Temple Fair

It is now officially year of the dragon! The parking lot was littered with last night's fireworks bits in the morning. I wondered if the cars with alarms still had any juice left.



The start of the new year marks the start of temple fairs. Although temple fairs rarely happen at temples anymore, the name nevertheless has stuck. These fairs are full of traditional Beijing snacks, folk art, performances, acrobatics, and useless trinkets and toys.

There are at least 7 or 8 different fairs around Beijing area. We decided to check out Ditan, the biggest one. The entrance fee was 10 RMB (1.7 CAD) per person and opened from 9 to 5PM daily for 1 week after New Year's day. Ditan was packed full of people, shoulder to shoulder. We had to fight our way through to every booth but it definitely felt like new year!

Decorated gore, a folk art craft.




Really not sure what this is suppose to be. We even came across a guy dressed up as this character. Hmmmm....




A sedan ride around the park.




This I found really funny. All the bamboo sticks sticking out of the garage bags were from the thousands of BBQ meat skewers sold at the fair.





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Location:Beijing, China

Happy New Year

The loud cracking of fireworks hasn't stopped since this morning. The neighbourhood is in full throttle welcoming the year of the dragon. Our family is celebrating the New Year in Beijing this year. Due to lack of space, we decided to host New Year dinner in a restaurant. I must admit I was a little disappointed. Small part of me was looking for that childhood memory of what New Year should be like.

During the day we cleaned the house. It symbolized a clean "sled" to start the new year. Dinner was great. Fish for a plentiful year, fried pineapple turnover for a sweet year, chicken, braised pork, veggies and of course dumplings! One dish baffled me a bit. Mashed yam set on a potato chip and topped with jam. It was a strange combo, but it tasted light, fluffy, sweet with hint of savory.






When dessert came around, the waitress dropped serious hints that she would like to go home soon and celebrate new year with her family. We felt bad for her and left shortly. As soon as we hit the street we were bombarded with people everywhere setting off even louder and brighter fireworks.

Line of firecrackers just about to be lit.






By the intersection of our neighbourhood, they set up a giant dragon head lantern made out ceramic plates, spoons and cups.






Dragon lantern all lit up at night.






Everyone gathered in front of the TV right around 8 to watch CTV's annual spring festival show. We ate more food like sunflower seeds, peanuts, oranges and candies as we commented on the celebrities that showed up perform, the quality of the sketches, and other random gossip. Minutes before midnight, the neighbourhood became insane. Imagine that the Celebration of Lights wasn't lit up way out in English Bay but rather in the parking lot ten meters away. I felt I could reach out and catch a spark. It sounded like a war zone. Car alarms were going off everywhere. I watched everything like a little kid with my mouth open. People looked like they were having so much fun. I was kicking myself for not buying fireworks too. People didn't stop with the fireworks until close to 2AM.

Fun note, it is tradition that during your zodiac year, you have to wear something red on you all year long. A popular item is red underwear!






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Location:Beijing, China

My second home town - Nantong (南通)

During the culture revolution, my parents were sent to the country side from Shanghai to experience “peasant life”. When it was over, they were sent to work in a mid size town north of Shanghai named Nantong. I spent most of my childhood here. Mom and I arrived in town in the afternoon. I had caught a cold and spent the night nursing a sore throat and headache. My aunt made me hot ginger tea with brown sugar before and after dinner. It really worked miracle. Next morning I was feeling much better and got my energy back.

Mom and I decided to trace our life from 20 years ago. We started in the downtown area. Although I came here 5 years ago, I barely recognized anything. The clock tower that normally serves me as a landmark was again under construction, the government owned department store my mother use to be manage was bought out by a Japanese company a few years ago, and the aisles I use to run up and down after school all had disappeared.

We walked by the art research institute my father use to work for which was across from the public park I use to love going to on weekends. On the back of park was the elementary school I attended for eight years. I nearly missed it since the area opened up new roads and countless new buildings. I asked the reception for my old English and Math teacher. Unfortunately, today is Saturday and no one was around.




After our stroll down memory lane we had a big family dinner with my aunts, uncles, and even a new addition to the family. The cousin I grew up with just had a new baby girl. She was so sweet and definitely star of the night. I just can’t believe my childhood playmate now is not only someone’s husband but also a doting father. I felt more grown up than ever.




Baby Yiyi in her lady bug outfit!




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Location:Nantong, China

Wishing Grandma a Really Long Life

We are headed to Nanjing to visit my 95 year old grandmother. She not only watched me growing up, she is also the only grandparent I have left. I am excited to see her and do some much needed catching up. She lives in a nursing home and rooms with two other ladies. Grandma is very independent.  She cleans her own space, doesn't need any help going down stairs, and she still reads the newspaper everyday. For being over 90 grandma gets 80 RMB (13 CAD) per month from the government. When she turns 100 her compensation goes up to 130 RMB (22 CAD).

