Insect Trading - Shanghai Style...

Shanghai is a city of immense contrast and you don’t have to go much farther than the Bund area to see the most vivid of those contrasts.

Here the wide and powerful Hangpu River separates the old colonial part of Shanghai from it’s brash new counterpart Pudong.

But if you wander around Shanghai you will find many examples of the locals just doing their thing, quite oblivious to the frenetic activity that characterizes the city.

The insect market near Tibet Road (Xizang Lu), close to the Pu’xi old town, is one such example of this…

Quite why anybody would want to buy insects in the first place was lost on me initially, but it seems that many Chinese consider them as good pets, particularly crickets.

In fact there is a long history of them being used in cricket fights, so in true Chinese fashion a market place has developed to buy and trade them.

The images below are from the impromptu street market where the crickets and other insects are traded between enthusiasts, and nearby is the pet market which is worth wandering round but probably best avoided if you are an animal lover…

Shanghai’s Insect Market

Shanghai's Pudong area at sunset

I was recently back in China for 3 weeks, about 1.5 years after living there for nearly two years – it really is an interesting place, full of contradictions and very much a puzzle wrapped in an enigma.

It’s basically a huge “parallel universe” of 1.3 billion where there are many superficial indications of western culture and practices having been or being adopted, but scratch the surface and it’s all being done in a very Chinese way.

Despite the many times I have visited the country over the last 9 years, the experience actually living there and the numerous books I have read on the country and it’s turbulent history, it is very clear to me that the more I learn about China, the less I actually know…

So before the memories fade from the last 3 weeks, I thought I would record for posterity the 10 most important things I think you need to know traveling in China.

The Top Ten Things to know about traveling in China

1. Generosity - never confuse the gruff, often downright rude, way of many Chinese with their underlying generosity and some of the greatest hospitality I have personally experienced has been in China, often from people who are extremely poor!
2. Queues are for foreigners – standing in line, as most westerners automatically do, appears to be taken as a sign of inherent stupidity by many Chinese… why wait in that line when you can simply slip in at the front?
3. You are what you eat – the stuff that westerners grind up, boil and then feed to pets & animals are some of the choicest things to eat in China… Faced with attending numerous customer dinners/banquets during my times in China I have learned you have two main choices – ask what it is and risk embarrassment (pass me another slice of horse penis please…) or drink a lot and just “bring it on”. There is actually a third option whereby you can pretend you are a vegetarian, something that will completely bemuse the vast majority of Chinese!
4. A little Mandarin goes a long way – Mandarin is the standard language in China, but it is not universal and there are hundreds of local dialects. English speaking people are quite rare away from the city centers and usually non-existent most other places, so a little basic Mandarin could just save your day…
5. Traffic Options - traffic rules do not seem to apply anywhere in China, so I think options is the right description. For example last minute swerves across multiple lanes of traffic to avoid a missed turn-off, or reversing back down an on-ramp (hazard warning lights thoughtfully activated) seem perfectly normal and rationale behavior for China’s new generation of drivers.
6. You will pay more - foreigners are seen as completely fair-game to most Chinese and the logic seems to be that you must be rich to be there, so you can clearly afford to pay a little more and of course it’s nothing personal!
7. Fashionistas - in the downtown areas of major cities you will see many western brand stores and well-dressed Chinese, but they are grossly outnumbered by other Chinese who seem to consider rolling up both their trousers and shirts to reveal  socks & shoes and nicely rounded rice-bellies as a very “summer thing” to do. In Shanghai for example, arguably China’s most fashion-conscious city, it is quite normal to walk around in your pajamas…
8. The money gene – I am convinced that Chinese have an extra gene that westerners do not possess and on it is a $ sign. Basically they love to make money, know how to do it very well and generally do whatever it takes to succeed.
9. Millisecond baggage – a millisecond is the time delay between the plane stopping and all the Chinese on it  simultaneously trying to get their bags down from the overhead lockers and jostle for position in the aisle. Similarly, there seems to be a burning desire to remove their bags from the luggage carousel and the fact that you have been waiting patiently does not seem to matter as you are shoved out of the way when their bag does arrive…
10. Pedestrian crossings - widely available in the cities, but under no circumstances assume that there is a remote chance of road users stopping to let you cross!

