Snoozing Around Shanghai - Visiting Zhujiajiao, Xintiandi, and Tongchuan Lu

Jetlag is a bitch.  Instead of getting a good night sleep, all of us couch potatoes were wide awake at 3:30 AM.  We knew that we were going to have a long day ahead of ourselves, but none of us could fall back to sleep.  Our ride was not going to pick us up until 9 AM, so we had several hours to kill.  Once the sun started coming out, we made our way a few blocks east to grab breakfast from some street stalls.

These "pancakes" stuffed with garlic chives and scallions seemed popular among the locals.

Most of these food items were inexpensive at less than 10 RMB.

These "crepes" were made to order.

Eggs seemed to be the main form of protein available at these food stalls.

Beyond those areas were some butchers preparing meat for sale.  The Wife recognized that they were speaking a language other than plain Mandarin Chinese.  They were some of the ethnic people from the tumultuous Xianjiang region.   

With all of the recent terrorist activities linked to the Uigher people, we decided to not tempt
our fate around those with large knives.  We beat a hasty retreat back to the street stalls.

There are no places to sit down near these street vendors.  Most people just eat standing curbside or take it to go.  With the kids with us, we just went back to the hotel.  We stopped at the nearby 7-11 (yes they do have Slushies!) for some fruit-flavored yogurt-milk drinks.

The Boy loved this large "pancake" that was stuffed
with meat and tasted like spicy pizza sausage.

This "crepe" was seasoned with bean paste and egg
and stuffed with you tiao (fried breadsticks)

This breakfast item is essentially the Chinese
version of the Egg McMuffin sandwich.

It consisted of eggs, meat and vegetables encased in fried
dough.  It's even cheap enough to be on the dollar menu!

The commonly found sesame seed ball (jin deui)
is usually filled with sweet lotus paste. 

We bought this sweet, bean-filled bun from 7-11.
The Girl really liked it for its looks and taste.

At 9 AM the minivan picked us up and drove us to Zhujiajaio.  This city is one of several canal towns located near Shanghai that calls itself the “Venice of the East.”  Yet, none of them were ever a powerful city state with a mercantile navy that dominated the politics of that region.  Originally inhabited about 1700 years ago, Zhujiajiao really took off during the Qing and Ming Dynasties.  The attraction to tourists now is the traditional architecture of the buildings, the simple lifestyles of the inhabitants, and the picturesque canals and bridges. The Wife wanted to come here because Zhujiajiao has some of the best preserved ancient buildings in the Shanghai area.  She had originally considered the more popular canal town of Suzhou, but we would have lost an entire day just getting there and back.

Although the drive is only supposed to take around 40 minutes, it took us well over an hour because of the heavy traffic.  Perhaps a lot of the locals were headed out that way too, it being Saturday.  Luckily, the kids got a good nap out of the long ride.

At the entrance to the Old Town, there are three packages of tickets that can be purchased based on how many attractions a person is interested in visiting.  The highest tier included all the attractions and a boat ride for 80 RMB per person.  We decided to pass on any of these options.  We were expecting to wander the town on our own, but our driver decided to lead us through the narrow streets of the town. 

The wide street leading into the town...

...can quickly turn into narrow passages.

Tourists can get an idyllic view of Zhujiajiao from atop one of the bridges.

Zhujiajiao is no quaint, sleepy village.  Tourism has engulfed the Old Town.  On the main streets, practically every house is a storefront.  There are few residences there now.  Near the entrance, most of the shops sold popular local snacks.

Zongzi is similar to a Chinese tamale, made with rice instead of corn.  Glutinous
rice is stuffed with pork filling, wrapped in banana leaves, and then steamed.

Another specialty is the braised red pork knuckles.  I never saw anyone buying or
eating one of these, so there is no telling how long they have been sitting around.

We proceeded along North Street, the main thoroughfare through the ancient part of town.  Every other shop seemed to be a tea house.  Many were very bohemian or environmentally conscious (or at least they advertised that they are) to distinguish themselves to the younger granola-loving clientele.  As evidenced by the smog problems in China, most average Chinese could care less.

If there is coffee and tea houses around, Starbucks won't be too far away.

We stopped at one of the many makeshift stalls selling foods like fried smelts and lotus root.  The Wife insisted on getting some fried stinky tofu served with both sweet and spicy sauces.  It’s basically tofu that has been fermented (aka rotted) in brine for up to several months.  For anyone who has ever seen Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel, it is one of the few foods that has continuously foiled Andrew Zimmern.  Stinky tofu is close to impossible to find back in the United States.  But The Wife enjoys it just like a Frenchman enjoys a good stinky cheese.  The last time (and first time) I had it was a few years ago from a similar street vendor in Kunming.  I had The Shits for the next three days.  Not learning my lesson, I shared some with The Wife.  I even convinced The Boy to take a bite.  He was so disgusted by the rotting smell and taste that he almost puked it back up.  

