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Dongtai Lu Antique Market

My friend Kirsten and I are trying to do one Shanghai adventure day every week where we find something we want to check out and then go and make it happen. Today Kirsten wanted to get some Christmas presents for people back home and we thought Dongtai Lu outdoor antique market was the perfect place. From my house it took about 25 minutes on the subway.


 It was the coldest day in Shanghai for me so far. (45 degrees) I wore a long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt and peacoat and I am so glad I layered up. I have been so spoiled with the So Cal warmth that I am not prepared for a winter. The other day while out grabbing some fruit I threw on my flip flops and I think the lady thought I was bananas. I may need to buy some more jackets while we are here.


This place was so fun and had such a great original Shanghai feel. The other markets I have been to were selling knock offs and new electronics, so it was nice to see things that claim to be "antique." Of course, you never can be too sure of what really is an antique or not.

They had a lot of dragon statues, terra cotta warriors, mahjongg sets, calligraphy paintings, clocks, vases, Jewelry, furniture, and so many knick knacks. They also had lots of Chairman Mao memorabilia. My favorite was a watch that was him literally waving to you as the time ticked. I could almost hear him saying, "China conquers all."





This one man had stacks and stacks and walls full of old vintage trunks. I have never seen anything like it. I wanted to ask him where he was going! It would be really cool to decorate with some of these.



One thing that is very normal to see in China is old men playing Mahjongg in the streets. Especially at lunch time, they always take a break from whatever they are doing to play. They even carry to work little bags of tiles. I love it.



I loved this place and I will definitely be back. I am trying to get in most of my sightseeing now before the baby comes. Wish me luck! 

Catherines bargaining Tips

I am getting pretty good at my bargaining. (which is what is custom here for a lot of shopping). Here are some tips--- 


  • Act at first like you don't really LIKE the item that much. Maybe even point out things that are wrong with the thing if you are with someone. 
  • After they pull out the calculator that you will use to bargain with they will usually have you make the first offer. This is when you want to low-ball it. I used to not be good at this in fear of offending them, but if you start lower than you are actually willing to pay...you can always go up a little and not feel guilty. Before typing in your first number ask yourself, "how much am I willing to spend on this?" and then offer below it. 
  • After you make the offer they usually scoff like "how dare you!" At this point they will say "no no, lower, make me another offer." At this point I usually just type in the same number that I started with and if they REALLY aren't budging I might add a few dollars in there. 
  • Make sure you have the EXACT change so its not awkward when you talked him down from $300 to $50 and then pull out a $100 and want him to give you change. 
  • If they aren't budging, and you think you are being ripped off, call their bluff make your final offer and walk away. This is usually the best thing you can do because they almost always chase you down screaming, "okay! Okay! I do it!" Boom. You did it. You bargained. 
I used to be terrible at bargaining and I had to watch people do it a few times before I got comfortable practicing it. Now I almost get a rush out of it. I think I may be getting too comfortable with it. The other day I walked into a restaurant and almost asked the waiter to make me an offer. I hope I don't get killed out here. 


Yuyuan Garden

Ive been wanting to go here for awhile so we braved the large Saturday crowd and decided to go. This is a garden that has been around since the 1800's. Originally it served as place where they did tea ceremonies and had original tea houses. Now its a prime tourist spot with lots of shops and stalls. Its a great place to buy souvenirs and sightsee. Because of this, people follow you around and ask if you want to see their collection of knock off "purse" "bag" "watch". I haven't gotten any knock offs yet, but I need to find some purses and shoes. I am always curious to see what they have in stock. Its not too far from our apartment and it took about 30 minutes on the subway. There was a million people at this place, and it was pretty claustrophobic. When we got there we decided to pay the extra money and go into the garden area that is known for some tea houses and some special rock formations. It was nice and it kind of reminded me of an arboretum. There is some good shopping to do there and I hope to go back to get some bargain Christmas decorations. Who would have thought I would be buying Christmas decor in China? 









Shanghai Zoo adventure

We have been pretty proactive about getting out and doing touristy things around Shanghai every Saturday on Peytons day off. This past Saturday we took the subway to the Shanghai Zoo about 40 minutes from our house. Saturdays are always pretty busy around here, and a lot of people have the same ideas about going places. The zoo was a lot different than the ones in the states. First of all, the people usually build attractions and then do little fixing up to them unless they are pretty bad. The zoo had been quite run down and was a little dirty. With an entrance ticket of 40 RMB (about $7 U.S.) you can't really complain. 




One other very large difference to here and the states is that the people don't read the signs of not feeding the animals. In fact, they BRING food to feed to them. It shocked me at first, but there were no employees out there instilling the rules so the people just kept doing it. For the most part they were throwing in fruits and nuts which is ok, but we also witnessed people throwing trash into the cages and someone giving the monkey a lollypop, which was a little depressing.












We were actually a little impressed at the amount of animals that there was in the zoo. For $7 its a pretty good attraction and I am glad we crossed it off our Shanghai bucket list. They have another park which is called the "Shanghai animal park" which we hope to go to. We heard its a little better and you can pay a little extra money to hold baby tigers! Stay tuned.

Week Uno

Our first week in Shanghai was very productive. We stayed a couple nights in a service apartment and then we got to move into our permanent housing.
We had picked out some basic big pieces of furniture that had already been delivered when we got here. Along with our bed, tables and chairs, we had a couch, a dresser and a desk. We evaluated our house and went back to the furniture warehouse to add some more pieces to be delivered later in the week. The furniture budget we get is very generous and I could spend all day looking at this warehouse of furniture and decorations. The first time we visited it we were a little overwhelmed with the thought of furnishing our whole house all at once, but some other people said they had to go back numerous times to do it all.




