I finally ventured out past the 5 blocks around the apartment. I made my way into a part of the city called
French Concession. With it's mixture of European and Chinese architecture it is a great example of what Shanghai is today, a perfect blend of the old and new. Just a few blocks away from the trendy cafes, hip designer shops and art galleries you can find street vendors and other small shops. Shanghai is a walking or biking town. Since I am the klutziest person in the world there is no way I will ever get on a bike in this city of crazy
traffic, so I will be walking or when necessary use public transportation. I decided to take a taxi to the French Concession. Having Lonely Planet's guide to Shanghai is proving to be priceless. They have a tear out map with both English and Chinese characters. I just pointed out where I wanted to go on the map and was whisked away to enjoy my first Shanghainese adventure.
First stop: Fuxing Park. There was a stall where you could to buy/rent a fishing rod (basically a small stick with line and hook attached), bucket and bait. People were using them to catch the goldfish that were conveniently supplied to a nearby pond. It was quite fun to see their determined faces as they thought they got a catch only for the fish to escape the hook. I did see one kid who was about 8 or 9 catch one, outdoing all the adults around him. There were a lot of older people just sitting and relaxing or enjoying a game of cards or mahjong with friends. I'm not sure if gambling is legal but there was money on many of the tables. And just in case you forget about the country's political stance there is a statue of Carl Marx and Fredrick Engles, co-authors of the Communist Manifesto. 
My next stop was the Museum of Sun Yat-sen's Former Residence, which was adjacent to the park. There were two buildings and for Y20 I had access to both. The first building you enter is the museum. To the right of the entrance there is a huge statue of Sun Yat-sen and on the left is a sign in both English and Chinese describing his life in Shanghai. After viewing all the artifacts you exit the rear door to a small yard. To the right you can enter the second building which was actually his residence. As you enter there is an employee who scans tickets and also ensures that guests put plastic bags over your shoes. They looked like shower caps for the feet. About 3 huge blocks away was Xintiandi, where I saw the most tourists since being in China. Everyone was sitting outside cute little cafes and restaurants. I made my way inside to a place called Din Tai Fung. I heard they had some of the best xiaolongbao or soup dumplings. It's quite easy to
get used to the cheap prices here so when I saw the cost of 10 mini dumplings and soup I balked. The meal which included 2 cans of Sprite, 10 mini dumplings and 2 bowls of soup came up to about Y80. That's about $13. But it's hard to accept when you can get the same dumplings for about $1 somewhere else. Most places we go to have plates for about Y12 or Y22 at the most and they all come with soup! Anyway, enough ranting about my cheap habits.When eating the dumplings pick it up with your chopstick and place it onto the soup spoon. Bite the top of the dumpling skin leaving a small opening and dip into the soup allowing the dumpling to fill with liquid. Since they are pretty tiny, you can eat it all in one bite. I have to say they were pretty yummy but I'm going to go somewhere cheaper so I can compare. I'm not sure it was worth that much RMB.
About 6 blocks away you can escape the chic atmosphere and delve deeper into "old" Shanghai. Dongtai Road is spread over two streets. I found tons of stalls selling a hodgepodge of antiques some real and some fake. This is where my haggling skills came into play. Vendors didn't speak English but they all had calculators. They would enter a number into the calculator and I would shake my head no and enter a much lower price. This goes back and forth for a while until one person gives in. When they refused I would start walking away and this would immediately bring a response of "ok, ok, ok" and my price would be accepted. Haggling has become my new favorite hobby. No one should ever pay the first price quoted. I have managed to bring prices down to less than 50%. I am constantly trying to do better. The guilt of paying way too little for some items makes me want to give in , then I remember they are quoting "foreigner prices." I think what I pay is still a lot more than the normal price. Across the street from Dongtai and I discovered a plant and animal market. There were hundreds of crickets, grasshoppers and locusts being sold. As you can imagine the sound of chirping was extremely overpowering. There were also many different species of birds, cats and dogs. I even came across a store selling chinchillas. They were very cute.
Right after that I took a taxi and headed back to my cousin's apartment. After all that walking my feet were tired and I was in need of a nap.
First stop: Fuxing Park. There was a stall where you could to buy/rent a fishing rod (basically a small stick with line and hook attached), bucket and bait. People were using them to catch the goldfish that were conveniently supplied to a nearby pond. It was quite fun to see their determined faces as they thought they got a catch only for the fish to escape the hook. I did see one kid who was about 8 or 9 catch one, outdoing all the adults around him. There were a lot of older people just sitting and relaxing or enjoying a game of cards or mahjong with friends. I'm not sure if gambling is legal but there was money on many of the tables. And just in case you forget about the country's political stance there is a statue of Carl Marx and Fredrick Engles, co-authors of the Communist Manifesto. 
My next stop was the Museum of Sun Yat-sen's Former Residence, which was adjacent to the park. There were two buildings and for Y20 I had access to both. The first building you enter is the museum. To the right of the entrance there is a huge statue of Sun Yat-sen and on the left is a sign in both English and Chinese describing his life in Shanghai. After viewing all the artifacts you exit the rear door to a small yard. To the right you can enter the second building which was actually his residence. As you enter there is an employee who scans tickets and also ensures that guests put plastic bags over your shoes. They looked like shower caps for the feet. About 3 huge blocks away was Xintiandi, where I saw the most tourists since being in China. Everyone was sitting outside cute little cafes and restaurants. I made my way inside to a place called Din Tai Fung. I heard they had some of the best xiaolongbao or soup dumplings. It's quite easy to
get used to the cheap prices here so when I saw the cost of 10 mini dumplings and soup I balked. The meal which included 2 cans of Sprite, 10 mini dumplings and 2 bowls of soup came up to about Y80. That's about $13. But it's hard to accept when you can get the same dumplings for about $1 somewhere else. Most places we go to have plates for about Y12 or Y22 at the most and they all come with soup! Anyway, enough ranting about my cheap habits.When eating the dumplings pick it up with your chopstick and place it onto the soup spoon. Bite the top of the dumpling skin leaving a small opening and dip into the soup allowing the dumpling to fill with liquid. Since they are pretty tiny, you can eat it all in one bite. I have to say they were pretty yummy but I'm going to go somewhere cheaper so I can compare. I'm not sure it was worth that much RMB.
About 6 blocks away you can escape the chic atmosphere and delve deeper into "old" Shanghai. Dongtai Road is spread over two streets. I found tons of stalls selling a hodgepodge of antiques some real and some fake. This is where my haggling skills came into play. Vendors didn't speak English but they all had calculators. They would enter a number into the calculator and I would shake my head no and enter a much lower price. This goes back and forth for a while until one person gives in. When they refused I would start walking away and this would immediately bring a response of "ok, ok, ok" and my price would be accepted. Haggling has become my new favorite hobby. No one should ever pay the first price quoted. I have managed to bring prices down to less than 50%. I am constantly trying to do better. The guilt of paying way too little for some items makes me want to give in , then I remember they are quoting "foreigner prices." I think what I pay is still a lot more than the normal price. Across the street from Dongtai and I discovered a plant and animal market. There were hundreds of crickets, grasshoppers and locusts being sold. As you can imagine the sound of chirping was extremely overpowering. There were also many different species of birds, cats and dogs. I even came across a store selling chinchillas. They were very cute.
Right after that I took a taxi and headed back to my cousin's apartment. After all that walking my feet were tired and I was in need of a nap.
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