While there is definitely a stink to this tofu, I didn't taste as rancid as the stuff I had yeas ago.

After quickly passing by a few temples that are part of the town’s attractions, we arrived at the boat dock.  The Wife and I were not eager to take a very touristy boat ride down the canals.  However, the kids wanted to go, so we purchased a short ride for about 65 RMB.  Each boat can accommodate up to 6 passengers, and there was plenty of room for the five of us.  

Similar to the gondolas of Venice, a man stood in the back to propel and steer the boat.

There's little solitude on the canals.  There are multiple boats constantly ferrying tourists to and fro.

Who needs indoor plumbing when you have a source of water right outside your back door.

We passed by several of the ancient houses and bridges, most of them packed with tourists.  

There are 36 bridges in Zhujiajiao, albeit most are pretty small.

The boat ride took us near the Fangsheng bridge, the largest one in Zhujiajiao.

The short ride itself only took 15-20 minutes, but it was actually very enjoyable and relaxing, especially since we didn't have to row.  It was worth the time and money, so I was glad that we had listened to the kids.

Sometimes, it is better to pack a child’s innocence rather than an adult’s cynicism on vacation.

After disembarking the boat, we wandered through the rest of the Old Town, exploring the different shops and vendors.

The Wife happily reminisced about this molasses-like candy that she used to eat in China
when she was a small child.  The kids took a few bites, frowned, and threw it away.

Several artisans work with sugary syrups to create animal-shaped candies.

The Boy got a pig and The Girl a horse.
They each took a few bites,
frowned, and threw them away.

Feeling generous with their parents' money, the kids gave all of their coins to an elderly beggar.

Several shops had colorful birds chained up or kept in cages.

It seemed kind of cruel, but it did get our attention.

A craftsman creates combs from wood and cow bones.  Plastic is fine for me.

We did make a slight detour off of the main road.  This allowed us to see some of the more peaceful and residential aspects of the city.

Yet another bridge

These houses essentially have a pool in their backyards.

Most people don't have dryers in China, so clothes are left out to dry.

Restaurants line the canals.  There weren't many patrons...yet.

The canal empties into the much-wider Dianpu River 

Our driver led us over to some of Zhujiajiao's historic locations.  We peeked into (but did not pay for) the Qing Dynasty post office and the Tong Tian He Medicine Shop, a pharmacy that has provided traditional Chinese medicine to the city for centuries.  The entrance to each was only about 5 RMB per person, but neither looked really interesting to us.

I would hate to see a teen-aged miscreant
take a bat to this Qing Dynasty mailbox.

Does the Tong Tian He Medicine Shop have any ground-up rhinoceros horn or dried tiger's penis?

Guidebooks recommend several other attractions to visit in Zhujiajiao such as the Ke Zhi gardens.
However, we were just too tired fighting the throngs of tourists which had really gotten thick by midday.

After about three hours, we were done with this 3 sq km town.  Our energy was zapped from the jet lag. Most of the restaurants both inside the Old Town and just outside the entrance were already packed with tourists.  Since none of us were really hungry, we decided to go back to Shanghai instead.  After another one hour drive and a nap for all of us, we arrived in the swanky Xintiandi area of Shanghai.

Historically, the Xintiandi area is notable for hosting the First Congress of the Communist Party of China.  In present-day China, Xintiandi is notable for hosting pricey boutique stores, art galleries, and trendy Westernized cafes.  It's a great place for the bourgeois to shop.

This statue in the main square represents fortune, prosperity, and longevity.

The main pedestrian-only street is flanked by al fresco dining options.

We wandered around some of the shops while the kids complained how cold they were and how much their feet hurt.  At the nearby Xintiandi Style mall, there were many more upscale boutique stores from international designers who I've never heard of.  They had other upscale things such as a Maserati on display at the front entrance, a Vera Wang store, and a…Dairy Queen?!?  The Blizzards are good and all, but DQ isn't quite on the same tier as a luxury Italian car company.  We did enjoy a display of the clever works by a Chinese cartoonist named Tango Gao.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything else in English about him on the internet.  We did stop at a tea shop for a quick snack.  Mainly we just wanted to have a chance to sit down and rest.  They offered afternoon tea (expensive for China!), but we were in the mood for some sweets.

