The fake markets

There are many types of markets in Shanghai. Markets consisting of narrow winding streets full of little stalls, to wet markets visited by locals for their daily shopping of food items, to multi story warehouse type buildings full of stalls all selling one type of item. There are antique markets, pearl and stone markets, fashion and gift markets, fabric markets, cloth markets, flower, bird, fish and insect markets, the Muslim street market, the tea market, the glasses market, children's clothing market, the upholstery and bedding market, not to mention the electronics market. There are not just one of these markets but many scattered throughout Shanghai.

One of the first markets we went to was the fake market the most famous and most frequented by westerners. Not to say that these other markets are not selling fake stuff, especial the electronics market.

 The most famous of the fake markets is the Science and Technology Museum fake market. Leading up to the World Expo in 2010 the Shanghai authorities made an effort to crack down on pirated and knockoff goods and gathered up many of these vendors from more public areas and hide them in the basement/metro level of the Science and Technology Museum subway station. This of course is widely talked about in all the guide books.

A short distance from where we live, Meredith and I went to the market the second week we were here. This is a single level maze with rows and rows and rows of stalls selling all of the latest brands. What is really interesting is that not only does the items look like the original but the details, like the tags sewn on the item, the lining in the purse etc, even down to the box it comes in and the labels on the box, it looks identical to the original.

click on pictures to enlarge

We were there only for just over an hour, it was exhausting  walking up and down having someone at every stall entrance asking you if you went to buy a bag, a watch, a belt, shoes etc.  Meredith and I went into one shop selling hand bags. They then ushered us into the back room where there was a room with 4 walls of shelves lined with all the brands. Meredith mentioned a certain brand and the next thing we know a section of shelving turns into a secret door which opens into another smaller room stuffed with the top brands of bags. What an experiences! Needless to say we did return to the shop with ME who has much better bargaining skills and Meredith got the bag she was looking for.

Bargaining Skills, what a hoot, this is a whole other post.

A place with a view.

ME has said for as long as I can remember, that she really really would like to live in a place with a view. Well I think we have come home, or at least for the next year. The apartments here have floor to ceiling windows including the living room, the master bedroom and even the master bath. The two guest bedrooms one with a sliding door, opening to a balcony and the other guest room with full floor to ceiling windows.

Our view is wonderful, looking west down the Huangpu River at the Nanpu bridge and beyond  to the site of the 2010 World Expo site. On a clear day, like this one, you can see for miles. The amazing part is that as far as you can see there is an endless view of high rise apartment buildings, at 23 million people and counting what else would you expect.

The river is full of activity, nonstop traffic, moving raw materials up stream, returning empty and repeating the cycle. In between the barges the ferry boats sometimes need to zig and zag to make their way across the river.

Below us is the outdoor pool/beach area which generates little swells several times a hour. In this view is the indoor pool, clubhouse area and the oval building is the gym with aerobic and strength machines and free weights. In the back ground is a lake and gardens that surround the towers.

From the back of the apartment the guest bedrooms also have a great view. It looks up to the heart of the finical district and home to the tallest buildings in China. And again on a clear day, office and apartment buildings as far as you can see.

The building on the right is The World Financial Center which is referred to as the bottle opener.

The Water Bill Collector

At the end of last month I was sitting in the apartment and the door bell rang. I am thinking, I really do not know anybody, I am not expecting anybody, who could this be? I opened the door and a lady in a shabby looking uniform is standing there and she has several half pieces of paper in her hand. She hands me one and says something in Chinese. I turn my palms up and do the shoulder shrug thing. But I have a backup plan. I have an OP and she is on speed dial. (more about the OP, the Ayi and the driver later) I call my OP and explain to her what has happened so far and then I hand the phone over to the Chinese women. After several minutes of conversation I receive the phone back and my OP tells me this. The women is from the water department and is here to collect the unpaid balance from an outstanding water bill. I do the palms up shoulder shrug thing, not my problem, I just moved in 2 weeks ago. Then I am thinking, what if they turn off the water? This could drag out for who knows when. I motion to the lady asking how much and she points to a number at the bottom of the paper. Oh, I said, I can do that. Why escalate this into an international crisis. So I reached in my pocket and pulled out 2.80 yaun. She marked the bill paid, I think, handed me copy and off she went. That’s right folks 2.80 yaun or about .44 cents.

Shimao Riviera Garden Apartments

We live in the Shimao Riviera Garden Apartments on the 31st floor. It is a 7 tower complex ranging  between 49 and 60 stories high. The first of the buildings were built about 10 years ago and the last tower was completed about 2 years ago. Back then it was consider one of the premier luxury apartment condos along the banks of the Huangpu River. It is still a highly recognized property. I say, back then, because the Chinese are very competitive and the building of luxury condos over the last 10 years have exploded with many fine places now available.

http://www.shimaousa.com/english/index.htm  a link to the apartment

Our apartment is just above the lamp post.