When I first came to China on business about 6 years ago, like most first-timers, I was somewhat startled by what is eaten by the Chinese…. it seemed that anything & everything could go into the enormous variety of food dishes available here.

I later learned that there is a local saying that the Chinese eat anything with legs on, except the tables & chairs…

I met up with a friend the other night in Beijing and over dinner we ended up discussing the Chinese preferences in their meat, fish & poultry dishes and it became very clear that what would end up in petfood in the west is considered by many here to be the very best parts of the meat.

To prove this to me, the next day he took me to the eastern suburbs market - a huge sprawling area where it appears to be possible to buy everything that is available in China…. but we were not looking for army surplus boots or pots & pans, the meat & fish area was our designated target.

Well… I can tell you that it’s not a place for the faint hearted or vegans!

Literally every part of a pig, sheep, cow or bull seems to be available and my visit started with an encounter with the pork area where I was confronted with a very discerning shopper selecting a large quantity of pig’s intestines.

A little further down the aisle was the not so little piggy who went to market and never came back…

Apparently roast pig’s head was very popular a few years ago and there were a number of restaurants in Beijing that specialized in serving it.

Before moving on my friend tastefully positioned another nearby pig’s head so that I could take a posthumous portrait.

Prior to entering the beef area I paused to admire a fine collection of pig’s tongues – another highly sought after delicacy.

The beef area had a range of meat cuts and cow & bull organs and appendages, the first to catch my eye being a pleasing array of freshly skinned tails.

The next culinary ingredient surprise was the bull’s penis area….

I am assured that a soup made from this delicacy is not only delicious but just the job for a flagging male libido and, in the rare event that it did not do the trick, fried or grilled bull’s penis is guaranteed!

As you can see the bull’s penis specialist was delighted to show me his selection….

From the beef area we entered the lamb & mutton area and were greeted by a brace of sheep’s heads complete with their full compliment of brain matter….

Next was the poultry area and the interesting fact that chicken feet are the more highly prized part of a chicken and fetch a much higher price than the breast or leg.

This is apparently  because most Chinese believe the taste of the feet is much better than the rest of the chicken and there is a strong belief amongst Chinese women that eating chicken feet will make their skin smoother & nicer!

However, I have since been corrected (thanks Eileen…) that it’s a delicacy because of the way it’s cooked, with the texture working well with chilli black bean sauce. 

The fish market area has  a large array of fresh & sea-water fish and it was very interesting to see how the fish-heads are more highly sought after than the fish bodies and apparently fetch a 40% premium.

There was an unusual assortment of fish internal parts that I neither recognised or, at that point suffering from organ & appendage overload, cared to ask about….

Well, as promised here is the long awaited sequel to “the haircut”…

Today I ventured back to my “local” shops and my trusty barber Mr. Liu, as usual we conversed by sign language, but being the consumate professional he is this was no barrier to Mr. Liu’s tonsorial efforts and I emerged from his chair suitably remodeled and ready for another two weeks in Shanghai!

I have to admit that Mr. Liu was rather perplexed as to why I should need to take a photograph of myself in the barber’s chair and my sign language failed to convey my message that I had no intention of legal action….

The only difficulty involved in this whole process is making sure I time it right to be there after the midday customers have dried up and before the arrival of the school kids!

In Shanghai on the other hand I am faced with the choice of paying the exhorbitant charges at Toni & Guy in nearby Xintiandi if I want to converse in basic English or risk it all with a visit to the local Chinese barber…

Being follically challenged, I cannot bring myself to pay the Toni & Guy prices, so I go for 10 RMB (A$2) option at the local barber. But there are no free lunches in this world and the fact that the barber’s grasp of the English language matches my abilities in Mandarin, means that sign language is the order of the day. The obvious problem with that if I fail to communicate my requirements properly I wear the consequences for the next few weeks!

 I am due for a visit to the barber later this week so I’ll attempt to capture the essence of this tonsorial experience with my camera – so stay tuned for the next thrilling installment…

My name is Don Silcock and I am on a special assignment in China for about a year. I was full of good intentions when I got here and intended to blog at least once a week, but was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the challenge I realized I had taken on.

Seven months later I just about have my head above water and intend to get back on to my original plan and document my experiences here in China.