A few blocks from Shanghai's upscale shops and commercial zone, on the sidewalks of Old Town, street lights are dimmer and life is more Chinese.You will see bicycles instead of cars, goods for sale from bins and wooden display carts, as well as laundry hung to dry from every available line and tree branch.
English can be elusive.
Searching for a description of the fried dumplings I spotted in a sizzling pan — at a popular food stall among the textile shops on Dongjiadu Road, below right — I asked at least two dozen people if they spoke English. All shook their heads no.
Old Town is worth a ramble if only for the markets — the Dajing food market, the bird and plant market, the Dongtai flea market, above left, the silk market on Dongjiadu where I met the dumpling-maker, and the nearby Waicangqiao fabric market on Wangjaimatou.
All are open daily. I found a good-natured and friendly, though often persistent, crowd. You are expected to bargain for the price of goods. But it's not a game; it's a way of life.
For lunch, I thumbed through a menu at a streetside restaurant without much success. Many restaurants have pictures of food items, but not the one I chose for its view of passersby on the street. The occasional English on the menu did not fit my mood — fish lip soup, chicken feet, something with entrails — but I recognized the word "Heineken."
I ordered two, and reached into my backpack for a bag of salted nuts and an apple.
Next: The Case of the Missing Dental Floss
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