'Our' market

If I get up early enough, there's the delight of finding a market in our street. A market of almost anything imaginable. Buyers and sellers almost all retired, professional (window) shoppers and bargainers.

I love the ones selling things like this:

Others sell more antique, or jewellery, there's a lady with knitting stuff, a guy with bamboo things, a guy who sells bicycle saddles, leggings, underwear, just anything. This guy sells some type of liquor:

A little further down is where the wet market starts. It lasts all day, no need to get up early for this one.. 

Something I will not stop to wonder about: why are strawberries sold in baskets? In our market, in the supermarket, at the metro station, everywhere I see them, they come in baskets. And it's not just the strawberries. There seems to be a certain way to present products for many things. A this is how we do it way. Makes me feel uncomfortable always. Where's the diversity? 

Delicious, cheap and fresh: tofu, or doufu, in all it's variety. And some seaweed and sprouts. (these too: always sold at the same shop). 

And some veggies for todays lunch. A heaven for the eyes...  

Shaking the tree - some more urban farming

Two women were harvesting from the Ginko trees along Siping Road yesterday, beating the branches with a long bamboo pole and gathering the little yellow seeds in bags.

Ginko Biloba is China's national tree, and has a special meaning in Buddhism and Confucianism. The nuts are used by some as an aphrodisiac and in a veggie dish called 'Buddhas delight'.

Earlier this year I saw women cutting off the leaves which are believed to enhance memory and improve the blood flow.

Harvest time in Hong Kou

When I first came to Shanghai I saw a poster advertising an urban farming workshop organised by GoodtoChina. It felt like a little miracle, and proof that there must be like-minded people in this ocean of concrete towers, vehicles and lcd screens. I knew that even if I hadn't met them yet, all I have to do is keep my eyes open for the signs. We'll soon meet, I thought.

Months later I've indeed met with the familiar looking scene of guys on fixies, girls drinking fair trade latte with organic milk, the cultural creatives with their black glasses who recharge their batteries on a roof garden in the city center, weeding sunflowers and planting carrots. Urban farming is a trend worldwide, and Shanghai cannot stay behind.

But of course, the practise of urban farming wasn't invented during a creative brainstorm session at a marketing agency. It might be a trend for some, it's a tradition for many others. Strolling around our neighbourhood, we see the seasons change from the fruits that are sold from pick-up trucks (water melons, pomelo's, bitter melons, tangerines) but also from the little gardens everywhere. No space too small to plant a little seed in springtime, and find a huge harvest in autumn.

Zucchini's going wild

Drying little zucchini's

Everyone seems to have a pepper plant 

Seedlings in improvised spaces

Boooh

Some people do things based on the past, some based on the present, but what Modern Farming is doing is for the future.

It is difficult sometimes to avoid blogging only about the weird and mind-boggling things that I see here. I promise this one will be the last in a while. Or I hope it will be. Just yesterday I looked for milk in the supermarket and found a display of a new dairy brand. There's been a lot of discussion about the quality of Chinese milk lately, lots of things in there that aren't so good. Worth giving the display an extra look..

The marketing campaign Modern Farming (Group) Co.,Ltd plays with these fears about fresh Chinese milk. Their brochure is full of words like "international standard" and "well controlled management". Everything they do is based on quantifiable data. It's all done in a modern and efficient process. Very healthy, very safe. Sounds great right?

Modern Farming Farm Milking Hall

Modern Farming farms host up to 7000 cows each. To throw in some figures, "by 2015 the Company targets to finish constructing and operate 30 large scale dairy farms with more than 260,000 dairy cows and high quality milk yield of at least 3,000 tons per day."

Given that Chinese are not so much into drinking milk these figures are 'crazy'. Dutch cow farms, very big Dutch cow farms, have 200 cows in their sheds. And we Dutch lóve milk. But let the pictures speak for themselves. I've settled for the milk with the marketing campaign about Canadian lakes and forests where one cow grazes peacefully in his private meadow. Feels better somehow.

Bird's view