Took a break from Expo-ing today. While my dad went to play badminton (ha), my cousin took my mother and me on a minor sightseeing trip… specifically, to Taikang Lu.
This mini-maze of alleyways had shop after shop belonging to individual artists selling their wares in shops that were often just a bit bigger a compact car. And basically all I could think the entire time was how much the Pokechat girls would be tripping over themselves here, cause it’s a paradise for totally random and cute knick knacks… fantastic for souvenir shopping. :P Like the picture above was for some kind of store… which just sold merchandise with, uh, … well, pill art. >_>;
I was also terribly impressed by how international it was, with its variety of restaurants. I’m always surprised to see a non-Chinese restaurant, McDonalds aside. There are a disturbing number of KFCs running about, but I was also taken aback at seeing Subways and Starbucks and Coffee Beans. (The Chinese also have their own version of “fast food” Chinese — NOT Panda Express, but some chain called Kung Fu that has Bruce Lee as a logo. >_> )
But there is even the (very occasional) Italian or French place, and Taikang was absolutely stuffed to the brim with tiny hole-in-the-wall cafes/bistros/restaurants that all looked terribly cute and high quality. All very international. I guess this is partially due to how big of a tourist attraction it is (definitely boasts the highest quantity of non-Asians I have seen my whole entire trip thus far), but still.
Reorganized my Flickr sets a little, so now there are separate ones for the city of Shanghai and surrounding areas and the Expo itself. Both are part of the collection, China 2010… we’re going to be traveling to a couple more cities, so will make separate sets for each of them when it’s necessary. :x
