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I have been reunited!

Shanghai was quite an adventure, but I am back  home and enjoying every moment of freedom.  I am officially an international hoarder, I brought back a 20 foot shipping container stuffed with "treasures". There were many things I missed while in China, fresh air and blogging with my pals were at the top of the list.

I made wonderful friends in Shanghai, and I hope to see them on another adventure one day. My lovely friends were willing and eager to accompany me to the shadiest places in Shanghai. With our tetanus shots up to date, and a giant bottle of hand sanitizer, what did we have to lose? We ended up unearthing some wonderful finds and have some ridiculous stories to tell.

I will be posting photos this week and will tell you about my two brushes with government officials. 

Nie Hao and Xie Xie

It has been a very long time since my last visit. Facebook, YouTube, and Blogger are all blocked here, so it is rather difficult to post. It is hard to believe that we have lived in China for a year and a half. Sometimes it feels like we just arrived, and at other times it feels like it has been 100 years. It was quickly discovered that I no longer possess the ability to learn a new language, especially Mandarin. I finally scrapped my lessons and Mandarin teachers everywhere celebrated.

I have many new pals here and I drag them to the shadiest places I can find. Here are some photos from my latest outing.

 I am always a bit terrified that something is going to crawl up my pant leg here.

Places like this make me forget about all of the things I miss back home. I especially miss programs about hoarders, best TV ever. Is there something wrong with me? Drinkable tap water and buying shoes are distant memories. People will laugh and point if you require anything bigger than a size seven.

I have developed relationships with many of the vendors at my favorite antiquing street. Negotiations are done by passing a calculator back and forth. My favorite lady says "you killed me" when we finally  reach a price for an item. I have killed her on countless occasions.

Combustible

We have taken four trips around Asia in the past month and a half. We finally made it to the Great Wall, and it is indeed a mighty fine wall! A lovely Chinese family asked to be photographed with us at the top of a particularly steep climb, I think they were fascinated by the fact that I looked like I was on the brink of expiring. Perhaps it was the insane hairdo I've been sporting.

A few months ago I decided to have my hair straightened. Still lacking in Mandarin skills, I had to pantomime what I wanted to the hairstylist, and apparently I am not very good at pantomiming. Rather than communicating that I desired silky straight hair, I asked for highly flammable felted hair. I tried living with hair that resembled a shrunken wool sweater, but I finally ended up with a mannish acrylic fro. It's not a good look, trust me.

Art Supplies In Shanghai

Aren't these pretty?

I am trying to figure out a project for these, any suggestions?

I picked up a lifetime supply of crepe paper! I loved the chaos in this booth.

I recently visited the indoor art supplies market in Shanghai. It is a crazy, cramped, and claustrophobic place. Some commonplace items are still hard to find here, but random weird items are plentiful. Packages of tiny people and paper mache fruit can be found in just about every booth. I single handedly cornered the world supply of crepe paper sheets!!! I will keep you posted on what I am going to do with all of it.

Gang Of One

I came across the wonderful photos of Gangfeng Wang, the owner Gang Of One studio in Shanghai. Wang began photographing daily life in China back in 1981 with a "used camera and expired film". He is a self taught artist and his neighbors were his first inspiration. I am delighted every time I look at two of his photographs we have hanging in our home in China. A new friend of mine had Gangfeng Wang photograph her family in an old shikumen neighborhood in Shanghai. The photos are stunning. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Joyeux Anniversaire Papa

Antique shop in the French Concession

Today would have been my father's 72 birthday, he died in 1996 at the age of 58. He was a big Francophile, and he even moved us to France when I was in the fourth grade.  I have celebrated his birthday every year with a special French dinner, and I will do the same here in China. We are looking forward to dining in the old French Concession in Shanghai tonight, he would have loved this very French area.

French Concession, Shanghai

It has been fascinating coming across some of the papers he wrote, as they are being digitized and released on the internet. I have also discovered that he held a patent on "Thermal Decay Time Logging Method", whatever that is! Sadly, I don't understand a word of what he wrote either. His titles include: "Neutron Scattering from a Solution of a Polymer", "The Effect of Long-Range Heterogeneities", and "Time Dependence of Neutron Pulses in the Slowing Down Energy Region", huh?  It looks like I inherited his love of France, his propensity for putting his foot in his mouth, his sweatiness, but most definitely not his brains.

The Fabric Market

The Shanghai Fabric Market had been on my "to do" list since moving here, and I picked the hottest day of the summer to finally make the journey. It was an overwhelming experience of beautiful colors and patterns. I bought two silk pillows and I scoped out tailors to make some vintage inspired dresses for me. The prices are extremely reasonable and I may never buy off the rack again.

Antiques + Warehouse = Love

My first trip to an antique warehouse in China involved stepping over small piles of burning garbage and one dead animal. That said, I was still thrilled with what I found under all of the filth. Today I ventured to a snazzier warehouse, no dead animals and no fires. I bought an old basket (below) and the large pink papier-mache pot (pictured above). I can't wait to return with a few more coins in my pocket!

New House

Our new house in Shanghai looks like it could be just about anywhere. It is not exactly our style, but it suits our needs for the time being. I always imagined that we would live in an old lane house in the French Concession, but the kids weren't keen on the two hour commute for school.

We found everything at the flea market, antique stores and one very cool furniture shop.

Shanghai Junk Shopping

 

The Notions Market

                                           

                                           

 Opera Prop Store

                                           

                                         

The Cricket Market

The Notions Market

It has been a very long time since I updated my pals. We moved from an apartment to a house last month. It is nice not having to hush Deke every second or tell Lulu to turn down her music.  I am hoping to meet more people in our new neighborhood, but I will have to wait a few more weeks for our neighbors to return to their homes. We are apparently the only people on our street toughing it out for the summer. I don't plan on leaving the house until the temperatures get under 100 degrees, so I can finally update my blog. I have pictures of our house, and photos of some of the things I have found to make it seem like our home. I can't wait to show you!!!

New Stuff

We are moving from our furnished flat to an unfurnished home in one month. I have the task of furnishing our new home in China in a very short amount of time. I lucked out with a wonderful shop in Shanghai called Kenas.  I could easily take two of everything!
We purged lots of furniture in Chicago before our move and put our collections in storage. I can see all of these pieces working beautifully in our home back in the States. I am guessing that we will have to rent an entire ship to bring everything back.

Gorgeous

Gorgeous people, scenery, pagodas, mountains, and a lake to boot!

We went on a little trip to the historical  city of Hangzhou, just a two hour drive from Shanghai. It is perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Italian explorer, Marco Polo described Hangzhou as "without doubt, one of the finest and most splendid cities in the world". The city has a history dating back more than 2,200 years!

Some of China's finest tea leaves come from the mountains in Hangzhou. I can't begin to describe the wonderful smell of the toasting tea leaves.

I want to live in this house!

We hiked up a million stairs to get to this pagoda, I almost had to live here. The thought of climbing back down all of those stairs was truly daunting.