We don’t have to stray far from our Pudong apartment to find everything you could ever want for a cold winter night…fresh fruit being sold on the corner, bakery treats, wine and the latest DVD’s.

Tonight, we’re still recovering from being up pretty much all last night watching our daughter Hannah graduate college live in Boise, Idaho at 3 a.m. our time.  While I can’t wait to show my son, James, who is visiting over college break, all of Shanghai, tonight the family was just intent on hunkering down to rest and cocoon.

I had heard all about being able to find the latest dvd’s in China.  Being very sensitive to not buying “pirated” stuff prior to coming to China, you soon realize that this is the culture and the only way to get current movies is to buy what is available, which includes being able to buy movies like Gravity that are still in the theaters and not released yet, well except in the store on my block.  I thought the quality might not be good but they are perfect and cost about $2 per movie to buy.  Movie night marathon!

Then, it was off to buy movie night food.  The abundance of fruit in Shanghai still amazes me. There are fruit stands on every block all over town.  I have now made friends with the fruit vendor on our corner who sells out of his van.  Last night, wanting to buy an assortment of what he had to offer from blueberries to rainier cherries to oranges and more, I was unable to negotiate a fair price so I walked away empty handed and instead went to the bakery to stock up on treats like red bean buns, coconut milk bread and iced airy cakes.  Stepping out with my bag loaded with carbs, the fruit vendor and I began our negotiations anew and I ended up with a huge bag filled for 50RMB.  I still probably paid A LOT more than the locals do but it seemed fair to me.  That is until I saw him tonight and he immediately smiled and handed me two free bananas.  Okay, now I know for sure he feels guilty for charging me too much but who doesn’t love free bananas! 

Now, it’s back to cozy up on the couch and watch some shows while munching on fruit and pastries with a little wine to wash it all down.  Heaven!  Tomorrow we’ll be all rested up and off we will go to show James all the wonderful sights of Shanghai.  I think a trip to Tianzifang Alley might be in order as well as Fuxing Park, my favorites to wander through on a Sunday.  We’ve never been to Cool Docks so we might have to go there as well.  So much to see & do in Shanghai!