Walking down Shanghai’s Huaihai Road this weekend, I passed by one of the many jewelery shops selling jade bracelets. When I looked at the prices of some of them though, I almost couldn’t believe it.

These bracelets were going for 680,000 RMB (or ~ $100,000 CAD); there was also a jade necklace on display for over 800,000 RMB!

Don’t get me wrong: I realize jade can be worth more than gold, and there is jade jewelery out there worth much more than this. It’s just the way these jade items were displayed so casually in very nondescript shop windows; the same way a 50 RMB bracelet would be displayed. It’s as if an impulse buyer walking by will see it and just say, “Hmm, why not?”

I wonder if you can bargain.

Well this is an interesting deal. I’m just wondering, which one should I drink first?

Hint: At 68 RMB, NEITHER.

Cloud 9 is a nine storey shopping centre connected to Shanghai’s Zhongshan Park 中山公园 metro station. The centre of the mall contains escalators going up, with each floor’s stores circling around the interior. The place is massive, and because it’s connected to one of the biggest hub stations, the ground floor is always packed. You can find almost anything you can think of in Cloud 9.

I’ve been going there for a few years now, but never realized how crazy it was until now. Check out this cafe on the ground (or is it basement?) floor – picture taken from above:

And this is a view of the escalators from below:

If that isn’t crazy enough, it also connects to one of the more interesting skyscrapers in the city (not my pic):

This building looks great at night, and you can see it from almost anywhere in Changning district.

Lots of sales at the grocery store this weekend!

15.80 RMB for 500g of very fresh frog

Eels and turtles are more expensive. 56 RMB for the eels, and 248 RMB for the turtles (500g)

Went to check out the Duty Free shop that opened up in Shanghai’s Jingan district. I found it odd that a shop could legally sell foreign and luxury goods that you would normally find in an airport duty-free store in the middle of the city, but apparently other cities have shops like this too.

Unfortunately, foreigners are restricted from buying anything. Only Chinese passport holders whose travel document shows proof of international travel within the last 6 months can purchase items at the store. I’d be interested to see if this applies to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan passport holders as well, or if travel to these regions by PRC passport holders counts as international travel…

One of the things I love about China is the convenience in ordering things online. Well, assuming you speak and read Chinese or have some help.

I’ve ordered a lot of things from Newegg China before and have never had any issues. What’s great is that they deliver directly from the warehouse here in Shanghai, so you’ll get what you ordered next day or at most the day after. Usually delivery is only a few RMB and right now it’s free.

So, I just ordered an HP optical USB mouse for 28 RMB (or $4 – you can find cheaper in local tech markets or auction site Taobao, but I often wonder about the quality). No tax, no delivery fee, no nonsense, at the door cash on delivery in a day. Well, it was almost no nonsense… Ellen did call the delivery guy to ask when he’d be coming by and his response was “I’m starving and I haven’t eaten all day. I’m so hungry right now. I’ll come after I eat, so is an hour OK?”

Let’s compare this experience with just over a year ago when I bought a similar mouse from Future Shop in Canada: the mouse was on sale for $19.99, but after taxes and shipping it was nearly $30. It took almost a week to arrive and when it finally did, they didn’t call me to let me know when they were coming. So, I missed them and had to go to the post office the next day to pick it up. Just thinking about it makes me frustrated.

[View with PicLens]

Saw these outside a kids clothing store on TianLing Road 田林路 and all I can say is W…T….F.

I wonder how many terrified children are dragged kicking and screaming into this store by their parents?

Not to sound cliched, but I hate shopping. Hate it. The worst are retail chain stores, but there is one that I’ve grown to rely on: UNIQLO.

UNIQLO is a Japanese chain that is like an H&M with more timeless, higher quality clothes, or an American Apparel with more variety and without sleazy Polaroids of 14 year old girls. It’s perfect for people like me who are both cheap and too lazy to decide what to wear yet still want to fool people into thinking we’re cool.

I was pretty lost without this store when I was back in Canada. Unfortunately, they only have one location in all of North America and for some reason they chose Manhattan over North Bay, Ontario.