We took grandma out for lunch and took her for a walk around the neighborhood. She is really mobile for her age. Grandma kept on telling me how tall I have gotten. Not sure why since I am in my thirties and had stopped growing long time ago. She even asked about my husband who she met in 2003. Did I mention she has fantastic memory!

I wanted to buy some New Year goodies for grandma. After we dropped her off, mom and I went to check out the temple fair at Fuzi (夫子庙) Temple. Temple is usually the busiest place during the New Year period. In front of the temple, there was this huge golden wish tree. People can buy red ribbon and write down their wishes on it and then the ribbon gets thrown onto the tree. The higher it can be thrown the better chance the wish coming true.




Setting up for new year shows.









After getting rice cake, hairy crabs (grandma's favourite and mine too), and new shoes, we dropped them off at grandma's and said our good-byes. Tomorrow mom and I head for Beijing.

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Location:Nanjing, China

Moganshan Art District

China's art scene has been red hot in recent years. Not only attracting domestic, but also many international collectors. Beijing transformed an old industrial park full of decommissioned factories and warehouses into an art community called Factory 798. The other major cities started to follow suit. Moganshan (莫干山) is Shanghai's answer to 798.

Moganshan is actually located at 50 Moganshan Road. Sometimes it is also referred to as M50. Although much smaller than 798, Moganshan still holds its own. The community houses about 20 independent painting, photography, sculpture and other media galleries, workshops and studios. There are also trendy cafes.




The building exterior is kept pretty much the same. Inside I was surprised at how good the Chinese contemporary art scene has advanced. The different styles and innovative subjects made me wish I could take many of the pieces home. My father is an artist and I have always loved his ceramic work, so I tend prefer ceramic pieces like this one.







There is not a lot of graffiti around Shanghai, except for Moganshan. When we pulled away there were a couple of graffiti artists busy working on the outside walls of one of the buildings.

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Location:Shanghai, China

Street food and seafood of Shanghai

I have been in Shanghai for a few days now. I have been eating non stop. Good thing I have been walking a lot too. My favourite types of food are street food and seafood.

For breakfast instead of cereal, I would get a couple of steaming hot vegetable and meat buns with a cup of freshly squeezed soy milk.

For lunch I would have the one and only Nanxiang (南翔) steamed dumpling. Their flagship resturant is located within Chenghuang (城隍) Temple. There is always a long lineup for these delicious bit size of heaven. The buns are sold in 16 per serving and I ate them all!







For dessert I would get my favorite childhood treat: candied hawthorn. So much better than candied apple.




For afternoon snack, I would get a savory or sweet pastry baked in one of these clay ovens. When biting into the pastry, the ultra crispy shell is first thing that hits my lips. The flavour are locked tight inside, so what hits the taste buds on my tongue is the completeness of what went into that little pastry. It doesn't get any better than this. I also highly recommend clay oven baked sweet potato. The bits that gets caramelized are the best.



The perfect dinner to me is a seafood feast. There are a few streets in Shanghai full of nothing but seafood restaurants with fresh seafood on display outside.















Winter is best time for hairy legged crabs. I have eaten so much crabs since I got here that my tongue is all cut up. People believe hairy crab has a lot of "cold" element or chi. Hence, tons of ginger and garlic are put into the dipping sauce to balance out the cold and make sure you don't catch a cold.





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Location:Shanghai, China

Small Commodity Mecca – Yiwu

Today I decided to take the early high speed train to Yiwu. Yiwu is part of Zhejiang province and is the small commodity mecca of the world.

I really like taking the train in China. The train system is massive with reach into even the most remote areas. There are tons of speed and comfort options too. The security system is a lot more lenient than flying, not to mention delays are rare. Our train to Yiwu averaged around 170 km/hour as small villages, highways and farmland zipped by us.

We arrived in Yiwu in about 2.5 hours. Although the city is located south of Shanghai, it felt much colder. After checking into the hotel I ventured out to Yiwu International Trade Center. At the main entrance there is a big jumbo-tron displaying the current market price of the commodity goods.




I couldn't have imagined how big this place was. It is divided into five zones. Each zone is probably equivalent of one Metropolis Mall in Burnaby. But imagine walking into Metropolis and the first floor is nothing but shoe shops, hundreds of little shoe shops. Second floor is nothing but purses. Everything under the sun were sold here. Even shishas and religious decorations from around the world.  Most of the shops are whole sellers, you have to buy in bulk to get the rock bottom prices. Smaller items like small costume jewelry and beads are sold by weight. Larger or more expensive items like cellphones and small machinery can sometimes be negotiated and sold individually.

There were a lot of middle eastern, Indian, and African business people negotiating with broken Chinese and walking up and down the shops. Some have hired agents or brokers to help them.

