After a hectic routine of travelling and visiting, we have came somewhat close to turning the whole of Shanghai inside out. Our sight visiting to-do list is now down to 2 unchecked items - Pudong and QiBao water village.
The Authentic Chinese Water Village - QiBao (七宝古镇)
We hopped onto the good old bulky buick at the point when the clock stroke 10am, and headed for QiBao Water Village.
Many might wonder why pick QiBao instead of ZhouZhuang as my tour destination for my guests. Well the main reason was because, QiBao is one of the most preserved and un-commercialized water village. Unlike ZhouZhuang, QiBao has no entrace ticketing policy, and is not a tourist destination but a habitat of local water villagers.
"Where no white people are found, is where the cheap deals are found" is a very well proven philosophical theory here in Shanghai. Hence with their absence in this humble little village, enabled us to dominate every single bargain made.
Apart from the "water" business, this village is made up of a narrow alley, squashed and towered in between by two rows of double-storey houses-turned-shops. As you can see from the above picture, the roof linings of both the buildings come so close together that the sun's ray can only enter through this narrow slit. Notice the swarm of spitting insects? I DREAD IT!
"Bon apetit"! screeches the "roti telur" which caught my attention as we strolled by. It seemed that this new food is a hit in Shanghai. They named it (台湾手抓饼) which directly translates to Taiwan Hand Moulded Pastry. Why Taiwan? Oh dear, China, you are truly laid back! I had my first taste of that sickeningly fat and unhealthy food when I was like 5 years old at a drainside mamak stall!
Lunch at Blue Frog with Sarah
Our next stop for the day was at HongMei Road. Having made prior arrangements to meet Sarah for lunch at 12pm, our arrival at HongMei Road coincided with this privileged 12pm.
Together with Chris and Bernard, the four of us turned our tummies into blast furnaces for heavy duty calorie burnings at my all time favourite American diner, Blue Frog on the Hongmei Entertainment Street.
Shopping Frenzy at various flee markets
Having satiated our appetites and bid farewell to Sarah, we zoomed into the International Pearl City (a misleading name for yet another flee market) which is located directly opposite the entertainment street.
Next in line was to head for Cao An Road, where random assortments of wholesale goods are to be found. Sadly, everything sold there deemed to be inappropriate as souvenirs to be brought home. We eventually left the place with only two calculators in hand.
Despite being overwhelmingly exhausted, we still went against our natural instincts of hibernating and dived into our final flee market for the day - Da Tong Yang. After much effortful bargaining, we "fleed" the flee market with tonnes of goodies; leaving the vendors disgruntled as we had MAGA KILL-ed every single one of them who "barter traded" with us!
The day's post is not very picturesque as only Bernard had his camera with him in the later part of the day after the Water Village visit.
PS: This day is memorable for that Bernard was EMO!!!
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