and decided on our various dishes, we were told the kitchen had stopped making them. We opted for Xiao Long Bao instead, with two portions of veges, which turned out to be both large. We have to eat less tomorrow!

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Prostitution

During our two days in Shanghai, we were reminded that prostitution is so rife in China. You can’t walk down the pedestrian mall, by day or by night, without being accosted by prostitutes. We’ve seen it in other cities too. Even in Tibet, we were getting phone calls put through to our room for massage services. What is it about China? Do the men have high sex drives? Or is it the women that have low desires? Or do the women withhold sex as a bargaining chip? Or is it the plain old story of poverty and exploitation? Some of the women don’t look poor but are very well dressed – perhaps it is to get easy money for all the modern luxuries?