Recreating The Cute

I have found a source for simple and super inexpensive glass containers. I will fill my jars with the cute candy I find during my travels. The candy aisle of the grocery store is one of my favorite spots, the packaging and graphics are adorable. There is quite a bit of candy imported from Japan and that wins my cutest candy prize. 

I bought this decrepit old blue chair from the flea market. The vendor was using the chair to hold a box of prints, and he seemed quite surprised that we were interested in the chair and not the prints. Most vendors start  price negotiations very high, sometimes 90% over what they end up accepting. The haggling over the chair started at his opening offer of $3.00!!!!

 I found the Mao doll at the coolest store in the French Concession called Madame Mao's Dowry. They carry the most spectacular old Chinese propaganda posters and wonderful antiques.

It occurs to me that with the glass jars and the beginning of a blue chair collection in China, we are replicating some of our favorite things from back home.

Sticks And Stones

Beautiful stone paths and designs can be seen all around Shanghai, even the little mall near our home has a beautiful river stone floor.  I can't wait to make my own stone walkway back in the U.S., I feel quite inspired!

Trying To Butter Me Up?

I have been looking high and low for a large blackboard to use as our family calendar, just like we had in Chicago. Who knew this would be so difficult? I have found a few blackboards hanging in old shops, but the shopkeepers treat me like a serial killer when I try to pantomime that I want to buy their old beaten up board. Can you see that she is ready to use deadly force with a corn cob to get me to move along?

World Expo

China's Pavilion

(photo courtesy of the Telegraph U.K.)

Poland's Pavilion 

Macau's Bunny Pavilion

The 2010 World expo opens tomorrow here in Shanghai and runs until October 31, 2010. They are expecting over 70 million visitors and the city has spent the past 10 year sprucing up for their guests. We have noticed people working nonstop planting flowers on the side of the expressways and sweeping the sidewalks. The designs of the pavilions are pretty extraordinary and the activities sound pretty cool. There will be snow in the Austrian Pavilion and you can enjoy a picnic or bike ride on the rooftop garden of the Denmark Pavilion! They have planned over 900 parades and countless firework shows.  We are looking forward to visiting the Expo and I will post our pictures.

Qi Zhilong

I am a huge admirer of Chinese born artist Qi Zhilong. His enormous portraits based on Chinese propaganda posters are truly wonderful. I hope we can see some of his paintings during our time here in China.

What's For Dinner?

I am going to start by showing you some of the pretty things in the grocery store across the street from our house. I love the colors of the Chinese sweets (above) and the cut pineapples (below) are less than $2.00 each!

I have no idea what kind of fruit this is below and how one goes about getting inside of it.

The dried fruits and flowers are for teas and have the most wonderful scent.

 I filled a bowl with dried citrus and it makes the room smell great.

 I tend to walk quickly through the dried & flattened fish area below.

I divert my eyes when I walk past this big basket of unknown food. 

My sympathy to the yaks????

Deke did not believe a word I said when I told him this was a pet shop in the grocery store. They have a variety of live snakes, turtles, and some surprisingly large frogs. I  have successfully avoided the tanks containing three of my phobias.

Grocery shopping has been fun and challenging. Packaging is obviously written in Chinese and sometimes I have no clue what is inside the package.  I was strolling the aisles and spotted a bottle of something called "Swallow" imagine my surprise when I discovered this was dishwashing soap.

Opera Prop Shop

I discovered a Chinese opera prop shop!

The ornate tassel above is part of a costume from a Chinese opera

 and it now serves as a drawer pull in our living room.

I also picked up this cute little hat with a gigantic pompon

There is my drawer pull in the middle of her hat.

Lulu and Deke have the week off from school and we plan on discovering more hidden treasures in Shanghai. Finding the opera prop shop was quite an adventure, it was sandwiched between wig shops on a bustling street. I downloaded some wonderful photos from inside the shop, but I can't figure out how to get them on this computer.

It is loads of fun stumbling upon a street that is dedicated to one type of product, and I was thrilled to discover a road teaming with art supply shops. Deke was not so thrilled with the road we will call "hanging meat" and Lulu's delicate constitution was challenged as we walked down the middle of "still living & freshly dead chicken lane". We have plans on visiting a few foreign language bookstores today and eating at a French bakery.