China - Fall 08 - Day Two, Part Two - Shanghai

(apologies for constantly falling behind with the blogging about China)



Well, after doing some shopping at the LIFE HUB, me, Sam, and Libby piled into a cab and headed for OLD TOWN SHANGHAI, one of the oldest parts of Shanghai (duh) and also one of the most "touristy" parts of the city. Old Town is comprised of block after block of chintzy gift shops and American fast food joints crammed into old school-looking buildings...



(The main entrance into Shanghai's Old Town)















A "floating" teapot outside of a tea shop:





The "Show of Special Skill by Yuyuan Folks Craftsman" included such skills as writing your name on a grain of rice, writing your name in Chinese on an "ancient scroll", and drawing funny caricatures of tourists...











We were in Old Town in the middle of the MID-AUTUMN or MOON FESTIVAL, one of the biggest holidays in China. There was a gang of people in this one square that had statues of the two mythological characters associated with the Moon Festival, CHANG'E (the woman in the moon) and HOUYI (the archer)...everyone clamored for a chance to have their pictures taken with the statues...









Walking down one crowded alleyway, we saw this very weird procession of clowns, replete with unicycles, a funky Charlie Chaplin wannabe, and a creepy-looking character banging a gong...we followed the procession to a stage in another square, hoping for some sort of spectacular performance. Instead, they just posed for the cameras before going on their merry way...









There was one courtyard where, for a price, you could enter and burn incense, offerings, and firecrackers to honor ancestors and various deities...





We came across the "oldest vegetarian restaurant in Shanghai" and hoped we would be treated to a satisfying lunch...unfortunately, the food there looked like the "oldest vegetarian food in Shanghai", prompting us to bounce on outta there:



Not content with all the shopping we had done, we grabbed another taxi and made our way down NANJING ROAD, one of the other main shopping districts in Shanghai:







...we weren't there for long, though. By the time we got to the end of Nanjing, we decided to head back to the hotel. Back in my room, I surveyed my souvenir haul for the day. In Old Town, I bought Missy this vinyl shopping bag with funny messages and cute designs on it:







Best of all, I had the skilled Yuyuan Folks Craftsman in Old Town make a bobblehead in my likeness:



It's really cool - at the souvenir stand that makes the bobbleheads, they take your picture and then you choose from one of the many pre-made bodies. You pay for the bobblehead and then they tell you to come back in 45 minutes. During that time, an artist sculpts your head out of this rubbery, Sculpy-like substance and then paints it, using a hair dryer to expedite the process. Check out the "stubble" they put on my upper lip! Unfortunately for me, they only had one skin tone color to choose from: CHINESE.