Our building is the second from the left.

 Shimao, as it is called, boasts 6 theme gardens/parks, two indoor pools, a real wave pool with beach, 2 workout gyms and club house facilities, tennis courts etc. I was told that there are 3129 apartments and over 17,000+ people living here. Management says that the average apartment has 5 people. A Chinese family consist of two parents and one child plus a set of grandparents.  It really does not feel like that many people.  ME & I like the fact that we have an oasis, a buffer,  in the gardens and grounds surrounding the towers, before we go out into the vibrant city of Shanghai.

Night view from the ferry.

 We have a 20 minute walk along the river to the new finance center in Pudong, the new part of Shanghai, that includes many riverside restaurants with great views of The Bund, outstanding shopping centers, and home to the tallest buildings in China. There is also a ferry station just outside our complex, a 5 minute ride across the river, that gives us access to Puxi, the old city of Shanghai, and a new restaurant and shopping area just down the street from the ferry station called The Cool Docks .It is very cool!

http://unearthingasia.com/uniquely-far-east/the-cool-docks-shanghai/

Technical Difficulties

I was limited to what I could view on my computer. My blog, which I had hoped to have a running commentary on was blocked, Meredith could not access facebook, You Tube and some of the blogs that I follow were all blocked. That is when I learned about the "Great Firewall".  The Chinese government actively blocks many sites for the protection of its people. If you Google the "Great Firewall"  Wikipedia is listed first and talks all about the history of censorship in China. A fact stated on the wiki page says  that there could be over 30,000 people employed as "Internet Police".

An  interesting site to check out is http://www.greatfirewallofchina.org/ Type your favorite website to see if it is blocked. An example is  http://www.marthastewart.com/ which is blocked.

 This link will give you a list of the more know websites blocked in China. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China

A VPN or virtual private network was the solution. Many are available and most of the westerners living in China subscribe to one. It hides or secures your internet network connection by tunneling under the Great Firewall. For $70 a year we now have a VPN subscription and Meredith and I can once again connect to all of the once blocked sites. 

Our Apartment

We stayed four nights in the hotel and then decided to campout in our apartment. We had packed bedding and towels for each of us and brought several plates, cups, utensils from IKEA. Our air shipment was to take another two weeks to arrive.

Below are pictures of the apartment the day we moved in. 

Living / dining rooms

Galley kitchen, long with lots of space.

One of 3 bedrooms. 

Why rent?

ME who stayed at the Renaissance for many weeks this Spring became a VIP member at this video store just across the street from  the hotel. The price to purchase a movie is 15 yuan or $2, all are knock offs and good quality. The sales people will tell if the quality is poor and not to buy it. These stores have an unlimited selection of movies, TV series and CD's, even of movies just released to theaters' in the US.

ME & Meredith

Where is everybody?

We arrived on an overcast Saturday afternoon, and everything was neat and orderly. The 10 year old Shanghai International Airport was huge but seemed relatively empty, we meet our driver at the gate and the ride to the hotel again seemed very easy, very little traffic. The Renaissance Shanghai Pudong Hotel was a little more active but where is everybody? Where were the crowds of people that I heard so much about?

Renaissance Shanghai Pudung Hotel

In the lobby of the hotel was this saying. I thought it was a great line to set the tone for our year in Shanghai.

These pictures are for my mom who is always very curious about the details, of what things look like.

Turned upside down

ME asked me several times, "do you want to move to Shanghai?" I thought, well, why not. We were very fortunate to have had several other expat experiences and very much enjoyed the adventure and challenges of living in a new place and learning about life in other  parts of the world. Our past experiences were in Europe and we fit in as westerners. But SHANGHAI, CHINA, wow,  it would be like nothing we have ever experienced before!

 ME had excepted a one year position to work in Shanghai and had been traveling back and forth for most of the Spring getting her project started. On one of her return trips we talked again about moving, "are you sure?  Do you really want to do this?", she said, "it is completely different there."  

I had been thinking about it for a while, of what it would be like? Could I survive? Did they have cheese there?  What did they have there??? I decided that I cannot sweat the small stuff, this was a once in a life time opportunity. I told her that I was ready, that I am going into this adventure and I am prepared to be turned upside down. New apartment, new food, new language, new faces, new friends, new everything.

Sooo here we go!

I had planned to document our experiences in somewhat chronological order,  but due to some technical issues, to be discussed later, I am going to regress a little until I get caught up.