Went to one of Shanghai's big antique markets today at Dongtai Lu. Most memorable was the Mao paraphanalia at nearly every stall (Mao posters, bags, watches, statues, plates, clocks, etc, and even lots of copies of Mao's little red book), and the few items of torture that we managed to find. In one of the last stalls we found something that looked like a metal glove with spikes all over it, and the guys we were with convinced me to put my hand in it. Pretty scary stuff! I also came away from there feeling really dirty, but was impressed by how much the antique markets here reflect Chinese culture, all the way from ancient times until pretty recently, at least until the Cultural Revolution. I'm not sure what or how much Mao paraphanalia I'm going
... read more