Deciding against any more complicated taxi journeys I decided to hit the streets on foot. I would have preferred to have done this on bicycle but I could not find anywhere that would hire one. I asked the hotel and they looked and me puzzled and pointed at the taxi rank.
Heading north I wanted to find a few shops that are mentioned in the Lonely Planet Guide to Shanghai. Madame Mao's Dowry (70 Fuxing Road West) was my chance to find some authentic Chinese antiques or at the very least bric a brac. Hoping to nab a few bargain retro items I should have gone to the bank first for a loan. Beautiful handpainted Mao inspired painted vintage mirrors were around £150. Large framed communist posters were a similar price. Having the ability to pick the most expensive items in shops I decided to leave before I got really tempted as there were some really nice pieces of furniture.
Behind Fuxing Road West using a combination of spotting the occasionally sign and detective work, I found Shanghai's Hand-printed Blue Nankeen (batik) Museum and Shop (No. 24, Lane 637 Changle Road). The collection includes a display of dying tools, wooden printing blocks and wax paper cutouts. The small museum shows how the production process has remained unchanged for many years and historic patterns are still reproduced. The technique looks similar to batik. I don’t have much more information about his place as the only leaflet left was in Japanese (I think the owner might be from there also) and the owners speak limited English. The prints echo the blue-glazed porcelain of the Song Dynasty (420-479 AD). I bought some lengths of the more wacky designs. Some of them remind me of African fabric.
Nankeen fabric to add to my small collection of textiles.
This is what wikipedia says about Nankeen.
The term blue nankeen' describes hand-printed fabric of artistic refinement and primitive simplicity, which originated on the Silk Road over three thousand years ago.
Hand-carved stencils, originally made from wood but now from heavy paper, are prepared and a mix of soya bean flour and slaked lime is applied through the openings of the stencil onto the 100% cotton fabric. When dry, the fabric is then dipped numerous times into the large tubs containing the indigo dye. After the right color is achieved and the fabric has dried, the paste is scraped off, revealing the white patterns on the blue cloth. The fabric is then washed, dried, and ironed before fabrication into the Nankeen collection. Such fabric represents a fast-disappearing historic art form which embodies ancient Chinese culture and traditions.
In the courtyard garden lengths of freshly printed fabric are hung over the Camellia bushes.
Even if you are not interesting in textiles the route to find the museum takes you right into the heart of urban residential life in Shanghai. This is a chance to see communal style living which within a short period of time will be replaced by skyscraping apartment blocks. The previous night I had seen a short documentary about life in these communal houses. Residents were asked what was good and bad about living in this way, a concept alien to western cities where most people don't even speak to their neighbour. Here kitchens and bathroom are shared. Each family has their own food but household chores are shared. There is of course no privacy but there is also no isolation. People are not dying alone and undiscovered for weeks.
Within a stroll of Ruijin No 2 Road I chanced upon a miniature version of Shoreditch. Down a dark anonymous alley is a labyrinth of independently owned artisan shops and bars. Many of them are run by young Japanese or Korean owners. Meshi (Shop 37, Lane 248, Taikang Rd) sells Japanese teaware and households items. To get onto the shop you have to walk on large stepping stones set within a miniature Zen garden. There are lots of small bars and restaurants and even a Tibet shop!
In the evening I hooked up with some Brit ex pat guys for a traditional Chinese banquet with obligatory rotating table. The dishes chef seemed to be into creative slicing of fish.
For the full Chinese nightlife after the meal we piled into a taxi to an underground bar otherwise known as a dive bar where drinks are RMB 10. The only way to describe the atmosphere was a Chinese squat party. Expat DJ's play anything they feel like playing. Drinks are cheap and spliffs are passed around. I did not inhale which is just as well as I found out in my final leg of my Asian journey. Female foreigners were in the minority and the couple of guys I was introduced to spent most of the time leaning on their shorter Chinese girlfriends. 'I love it here. Back home I never get dates but Chinese girls zone in on us foreign guys. I can take my pick. I've got several on the go.'
On that comment I quickly made my excuses. Viewpoints like this may be held by some young guys back in the UK but you just don't say this kind of thing. Single female foreigners find it really hard in the dating game in Asia. A ex-London friend of mine says the majority of guys are only interested in the local girls and the ones that are not you really would not date if they were the last guy available. Which is probably why she set up the Asian equivalent to Ann Summers. See my Singapore blog later.
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