China - They Are Some Big Knickers

So we were in Shanghai for the first day of the Year of the Rabbit. The white metal rabbit apparently. And in this year 'you may not express your feelings in words, but make up it by deeds'...... So, actions speak louder than words this year. Superb. I can do that.




So we started our year of actions with a visit to a Taoist Temple. Taoists believe that the universe sprang from the Tao, and the Tao guides people on their way. But Tao is not a god....it is a natural force of the earth. Neverthless, there are many dieties, all holding a particular role, which are themselves subject to the Tao. And according to the statues inside, quite a few of them have purple hair.



Stepping outside this Temple and you were lost in backstreets, all hosting stalls selling candyfloss or fruit, and once further into the labryinth, row upon row of washing hung out to dry, on rails, on lines, on coat-hangers.....undies and all. And there were some impressively big knickers hanging around.

Even stranger, everywhere we went there was meat and fish hung out to dry on coat-hangers. Almost every house had them swinging from their doorways and windows, and we couldn't figure out if it's a New Year ritual or if they're just preparing lunch. Either way, if Shanghai's landscape is dominated by skyscrapers, then Shanghai's backstreets are definatley dominated by coat-hangers of meat and knickers.

So we left the coat-hanger district and ventured into Old Town. Old Town by name, not really by nature. Although the markets date back to the 1800's, they were rennovated in 1999 and now resemble more of an Old Town Theme Street than an actual old town. The Pepsi logos everywhere somehow gave it away. Even so, all the buildings were traditional Chinese architecture, there were lanterns & decorations gallore, gardens & pagodas inside, and with the hoardes of Chinese people shuffling through the lanes it was very atmospheric.

The only thing left to do that day was to reunite with Mr Cole! Hurrah! Ollie has just started teaching in China so a vendez-vous was in order..... and with everyone's travels you've got to grab any opportunity to meet up, for who knows when they will spring up again.....