Shanghai nights...

So Shanghai was just as i remembered it, a big metropolis, a little stinky, with millions, literally millions of people.  as you walk through the streets you can feel and see the masses walking, sitting, squatting, blocking your direct path into the metro station, they're everywhere.  Pictured below is a little fella called Hai-bo, the mascot for the 2010 Shanghai expo, already he is strewn across the city in parks and on populous street corners... i don't know what he's supposed to be but to me he looks like toothpaste with a face.

i had two goals while in Shanghai: to check out the Shanghai Book Traders Foreign Language bookstore and look at some modern Chinese art.  done and done.  At first i was disappointed by the bookstore because, though they had a surprising selection of English language novels everything from William S. Burroughs to Nathaniel Hawthorne and Michael Crighton, everything was 85 to 250 yuan! that's roughly $15-39 for a 200 page paperback? i don't think so, especially when i'm used to buying books from Twice Sold Tales for $3 (shout out).  Luckily i found a table of sale books and bought The Souls of Black Folk and The Jungle by Upton Sinclair for about $3 each! hooray for bargains.

as for the other matter, amazing.  if you're ever in Shanghai you must go to 50 Moganshan Lu and check out the galleries in this bizarre complex of art and design. we walked from our hostle near Jing'an Temple for about 45 minutes through a very strange and dirty part of Shanghai until we came across this small street with a retaining wall full, chalk full of graffiti. in Huzhou there is no graffiti whatsoever, and other than this seemingly state-sanctioned display very little in Shanghai as well.  This stuff was beautiful, futuristic with vibrant colors.  we even witnessed a dude complete with spray paint mask with a work in progress, sadly i did not take a picture of him... there were also what seemed to be several photo shoots happening on this street as witnessed below:

once we actually made it to the gallery complex down the street with a dozen or so galleries mixed in between looming, concrete apartment building and old two story wooden houses with mini-marts in the front and paper lanterns hanging off the balconies, i was so impressed. there are about 20 buildings with multiple floors of galleries ranging in styles, some clothing, some art book stores, but mainly painting and photography.  below is my favorite piece:

yes, these are real. a taxidermied tabby cat humping a dog, incredible. there was a lot of great painting and we were even able to go to the roof of one of the buildings and get a pretty good view of the city and the Suzhou creek that borders the complex.  it was a tiring adventure, as per usual, when you spend the day looking at art that baffles and bewilders you, as evidenced by Nellie's face. some other highlights i will have to give a verbal description of: a four-foot ceramic sculpture of Mao Zedong decorated completely in that blue-white traditional chinese china design, entitled the future, old mirrored dressing tables rigged so that the mirrors displayed digital, red-glowing messages about appearances, and beautiful classic black and white photos of Chinese daily life with  one or two objects like, a paper lantern or a mop expertly, brightly color-tinted.  

Our last night out in Shanghai we went to Sena and Mustafa's fantastic Shanghai apartment, it's small, modern, and has a really amazing view of Shanghai's gigantic skyscrapers.  the view was especially beautiful at night. we partied it up there with mojitos and loads of cheese and crackers for a few hours.  then, finally at 1am we went out to a club called, Zapatas!  yes, indeed the club has a giant mural of the Mexican revolutionary on the front of the building, but i was too intoxicated to take a picture of it, next time.

the last day was spent shopping in the French concession, they have H&M, Mango and Zara, oh my! plus a french bakery and a grocery store with foreign foods. including, but not limited to, pinto beans, babybel cheese and LU petit ecoliers, all of which i purchased for an insane amount: 72 yuan ($12 on three items in China is a crap-load)! back to Huzhou just in time for a country-side wedding...