Fruit cheesecake

Strawberry parfait

The Wife and I feel that it is important for our kids to be exposed to the cultural history of China.  So we walked for several blocks to see the area that was previously part of the French Concession back in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  We walked, and walked, and walked.  After half an hour of listening to the whines of tired children, we decided to give up on this foolish endeavor without having seen anything historical or interesting.  We decided to eschew the subway station and flagged a taxi to our next location for dinner.  After napping for 45 minutes during the taxi ride (only about 35-40 RMB), we arrived at Tongchuan street in the northwest area of Shanghai.

I’m fascinated by food markets.  Seafood markets are probably the most intriguing to me, probably because we live in a land-locked city without good access to ocean-dwelling critters.  The Tongchuan Lu seafood market is supposed to be the Tsukiji market of China.

Since we had been to Tsukiji five years ago, I was expecting great things.  However, it wasn't quite up to the same level.  As expected there was no tuna auction and there weren't items particular to the Japanese palate.  But, I was most disappointed in the lack of truly exotic items on sale.  After all, the Chinese will eat practically everything.  At Tsukiji, just about anything that has touched salty water can be found there.  That being said, there is still a huge variety of seafood on sale here.  It would still take several trips to this area to try them all.

Most of the pelagic fish on sale were pomfrets, yellow croakers, or other smaller fish.

Occasionally, we saw vendors with live fish swimming in coolers or bathtubs.

They did have plenty of salmon imported from Scandinavia
and belt fish (foreground), a specialty of Shanghai.

Vibrantly-colored spotted groupers can sometimes be found on ice.

Most vendors don't specialize in one type of seafood.  They often have a smattering of everything.

There are several varieties of lobsters on sale.  However,
they are all still pretty expensive, even when haggling.

Although native to the American Northwest, geoduck clams are very popular (and expensive) in Asia.

Mantis shrimp are one of the more popular items found at Tongchuan.  Their
powerful claws make them mean predators in the wild.  Supposedly,
the larger ones can even be strong enough to break aquarium glass.

Several varieties of reasonably-priced crabs can be found at the market.

These large sea scallops were a good bargain, so we bought several.

These surf clams will likely end up in someone's sushi.

We wandered around aimlessly through the dark inner warehouse running into workers sweeping up rotting shrimp shells, trucks unloading huge blocks of ice, and many dead ends.  Maybe we came at the wrong time as most shopping by restaurants is done first thing in the morning.  Maybe we just didn't explore enough of the area (the kids were getting very antsy).  Maybe I just had no idea what I was doing.  Tongchuan market didn't have quite the frenetic pace or energetic vibe that made the Tsukiji market so exciting.

I think we got here too late for the party.  In the morning, the market is usually hopping.

We settled on one shop along the main road and haggled for two crabs, 1.5 jin (~ 1.6 lb) of live mantis shrimp (ours were about 4-6 inches long, but some places sold foot-long ones), a yellow croaker, and 10 scallops still in the shell.  We couldn't come to terms with the vendor for a large spiny lobster which was “discounted” at 500 RMB.  All of these items came out to less than 300 RMB.  We probably could have done a better job of haggling, but we were already too tired and my speaking English didn't help.

The vendor recommended the nearby Tian Hong Seafood Restaurant to cook up our catch of the day.  The restaurant wasn't too busy when we first arrived, but by the time we left an hour later, there was a long line of people holding bags of seafood at the door.  The waitress examined and weighed our purchases and recommended a style of cooking for each item.  We were fine with whatever she suggested.

The only non-seafood item we ate were these really good greens sauteed with garlic.

The mantis shrimp were fried with spicy-salted seasoning. The flavor was great, but eating
them was very difficult as the shrimp shells are spiky and the meat stuck to the shells.

The crab was stir-fried with a ginger-onion sauce.  It was underseasoned.

The yellow croaker was steamed and served with a soy based sauce. The sauce
was good, but overall, I just don’t think it is that tasty of a fish to start with.

The scallops were served on the half-shell with noodles and sauce.  It was our favorite dish.

Surprisingly, we were able to barely finish all of that food.  The final tally at the restaurant was 130 RMB.  So for under $70, the four of us had a full meal of very fresh seafood.  Not bad.  I only wish that we had brought more people so that we could have sampled a wider variety of items.

On the way back, we walked past a few more seafood stalls to flag down a taxi.  One store was selling horseshoe crabs!  I don’t care how much it costs or how it tastes, I would have gotten one of those if I had seen it earlier.  With more time and experience at the Tongchuan market, I'm sure we could find more exotic critters and at even better prices.  Then I could do my part to help deplete the world’s oceans of living things.  However, I’ll have to convince the other Couch Potatoes to drive this far again for seafood first.  Plus, we will all have to do it on a better night's rest.