Junk and Mao
(A Shanghai junk market; a happy stallholder)
This stallholder gamely acquiesced to having his photograph taken. We bought a figurine from him, so I felt able to ask for a quick snapshot. There are signs to stop photographers from taking pictures of the stalls, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of the wares available in this market. We had walked these streets the night before and discovered that one of them was crammed with restaurants and food stands, each with a sumptuous display of greasy, shining treats. We had already eaten, but decided to visit the next day in daylight to see what these places really offered.
Instead of heading for food, we were sidetracked by the completely unexpected appearance of this market where there had been nothing the night before. It seemed to go on forever; block after block of stalls, most very much like the one before. What was new and novel five minutes ago was old news by the time we had passed twenty stalls with the same items. The variety of Mao products is astounding; we were impressed with the diversity of hand painted communist figurines, (next to his hand in the picture) just under a foot tall and the posters, plates, t shirts, lighters, watches, packs of cards, rugs, helmets, jackets. They were all there, an entire family of Mao memorabilia; I will have to photograph these things and tell you all about them – they are just so interesting in their unashamed ‘kitschy-ness’ and pervade every shop here.
As you can see, there’s a whole lot more on offer than just that; jewellery, antiques (though most were reproductions) like the little shoes for women who had their feet bound in the past, painted enamel dishes, teapots and cups, Buddha figures, vases, bags, brushes, clocks and even full size terracotta warriors from Si’an. I reckon they were reproductions though – especially since they were packed for shipping with their heads resting separately from their bodies.
he reminds me of our old friend Healthy Boy
For anyone not in the know, ‘Healthy Boy’ is a Thai brand of Soy Sauce of which Pete and I are quite fond. We used a lot of this in Germany as I recall, and found the delightful picture of a chubby toddler made a wonderful logo. I think you can see a picture here:
http://importfood.com/sakh1901.html