All the hair clips your head can handle.



I really didn't need to go to Egypt to get a set.




Sea of pencils!



Giant Ugg boot!



By the time I was through Zone 4 (I had skipped Zone 3 and skimmed through the other two), it was already 5PM and I was so tired. I was so overwhelmed by everything that I didn't even buy anything. Or maybe I just didn't need 100 pairs of earrings even if they were sold at a ridiculous price.

The next day I headed to Huangyuan Clothing Market. I was confident that I was able to walk away with loot today. Huangyuan sits on 117 acres of land with 5 floors of just clothing.



A few hours and three big bags later, I was ready to pack it in and head back to Shanghai.

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Location:Yiwu, China

Leyao Garden

My grandparents passed away a couple of years ago and I haven't had the chance to pay my respect yet. Since this is a family trip, I had to make the two hour trip outside of Shanghai to visit them.

Their resting place is called Leyao (乐遥) Garden. It is a peaceful place far from the big city chaos. The tombs are very close to each other, each barely occuping an 10 square feet space.








Chinese normally visit their ancestors on Qingming Or Tomb Sweeping Day in April. This time of the year, the garden is deserted and abnormally quiet for China. There was no one around other than a couple of village kids and elderly.




Mom and I took our time paying respect. I was really grateful for all the happy childhood memories my grandparents gave me.








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Location:Shanghai, China

A Very Karaoke New Year

Today is New Year eve. My day started out with a trip down memory lane. I grew up in the neighbourhood called Jiangxi North Road where my grandparents had a tiny corner unit of maybe 250 square feet. Down the street was an intersection road nicknamed “little triangle” where grandpa taught me how to ride a bike. In the southern corner of the “little triangle” was a very popular restaurant where grandma use to buy me treats and wonton soup.





Little triangle is still there today. The restaurant had disappeared and replaced with little shops of street food. The tiny corner unit was torn down years ago and converted into a mall. One thing that hasn’t changed is that it is still hassling, bustling and full of life.












I didn’t want to brave the crazy crowd down on the Bund where all the big New Year light shows and fireworks were held. A few years ago I fought the crowd and had a great time, but for hours I couldn’t get a cab to get back to my hotel.

I met up with some old friends who decided singing Karaoke, China’s favourite pastime, was a great way to ringing in the New Year. I am no Celine Dion, not even William Hung, but I tagged along. The karaoke bar is located in a large mall in the Hongkou district. Our private room was big enough to house a small concert equipped with big screens, disco balls, flashing lights and auto applause. I snacked and spectated mostly. I really wish I was more musically inclined. Everyone who sang was loving it.

Unfortunately, I was feeling my age and didn't even make it pass midnight. I slept through my last few hours of 2011. Hopefully that will give me a lot of energy in 2012!

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Location:Shanghai, China

Delays and Jetleg

I have been looking forward to my New Year trip to China for awhile now. After checking in, security and duty free shopping I got to the airport just in time for boarding. Everyone even all settled in on time. The captain then informed us the plane had an excessive amount of luggage which was taking awhile to load. I was a bit puzzled since Air Canada announced in the fall reducing economy class to one piece of check-in luggage. Half an hour later I felt the plane pull out of the gate and it stopped. The captain announced there was a fuel leak and mechanics were on their way. I feared the worst. Half way through “Cowboy and Aliens” we were told we had to change planes. Everyone simultaneously grunted at the announcement.

Not sure why they had to pick another gate that was all the way on the other side of the airport. Murphy’s law! By the time we all settled in again, we were delayed for more than 3 hours. Good thing I had no connection flight. I only hoped my poor mother who was picking me up was checking her email and voice mail.

The flight lasted 12 hours. I watched about 3 movies and took random naps in between. When I finally arrived I discovered that mom had in fact not checked her email or voicemail. We grabbed some late dinner at a Taiwanese restaurant before I crashed hard into dreamland.

By 4AM I was bright eyed and brushy tailed. Car horns were already going off. Good morning Shanghai! I took my time getting ready for the day which also included getting breakfast take out from down the street. After lunch we headed out to People’s Park, Shanghai’s city centre. Shanghai is known for its shopping. For middle of the road goods, Raffles has many of the familiar brands such as Columbia and Nike. But I was looking more at the shops with local designs and branding. I found some really unique pieces that I don’t see very often in North America. For higher end goods, it is an easy 15 minute walk to Huihai Zhong Road. They have the standard Louis Vitton, Coach, Apple Store and etc. The bargains can be found underground of the park. Little tiny shops all jam packed with cloth, shoes, phone accessories and sparkly jewelry.

Shopping can be a very tiring sport. After a few hours, I was done and headed back to the hotel for another early night.


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Location:Shanghai, China