11 September 2016
It has been 15 years since the horrible bombing of the World trade center in New York City. I will always remember being in Romania on this day in 2001 and how I felt to be away from home, how helpless I felt, and at the same time, how much the Romanians reached out to all of us there and did whatever they could to make us feel at home. I think of our time here in China and I wonder in 15 years, what has changed in the world? Is it a safer place? For what values do we stand? What will the world be like in another 15 years? What will our grand daughter have to face? I pray for the USA and for our family. I pray our leaders can learn from the past so that we don't have to repeat our history. For today, I am happy we are in China, enjoying the Expat life here and seeing and able to share our little corner of the world with you.
This is the 3rd of the "normal life" in Shenyang series.
Dry good markets
One of our normal life markets is shopping for dry goods...dried foods, fabrics, clothing, chinese herbs, spices, eye glasses, fingernails polished, etc (lots of other things falls into etc (such as tatoo applications, which I don't use!)
The markets we go to for these types of things is not far from our apartment (like most of the markets we go to) so some times we walk there, other times we take the car. In all cases, the worst part of going to this market is crossing the street to get in the building where the market is. It is an eternal traffic jam and we have to cross the jam zig zagging between cars and busses...it makes me take a deep breath just to think about it! And as I write this, it's even worse because of the moon cake sales all over the place! The first place is called Wen Zhou Cheng.
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| Taken from the backseat of the car...I could almost reach out and touch the police car! |
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| Once parked (along the side of the road, now, Rod will take me arm and arm and navigate to cross the street...our target is the big orange building |
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| moon cakes getting unboxed, ready for sidewalk sales |
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| The sea of motor scooters..some are delivery mobiles, some are private taxis, some are personal transportation..most all are electric...which is good for pollution, but since they are very quiet, it's hard to hear them coming and most of them ride on the sidewalks. |
Chinese aphrodisiacs and tea additives
Once we get inside the market we see the chinese herbs and teas, dried sea cucumbers, and other dried things that are used for various reasons (it seems most aphrodisiac uses (dried deer antlers, dried deer penises, other various dried body parts from various animals to help spin up sex appeal!) Rod says it must be the reason for needing the "one child policy"...not sure about that! We typically don't buy a lot in this area, but always interesting to see what is here! The main floor for this is on the top floor of this same building. I'm guessing wholesale is upstairs and retail is downstairs. |
| More dried stuff for teas. They recommended the red seeds to help sleep (which I need from time to time). I call it "red ball jet" tea. Not my favorite taste, but does seem to work! |
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| Dried rose buds to put in tea! Actually tastes and smells good! |
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| Dried flowers for more tea additives |
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| Not sure what all this stuff is, but If you can dry it, they will put in in tea and drink it! |
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| Rows and rows of dried sea cucumbers. I have eaten them before and they are quite expensive when you buy them at a restaurant...not my favorite! |
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| Dried frogs, dear antlers, penises, snakes I'm guessing good for all that ales you! |
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| Rod having fun with a bag of deer penises! I think it's a man thing! |
Spices and dried fish and sea plants
We go down stairs of this building and find the spices and dried fish. It is hard to describe this area without the smell. Imagine opening all of the spices in the supermarket or your home spice cabinet and multiplying this by 100 times. Overload of the senses! Smells, Sounds, Sights Samples for tastes, you name it, you can experience it in this market! |
| Peppers and spices in bulk |
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| Everyone can buy and sell at the market |
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| dried mushrooms on strings |
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| Not sure all what all of the spices are...lots of them! |
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| dried noodles in bundles |
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| dried fish and lots of them! |
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| Dried seaweeds and other sea plants |
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| More dried sea foods |
Fruits, nuts and other stuff
After coming up stairs, we come in to the dried fruits, nuts and more meats etc. Here we get bulk nuts (almonds, walnuts, apricot Kernals, occasionally peanuts, dried purple or yellow sweet potatoes slices (they are too good...it requires me to self ration!) There are some things about China that I will not miss when we eventually leave here, but this market and being able to buy all of these foods in bulk will be one of the experiences we really will miss. Rod has developed such a good relationship with some of our favorite vendors here and they all take care of him to give him the best quality foods and don't cheat him. This floor of the market is always busy and Rod shops here frequently. Below is a short video of activity on the fruits and nuts section..always something happening! |
| Dried meats that are actually coated with a sugar sauce..We don't eat this any more, but when we did, it tasted surprisingly good! |
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| Rod's favorite dried fruit lady...this stuff is too good too! |
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| Rod and Sarah with one of the ladies we buy nuts from |
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| Dried fruits my weekness...dried sweet potatoes...too good! |