Heres a few snippets of our selections 
 Baby Buhler has a bed!!! 

Our front room is my favorite place. I am still adding accessories, it needs some color!


On Peytons day off we went to explore a grocery store. We found ourselves at a place called "Metro." Its hard to describe this place. I guess its like a chinese Costco. A lot of locals shop there. Its a little difficult to do shopping in Shanghai. Everything is written in Chinese so half of the time we are guessing what we are buying. Pictures are very helpful to us expats! We got our membership cards and bought a few necessities. I was excited to see that they had Christmas decorations. They don't celebrate Christmas here, but I really think they enjoy Santa...even if he is playing the saxophone. 


Crabs are apparently in season, and these babies are wrapped and fresh! So fresh that...they were actually alive. Their little talons were moving.


Heres my cute honey getting ready to trek back our loot to our apartment. We don't have a driver or a car so we rely on public transportation. Usually this means taxis and subways. I am getting very good at buying things in very small amounts and carrying reusable bags with me at all times. The thought of walking into a target and coming out with a full cart would be baffling to these people. I am actually getting quite excited to use my baby stroller knowing that there is a basket on the bottom!


 Here is where we live. We are in a large compound of buildings in Lujiazui, Shanghai. I love our home and the surrounding area. Its a huge compound that includes a gym, outdoor pool, gardens, bbq's, multiple play structures, a kindergarten, restaurant, a clubhouse, laundromat, small convenience store, and even ATMS! There are days when I don't even have to leave the gates of our complex. At night the local people do Tai Chi dancing with music and it is one of my favorite things to watch. 


On most nights Peyton and I take walks at night when he gets home from work. The best way to explore the city is on foot! We love living right by the tall buildings. This place has a great skyline and we are so lucky to live right in the heart of all the action. These were taken on one of our walks. It is crazy to think that we are within walking distance. We are enjoying it now, because its supposed to start getting very cold here pretty soon. 








Since we don't have a car I am doing lots of walking. I actually enjoy it more than I thought I would. Its been great for all those extra "pregnancy craving calories." Although, the first day I was not a fan. I got lost and ended up walking about 1 1/2 extra miles just to find my way back to our house. Peyton downloaded some shanghai map apps for me on my phone and those have been super helpful. The subway system takes a little time to get used to but I am becoming more familiar with it and the different lines and stations. You definitely want to avoid the subway during rush hour though. Its great for people watching but can be frustrating when you are constantly trampled over to get a bench seat. I am not too excited about riding the subway with a newborn. 


The biggest event that happened to me this week was our dishwasher overflowing. Since all the bottles are in Chinese we mistook the shiny plates on the bottle and thought it was dishwasher detergent instead of hand washing detergent. Needless to say...it was bubble city. The dishwasher man was very amused by this. I couldn't understand his Chinese but I can understand the giggles. 


Shanghai-1 Catherine-0



We have arrived.

We have officially finished our first week as Shanghai residents. Our last week in the states was a crazy emotional mess. We had so much shopping/shipping/packing to do. 


We were allowed a generous poundage amount that we could ship to Shanghai so we definitely took advantage of that. Knowing that we have a little one on the way, we decided to send over a TON of baby things. We did a Costco run and got about 21 boxes of diapers. Along with diapers, we also bought many baby essentials. Bottles, pacifiers, bibs, onesies, stroller, high chair, etc. We were the most prepared 16 week pregnant people you would have ever found! Since baby things are very expensive in China we wanted to make sure to get them before our move over here. I am so glad that we did. We got exactly what we wanted and now I can just sit back and relax until this little one is born. (Yeah right). 

This is actually only about 1/3 of what we shipped. 
Wish I would have taken a picture of the whole thing. 


Being new parents, we had no idea about sizes and how many we should get!
We were literally walking around Costco asking people how big their babies were. Not our finest moment.  Peyton even googled "How many times a day do babies poop?" 


Shipping day!!! We had some guys come and weigh and box up all of our stuff. It will take about 2 months to get here. I can't wait! It will be like Christmas to open up all those boxes and have our stuff with us. 

Our last week was also bittersweet because I got to spend some much needed time with some very special people. I cherished the time I got to sit on my bed with my Mom just chatting. Peytons parents were able to come down and spend our last weekend with us. My Parents threw us a Farewell party and it was so nice to see and say goodbye to friends and family that we will miss so much. 

My best friend Melanie came down from San Francisco and I got to spend the best 24 hours with her.
 It was so nice to just sit and talk for hours. 
I am so grateful that I got to see her before we left. She keeps me sane and I love our daily text exchanges. 


There was definitely a time crunch, but we got everything done just in time for the driver to come and pick us up on leaving day. 


 Here I am crying before take-off. My sweet Husband thought that this was mandatory documentation material. We joked about how long it would take for me to cry the day of our departure. I did really well until we got on the plane. I think all of the flood of emotions hit me at the same time. Once we were on the plane and I looked out the window at the beautiful USA, I realized I am really going to miss this place. 



I was also feeling bursts of excitement. This will be an adventure and I am really looking forward to exploring China and being able to travel and do something really different and unusual for the next two years. Yes, I will miss "home" but this will be a great experience. I am glad that Peyton is by my side through this relocation. I cannot imagine moving to China alone! So we did it. We left the United states as a family of 2...and when we return we will be a trio of three! Crazy crazy crazy.