Past an imposingly crowded entryway near Laoximen Station lies 万商花鸟市场，Shanghai’s busiest plant and animal market. Sellers say its location makes the market the best in Shanghai. As the only one in the city center, it is also a perfect opportunity for (brave) tourists to experience the sights, sounds and smells of a traditional plant and animal market. Common pets at the market include insects, turtles, fowl and caged songbirds. “Older people usually buy birds because they are retired and want something to do,” said a seller who did not wish to be named. Retired people bring their birds outside every day to sing with each other, he continued. They show off and compete with neighbors to see whose bird . . . → Read More: Don’t Worry They Probably Wont Bite You]]>
Past an imposingly crowded entryway near Laoximen Station lies 万商花鸟市场，Shanghai’s busiest plant and animal market. Sellers say its location makes the market the best in Shanghai. As the only one in the city center, it is also a perfect opportunity for (brave) tourists to experience the sights, sounds and smells of a traditional plant and animal market.

Common pets at the market include insects, turtles, fowl and caged songbirds. “Older people usually buy birds because they are retired and want something to do,” said a seller who did not wish to be named. Retired people bring their birds outside every day to sing with each other, he continued. They show off and compete with neighbors to see whose bird has the best song.

The skylark (百灵) is ubiquitous throughout the market. Hailing from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia the bird is valued because of its ability to mimic other bird’s calls. A young skylark will cost about 300 元 and a good specimen is worth about 1000 元。

Fish and amphibians are also very popular pets and the market offers a bewildering array of different choices, including rare and exotic species. Local resident Qiankun Jiang (姜乾坤) came to the Laoximen market to buy some young turtles to add to his home, which already includes two large turtles, a wife and a dog.

“Turtles are very easy to raise. You just feed them with meat and shrimp and they grow very fast,” Jiang said. “I like to raise them, but when they are large they are not so fun. I release them in the river or a lake.”

Insects are the most common presence at the market, ranging from grasshoppers for good luck to the famous fighting crickets. Cricket fighting has a long history, said seller Jack Wu (吴). It started in the Song Dynasty and originally only the emperor was allowed to play, he explained. Now cricket fighting is a sport mostly reserved for the affluent and elderly, Wu said.

Cricket Fighting, Laoximen Plant and Animal Market

The popularity of Japanese anime movie Totoro, featuring a gigantic chinchilla, also apparently helps sales. After seeing the movie, seven-year-old Jiawen Sheng (盛佳文) immediately got online to research the species. She found a lot of information about chinchillas as pets, Sheng’s mom said, and we brought her to the shop the next day.

If you go: 万商花鸟市场 is located at 417 South Xizang Road near Dongtai Road. The closest metro station is Laoximen.

“I’ve been coming here every weekend for two years but here is a low rate of success,” said the desperate mother shaking her head. “Some people come for four or five years but never find someone.”

“My daughter went to England for study for seven years,” she continued. “When she came back it was already too late for her to find a boyfriend… She thinks that her time in England is worth it, but to me nothing is more important than starting a family.”

The People’s Square Marriage Market is a Shanghai institution. Every Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of parents gather, regardless of the weather, clutching single sheets of paper that present their children in a few simple phrases – age, height, education, job, salary, whether they studied abroad and whether they own their own apartment.

. . . → Read More: The People Behind The Paper]]>

“I’ve been coming here every weekend for two years but here is a low rate of success,” said the desperate mother shaking her head. “Some people come for four or five years but never find someone.”

“My daughter went to England for study for seven years,” she continued. “When she came back it was already too late for her to find a boyfriend… She thinks that her time in England is worth it, but to me nothing is more important than starting a family.”

The People’s Square Marriage Market is a Shanghai institution. Every Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of parents gather, regardless of the weather, clutching single sheets of paper that present their children in a few simple phrases – age, height, education, job, salary, whether they studied abroad and whether they own their own apartment.

“Female, born 1981, 1.62 meters tall, bachelors degree, project director at a foreign company, monthly salary above 10000 元, looking for someone born between 82 and 74, bachelors degree or above with a sense of responsibility for the family. “

While parents crowd around eager to talk to a foreign journalist, in the hopes that their children’s might have the opportunity to find a foreign partner, none of the parents are willing to give their real names or show their children’s faces in the media, most refuse to be photographed themselves.

“My daughter doesn’t approve of me coming here. I stole this photo of her to bring to the market,” said the father who owns the sign pictured above. He has sent is 29-year-old daughter on 12 dates with men he found at the people’s square marriage market. “But it never works out,” he said, shaking his head.

“My son is too picky,” said this Shanghai native. “A lot of girls are interested in him, but he spent a lot of money studying in Stockholm for seven years and he doesn’t have his own house yet.”

Despite the low rate of success at the market, parents maintain the hope that they will find a suitable match. “If I meet one suitable girl out of 100, I will have been successful,” the Shanghainese father.

However, a mother from northern China sees the problem in a different way. “Modern parents have very high demands for their children,” she said. “What the parents didn’t achieve they want for their children.”

Her 28-year-old daughter, who is a project manager at a foreign company, thinks the fact that her mother comes to the marriage market is “embarrassing.” But there is a traditional idea that people must marry, her mother says. “If I die with my daughter unmarried, I cannot close my eyes.”

Photo Illustration: Zhang Wenjiang (张文江) next to his hand-made sign.

While the average marriage market profile is a twenty or thirty something professional, with females vastly outnumbering males, there are always some who stand out from the crowd.

“I made a special advert specifically because I don’t want to get lost in the crowd,” said Zhang Wenjiang (张文江), pictured here next to his sign holding his university graduation picture.

