Shanghai shopping spree

I had the opportunity to make a trip to Shanghai yesterday with my good friend A. Our destination: IKEA!

A. is already an IKEA-China veteran, but I had yet to see the great Shanghai, much less the Chinese IKEA phenomenon. We didn't see much of Shanghai, but enjoyed the inside of the IKEA for 6 hours. I am not exaggerating. We arrived there at 11am after the 3 hour drive from home, and left IKEA at 5pm. It was a whirlwind shopping bonanza. But first, meatballs.

I look like the biggest dork here, but those meatballs are indeed tasty!

The shopping started out tame enough, as we made our way through the showrooms and filled our big yellow bags with things that were definitely not on my shopping list. Did you know you can go on-line and print out your IKEA shopping list, complete with details of where you will find everything? Unfortunately this does not guarantee you a less hectic trip to IKEA.

But as the day progressed, the crowds came.

That is my basket in the foreground, overflowing with stuff, and I haven't even made it to the warehouse section yet.

Somehow we made it through the crowds, the 56 people asking us if we wanted to hire a taxi or use their delivery service, the impulse buys, the bed spread selection, and packed A.'s minvan with boxes.

After this, you'd think we'd be ready to head home, right? Wrong! A. had a meeting at 6pm, and I went on a quest with her driver to find the City Shop grocery store, the place where all the Americans say "you can probably find that at City Shop in Shanghai" every time I ask about whole wheat flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, or Crisco (I didn't find the Crisco, by the way). It was not cheap, but these few things will be savored in the months to come.

This is what $120 will buy you in Shanghai.

We made it home by 11pm. Now, at 8:30 the next morning, Tim and Milan have built all of the furniture already! Here are some of the results:

Milan's new bed! But the cool green chair and the rug are from stores right here in Beilun, not IKEA

New table and chairs in the dining room

The guest bed has new (fitted!) sheets and moved into the study/guest room. Ready for guests to come visit!

With this massive shopping trip and my last post about American food, you may get the impression that we spend all our time in an endless search for American products in China. Just to redeem myself, I'll mention that I will start a Chinese calligraphy class this week and we had a great bike ride last weekend through the countryside.

Chicken farm

Kids in the village where we stopped to stretch our legs