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| Fresh walnuts...I'm addicted! This is Rod's preferred Walnut vendor! |
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| Many varieties of walnuts ..and it may cost a little more, but I prefer mine pre-shelled! |
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| Lots of Goji berries (sometimes called Wolf berries in the US). Very expensive in the US! They are very high in anti-oxidants (much higher than blueberris). I eat them like a raisin in a nut mix. Sometimes, I put them in my tea. (very common here in China). |
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| A section for all your wedding candy needs! We don't shop here, but it's always a riot of colors! |
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| Candies of all colors! |
Fabrics and furs and ready made clothes
Continuing on in this same building, we end up in the fabric market where we find fabrics and furs. Yes, furs pelts and small fur products. Before I lost weight, I bought a lot of fabric here to get Tailor- made clothes (the Tailors are up on the next floor up!). Now Since my weight is stable, I buy clothes at Uniqlo and wear them for several seasons. It was a big benchmark for me to be able to buy "off the shelf" clothes here in China so I don't go to this section of the market much any more. I do go to the furs section to get some small gloves, scarves etc for the winter, but that is not out yet as I went on a stroll to take pictures here! |
| I always see these manikins as we go up the escalator and always remark how ugly the dresses are...so I had to get my picture taken with them! As I stood there, a Chinese couple also took my picture! |
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| A few of the furs at our little fur store...these are the all season fur collars. Later this year, this little shop will be converted to have all kinds of gloves, hats, stoles in various types of furs such as mink, and fox. It's one of my favorite parts about living in Shenyang..a good excuse to get some fur items...so I really like this little store! Even after 6+ years, we still havn't gotten into the bright colored furs though! |
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| The silks here are so beautiful! |
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| Silk for some traditional chinese dresses and jackets...maybe next time! |
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| A little slow at the silk stall today! |
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| Another of my favorite shops...always interesting selections and nice ladies! |
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| One of my favorite little shops...nice lady, good prices and a selection that is forever changing! |
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| Just your typical aisle at the clothing section of this market |
Eyeglasses
Within easy walking distance of the nuts market, we have a multi-story of eye glasses market. Nothing but eye glasses ! Copies of designer frames, local brand of frames, etc. We have bought several pairs of glasses here...the prices are good, but sometimes, I have had trouble getting the glasses adapted to my eyes...and not being able to communicate effectively is a frustrater! They are very nice and will redo it as many times as necessary, but it's not my favorite place to go! |
| We thought that any eye glass place with a brand of "Helen Keller" glasses was just amazing..had to get a picture of that! |
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| You want glasses, have we got a style for you! |
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| Nothing but eye glasses...for as far as you can see! |
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| Chinese eye chart (no kidding!) |
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| Our eye glass guy grinding our a chip in my glasses...while you wait! |
Fingernails at the underground
Just outside the eye glasses building is an entrance to the underground market. This market is 100% underground. It's like a mini mall..not mini in terms of space, but mini in terms of stalls for the venders. Each ship is about the size of a flea market stall. At the extreme end of this market is an area that had nothing but makeup shops, manicure/pedicures stalls, tatoo shops, and a food court area...3 floors of all the above! I go here to get my manicures. I didn't trust this until about a year ago..it's not nearly as hygienic as the shops in the US and the polish is different (it dries when exposed to UV light and it stays on perfectly for 3 weeks! It has to be soaked off with acetone. The lady who does my nails does not speak English and in fact she helps me learn more and more Chinese. I have evolved from avoiding this to really liking going to do this on the weekends. Don't ask me why or how I changed ..it just happened! |
| Going down to the underground of Shenyang |
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| Shoes to the left of me ,shoes to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you! |
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| Small leather purses with whimiscal themes are always fun! |
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| Pick your fingernail polish anyone? What color is your fancy? |
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| Getting ready for a manicure in the underground...my manicurist's name is Pei Pei, in the background |
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| Underground Shneyang Clothing section stores..small and stuffed! |
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| One of the many aisles in the underground shopping area of central Shenyang |
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| A pet shop in the underground..fish, hampsters, puppies and kittens...check! |
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| One small sample of the Food court in the underground |
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| Get your fake eye lashes here! |
Seat covers
There are actually several places in the city where you can buy seat covers for your car or any other seat I'm sure...any color, any fabric! We settled on some sheep skin seat covers..plain off white...not the hot pink or electric blue ones..warm in winter, cool in summer. |
| A pic from our seat-cover shopping trip in the winter! |
So that about does it for this entry describing "normal life" in Shenyang! More to come!
