Champs Elysee de Chine

Spring is great time to visit as the camellia and magnolias are in full bloom. Do be warned that the gardens get big waves of groups but if you are traveling alone try to hang back and you will catch a quiet moment in between each gaggle of tourists. The 5 acre gardens originated in 14^th century. They’ve had a peppered past during the Opium Wars and during the Taiping Rebellion. The high walls provide a secluded area of tranquility not just from the city but also the hectic modern day bazaar and food emporiums that cater of the masses. Vendors within the bazaar sell anything that once had a pulse, deep-fried, including chicken embryos on skewers. I stuck to dumplings or rather the dumplings did to my inside, very gluttonous!

A side road leading away from the gardens has some more interesting places to buy gifts including some good shops selling loose tea. One of my favourites is the flowering teas. These pretty hand-tied ‘flowers’ are made with green tea buds and beautiful aromatic flowers. When you pop them into boiling water they unfurl. I also came across a guy wearing a cowboy hat and doing his rendition of an Elvis song on a guitar. Buy one of the old small comic books that he sells and he might sing you a song.

If anyone knows anything about these books please get in touch.

Having been out in the open all day I got a slight tan. I had wondered why so many Asian women had been hiding under umbrellas. It’s considered unfashionable to have dark skin. In the west we have a huge tan culture. Self tan, tan booths, holidays that have to provide a suntan. The tan industry in the west is big and equal to that must be the opposite in Asia. I went to buy a moisturiser in their equivalent of Boots. Nearly every product had a whitening additive. I did some quick research and found that the main problem with some of these creams is that many of them contain a substance called hydroquinone, which a variety of studies have linked to:

• Increased risk of cancer
• Increased risk of adrenal gland problems
• Increased risk of all health conditions associated with mercury poisoning
• Increased risk of developing a rare metabolic disorder called ochronosis, which can cause physical changes to the skin and tissues surrounding the eyes, ears, and joints

Hydroquinone has already been banned for sale in the European Union, Australia, and Japan. Western brands such as Olay have the whitening selling point and Sephora sells whitening kits. I’m not so sure I want to continue to buy products from companies that promote the idea that whiter is better.

Standing patiently for the go ahead to cross the boulevard back to the hotel a guy on a motorbike pulled up to the crossing. On the back he had balanced a TV powered by a car battery showing DVD’s he had for sale. It was just like being at Brick Lane Market on Sunday morning. In London highly fidgety teams of Chinese migrant workers, mainly females wave illegal hard core porn DVD’s in your face. ‘DVD you want DVD?’