The 73-year-old Shanghainese widower, who comes to the market almost every Saturday and Sunday, said he used to use agencies to try to find a new partner but they are only interested in profit. “It was hard to get the courage to come here,” he said. “I used to have a wife. She was very beautiful but she passed away. I don’t lack anything in life. I only lack someone to talk to in the evening.”

As we are talking, Zhang sees two women looking at his sign; he waves and beckons them over. The woman in question is 68, also from Shanghai. It is her first time visiting the market. They talk for about ten minutes and then swap contact details. Will the match work? “First we will talk as friends and see if we fit it each other,” said Zhang. “And then we will see.”

If you want to go:
The market takes place Saturday and Sunday afternoons from noon till about five at the north end of People’s Park, 75 West Nanjing Road. The closes metro station is People’s Square, exit 5.

Climbing a steep set of stairs of this former Shikumen, we explore this half-shop, half-museum (the only place in China) dedicated to these musical marvels.

Tiantian Wang (王天天), left, and Xinyu Chen (陈鑫雨) try out some of the store’s music boxes.

Every music box has a story, said Zhang. If looked after properly, they can keep working forever without the quality of music diminishing. Music boxes are often given as gifts, continued Zhang, but there is something about the simplicity and music . . . → Read More: Memories and Music]]> Climbing a steep set of stairs of this former Shikumen, we explore this half-shop, half-museum (the only place in China) dedicated to these musical marvels.

Tiantian Wang (王天天), left, and Xinyu Chen (陈鑫雨) try out some of the store’s music boxes.

Every music box has a story, said Zhang. If looked after properly, they can keep working forever without the quality of music diminishing. Music boxes are often given as gifts, continued Zhang, but there is something about the simplicity and music of these boxes that profoundly moves both the giver and the receiver.

Zhang recounts the story of a man who missed his flight back to Dalian waiting for the store to open so that he could buy a music box produced on the exact date his daughter was born. Zhang keeps a large book filled with comments from customers, pouring out their feelings about the store. One girl writes that she would marry any man who bought her a specific music box.

One Saturday morning, Tiantian Wang (王天天) and Xinyu Chen (陈鑫雨), both 18, quietly walked around the store, listening to and watching in awe all the different boxes inside the little shop. Both the girls said they were given music boxes as gifts when they were children and would love to return the favor to others now that they are old enough to give gifts themselves.

Ningpeng Wen (温宁芃) left, and Chun Hu (胡醇) look at music boxes in the store.

“The boxes are too expensive for us to buy,” said Hu. “I am just here to look. The quality of the music is beautiful and the accuracy is so good.”

This behavior is not frowned down upon by the store. While the year-old-store needs to remain economically viable, Zhang said the main aim is to showcase the beauty of music boxes. Not all the boxes in the shop are for sale. Speaking of one of his favorite pieces, Zhang said, “If I sell it only one person can enjoy it, but if I keep it in the shop many people can see it.”

In his home, Zhang has several hundred music boxes, but he feels the shop is not a safe enough place to keep the most antique and valuable boxes. He said he hopes that the shop can expand in the future so that more people are able to discover the pure sound of simple music and the timeless beauty of the music box.

After the interview, we asked Zhang to introduce some of his favorite music boxes in the store.

The Gramophone
This music box is made of wood and metal. According to Zhang, wood is the ideal material of a music box housing because the quality of the music is better when it comes from within a wooden case. The music box does not use batteries but instead is wound via the small handle on the top of the case. As the music plays, the gramophone’s turntable turns combining both music and movement.
Cost: 1600 元

The Loom-Spinner
This Japanese-made music box features a little-man turning his loom. Zhang says the box is extremely well designed and well made to allow the man move up and down turning his loom, as well as play music, without batteries.
Cost: 580 元

Old Shanghai
This snow globe and music box combines western and Chinese elements to create a typical Shanghai scene from the 1930s. A woman sits at her dressing table putting on her earrings with a cat, lying peacefully at her feet. The base of the globe shows The Bund of the 1930s including Shanghai’s own statue of liberty that used to stand on the Bund.
Price: 1180 元

The Christmas Cannonball
“This is one of my favorite pieces,” said Zhang. “Although it needs power to run, it does so many things…. It is a boy’s music box.” When turned on this train plays a variety of different traditional Christmas tunes, the elves on the train all work at their separate jobs, the wheels move and the light at the front of the train turns on. If you add special liquid, the train even belches steam from its smokestack. Zhang does not plan to sell this piece.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Everyone recognizes the character of Snow White, says Zhang, who bought this piece in the Tokyo Disney Land. Since he only has one copy of the box, Zhang does not plan to sell the piece.

The Pandas
This music box, which was made in China, features many traditional Chinese elements, from the pandas wearing Chinese-style clothing to the red and gold design. As a hidden feature, one of the drawers at the base of the box opens, providing an area where jewelry could be stored.
Cost: 580 元

The Ballerina
This music box was handmade from a goose’s-egg in the style of traditional Russian music boxes. Both the egg shape and the dancer motif are very popular types of music box, combining romance, beauty and fragility.
Cost: 429 元

How to get there:
Sky Music Box is located in Tianzifang (closest metro Dapuqiao), lane 248, number 35. The shop is open everyday from 10:30 am to 9:30 pm.
Call 021-34617695 or 13512142859 or Email 917734652@qq.com for more information.

Goats rest outside a temple in Fatehpur Sikri, India.

A woman and boy wait with their goat at a bus stop in Jaisalmer, India.

Mahjong (or 麻將, má jiàng) is a centuries old game that originated in China. In Shanghai, it is commonly played as a gambling game, with participants of all ages, sitting for long hours engrossed in their game. There is a Mahjiong house in the old housing development next to my apartment building. I visited one Saturday afternoon to find local residents wearing their pajamas, smoking cigarettes, drinking tea, eating noodles and playing Mahjong with their neighbors.