Shanghai - 12.04.19

For my second stay in Shanghai, I had planned to experience more of Biggi's everyday life and hoped to go grocery shopping with her. I think that when you go to local markets and supermarkets, you immerse yourself in the local life, and I find it fascinating to discover what you can find on the shelves and at the stands. Whether it's products that we don't know, oversized packaging units, or packaging that wasn't necessary or is completely unnecessary, like selling eggs in nets. What they save on packaging with the eggs, is then doubled with other products, like Mentos, which are rolled in paper just like with us and then wrapped in plastic packaging (even for individual rolls!). On Thursday, I already had a little taste confusion when I bought a bottle of mineral water. I had only paid attention to it being carbonated water, and when I took the first sip, I had to realize that it was salted water. Biggi had forgotten to tell me about it and found my reaction very funny, which was 'Why would they do that?'. But honestly, why do they sell carbonated noodle water? On another visit to the supermarket, I took a closer look and there is even salted water with lemon flavor.

After browsing the Chinese supermarket, we went to a wholesale market where Biggi regularly buys her fruits and vegetables. But first, we strolled through the seafood halls. I was able to differentiate between fish, seafood, and shells. But in many cases, an exact naming was not possible. Although the stands themselves didn't look particularly inviting, it must be said that seafood, meat, fruits, and vegetables cannot be fresher. In the seafood section, you choose your fish while it is still alive and then take it home in a prepared state for cooking. The killing, scaling, and gutting happens in front of the customer's eyes. So we also saw how a living turtle was cut out of its shell and a living frog had to separate its legs. It was really not pleasant to watch and also very disgusting. These are examples of how ruthless the Chinese can be. If we had an outside temperature of 30 degrees, it certainly wouldn't have been so pleasant in terms of smell... The meat hall was respectful at first glance, but on closer inspection, it could be seen that the meat was really of good quality. Biggi knows some other women who buy their meat there. The savings are of course high. The meat is also packed there for supermarkets and sold for at least three times the price. I am already used to seeing whole chickens hanging from the Chinese from last year and even from Chinatown in New York. The halls with the vegetable and fruit stands were a dream. So much selection, also varieties that I didn't know yet, everything very fresh and crisp, and of course much cheaper.

Since the wholesale market is not far from the compound, which is what they call residential areas here, we rode the bike - my first ride on an e-bike - to go there. Traffic-wise, it was also without problems.

In the afternoon, I wanted to go back to downtown, and as announced, my destination was Yu Garden again. We had eaten very tasty noodles there last year (Shanghai Fried Noodles), and I wanted to repeat that today. I quickly found the restaurant again. After I had crossed out what I wanted to order with a marker pen on the menu and paid for my order, I was assigned probably the most beautiful spot in the restaurant. While waiting for my food, I could observe the crowds of people pushing themselves over the bridge. My food was very delicious, just like I remembered it. Afterwards, I strolled through the alleys and small shops a bit and let myself be carried away by the atmosphere.

In the compound where Biggi lives, there are many families who are in Shanghai for a few years for various companies for professional reasons. Since a friend of Biggi also has visitors from Germany now, we, as a small group of girls, got together to spend the evening together in the surrounding bars on the Bund. Our first destination was the 'Vue Bar'. This bar is located on the top floors of a hotel. After the first nice impression of the bar, we were totally amazed when we entered the second floor of the bar and its rooftop terrace. From up there, you had a very impressive view of the skyscrapers in Pudong, the Bund, and the illuminated Bund promenade. The main reason to be up there, of course, is to take photos and enjoy the complimentary drinks included in the admission. From the 'Vue Bar', we continued to the 'Captain's Bar'. We walked a part of our way directly along the Bund promenade. The 'Captain's Bar' is located in a hostel, is a bit smaller, has a great outdoor terrace with a view of the Bund, which, according to the recommendation of some of our group, is particularly beautiful at sunset. The drinks here also tasted good. It was a fun and successful evening!