Appooppanthaadi -41

The Yu Garden in the middle of the city is euqally attracting visitors like The Bund. This is a garden with a lot of ancient boulders in different natural forms and beautiful water bodies in between. The tall jade rock is one of the most attractive things in the garden.

There are so many traditional Chinese buildings all over inside and outside this garden. Sadly the traditional buldinds are confined only to some selct spots like this. Chinese architecture has enchanting beauty in it. It is surprising, rather painfull, to see that the citizens there do not appreciate it. The reflection in water of these beauties in stones inside the garden is so nice to look at. Old is truly gold, we must agree when we are at the Yu Garden.

Outside the garden, there are so many small shops that are meant for tourists. These places look excctly like our own desi shops. Traditional clothes, ceramic goods and the famous hand held fan are prominantly displayed in every shop. The prices are exorbitant. Especially when they sight a foreign tourist, the prices shot up like a rocket. Of course, bargaining is the key to get the goods we like at the price we like.

I walked into a shop. Enquired the price of a traditional chinese cloth. As is common in China, this shop keeper too was a lady. She quoted a price of 280 yuans. It was received like a bolt from the blue sky by me. I walked out of the shop in a huff. The lady followed me, shouting a price of 90 Yuans! This is how prices are tagged to items in the market.

For More Photos click: Yu Garden and Surroundings

 

There are big markets in every China cities for clothes, electronic goods, toys and so on. Everywhere, harder we bargain, cheaper the goods get. Without thinking twice, we can put a price that is lower than half the shop keeper tells. Even if the price we quoted is offensively low, the shop keeper mostly shruggs us off or simply wear a bitter smile in her face. They never shout or abuse the buyers.

 Everytime, bargain takes place using a calculator as it is impossible to communicate in English with the shopkeepers. The offer price is typed in the calculator and the buyer types his/her price. After a lot of negotiations and persuations, finally arrives at a figure that is acceptable to both the stake holders. 

There is another famous shopping spot in Shanghai. The Nanjing Road. Like the Central Street in Harbin, here too hundreds of people throng for shopping. This is one of the busiest shopping areas in the world itslef.




 The entire stretch of the 5KM long Nanjing Road has a number of shops - most of them are like malls. .  There, bargaining is not possible and so, there is no thrill in shopping in these places.

Nanjing Road has a more interesting thing to mention. Right on the spot where I got down from the taxi at Nanjing Road, a man approached and asked if I needed massage. He says, massage is done by young girls. I ticked him off but a wave followed me. By the time I reached one end of the road, I lost count of the men and women who approaced me with the massage offer. Every foreigner was seen followed or even haunted by such people. They however spare the locals

(Interestingly, people from East Asian countries are said to be the biggest customers in the red light districts of European cities)

Massage is very common in China. Many of the visitors never miss this item as it is more than just massage! Young girls really do massage and in that process kick up some erotic feelings too (this is what I was told). It is apt to say that massage is laced with soft porn there. Perhaps that is what the most attracting aspect in the massage

The hotel room in which I stayed during my first visit to Shanghai was strewn with a number of 'business cards' carrying photos of beautiful girls and their phone numbers. These cards found their way to the room from the gap at the bottom of the door. There are so many agents working in this business.



 These cards offer a vast avenue of entertainments including sex and massage anytime anywhere, without the fear of being watched by the moral police ...

Click the link for more photos of Shanghai : Shanghai city