Shopping like a local

Despite all the advances Shanghai has seen the street stall culture is alive and well! 

We live in an area of Shanghai known as Pudong.  Many locals would say it has no soul! Pudong is dominated by residential skyscrapers and has primarily been a response to the rapid development of the business sector of Shanghai. That said - at ground level - the streets of Pudong bustle with locals all plying their wares just as they do on the Puxi side. 

Mobile vendor selling chairs - they are all loaded onto his pushbike and tray!

There are soup kitchens that pop up in the evenings, fruit stalls, flower stalls, wet markets, barber shops and mobile vendors - in fact anything you could imagine.  I think it is one of the things that makes China just soooo "Chinese"!. 

Each stall holder seems to have their "patch" .  On our local corner there is a family that arrives every evening at around 5pm.  They sell amazing fruit and absolutely gorgeous flowers.  So we tend to buy from them on a daily basis. 

They seem to be extremely excited by our choice to shop with them and ply us with free bananas on a daily basis as we pass by them.  In fact we have so many bananas I'm going to have to learn that song " We [need] no ban nan nas today!! In Chinese of course! 

perhaps it would go something like this........"jintian women mei you xiang jiao!!!

This photo shows Russ at the local street barbers!  The guy couldn't believe Russ wanted a hair cut - and it all caused quite a stir with passing traffic grinding to a halt just to watch! 

Relatively speaking there are very few expats out and about -  so as a westerner we are still seen as quite the curiosity .  Particularly as we elect to shop at the local Chinese supermarket and the local stalls.  It really does take some getting used to  - the inquisitive looks, the giggles, the stares!  

Until next time

Zai Jian !