Category Archives: China

I don’t know where they came from. I don’t know what they represent. But I do know they are pretty awesome. Yes, I’m talking about the cattle that have taken over a couple of our local malls. Ok, one of the malls has a new Spanish themed section complete with some “running of the bulls” sculptures. That sort of fits with the whole theme. But these guys in this post are scattered around the huge mall that was just completed a few months ago and is located about a twenty minute walk from our home.

Maybe somebody is cranking them out and dumping them off at malls across the country. Personally, I haven’t seen them anywhere else in our travels around China. But whoever came up with the idea has a flair for patterns and designs! These brightly colored bovines are a magnet for little kids to clamor over and under, and made for a great photo op on our way to Pizza Hut tonight. Yeah, we do break down now and again for good old Western fast food…

Anyway, enjoy this little look at our roaming designer cattle!

Travel around Asia and one of the first things you will notice is the abundance of tailor shops. Sometimes they are spread around the city; other times they are concentrated in one area. It is always easy to find the best ones by talking to locals or others who know the area. Usually, you will need at least a week for any custom order from start to finish but sometimes it is possible to speed up the process, especially in more touristy areas.

In Beijing, more than 200 fashion design studios are luring customers away from expensive malls and brand names.

“The clothes displayed in shopping malls are expensive because of their brand-names. We have the same fabrics and can make the exact outfit as one offered by a brand, but at a much cheaper price,” one studio owner said.

“The main patrons of my studio are young and middle-aged women aged 20-55 years; women under 30 account for two-thirds of my clients. Our main patrons are senior high-school and college students, as well as young white-collar workers,” the owner added. “The one thing they have in common is that they want fashion and individual style.” (wantchinatimes.com)

In Shanghai, one of the well known locations is the three-story South Bund Soft-Spin Material Market which houses hundreds of fashion stores. in Wuhan, the shops are found on or near Yanzhi Lu. Walking along this street will give you a good idea of what is available. Along with the individual retail shops, there are a couple of large indoor markets where many tailors have their own private cubicles, usually not any bigger than a small bedroom. Along with the tailors, you will find others selling accessories such as buttons, ribbons, snaps, etc. Not to mention the thousands of meters of fabric available almost everywhere you look.

 There are many shops that have off-the-rack clothing but most visitors will be looking for something custom-made. One easy way to get your idea across is to bring along a picture either the same or similar to what you are looking for. With a little bit of charades and’or broken Chinese, it is never too difficult to communicate what you would like. Most are masters at copying something you already have, as well. Want another dress or jacket the same as one you own already, but just in another color or fabric? You will be amazed at their ability to clone any existing object right down to the spacing of the stitches!

The process is usually the same from place to place. The first trip will involve being measured and actually ordering the garment. Some customers will buy the fabric and have the item tailored at the same shop. But it is not unusual to purchase the fabric you want at one location and have the item made at another. If you get measured first, you will be told how much fabric you will need to purchase. When you return at a later date, there may be alterations required, there may not. It’s good to have a little extra time available just in case this last step is necessary.

 Don’t forget that the vast majority of these places will only take cash. There will be a initial deposit required when you first make the order, with the balance paid once the item has been completed and picked up.

Buying tailor-make fashions is a great way to support the local economy, interact with the residents, and pay less than you would in a retail shop for a similar piece of clothing.

We love being expats in China but sometimes it is nice to escape to a night of Western food and drinks. We decided not to go on any big trip for this spring’s week-long break but just for fun, we checked into an upscale hotel  about half an hour away by taxi for a posh night of dining, swimming and shopping. An overnight holiday in our own city! The Renaissance Hotel is located right beside Metro, where we wanted to do some food shopping anyway, and a short hike to Shopping Mall, the only shopping mall in Wuhan that is called Shopping Mall and that’s what you tell the taxi drivers when you want to go there, “Shopping Mall”. Who would have thought? The Renaissance puts on a great buffet spread every night for dinner. We have eaten out there a few times and were curious to see what the rest of the place was like. So we checked in for the night. We tacked on the extra fee to the room price to include the breakfast buffet as well. Basically a night and morning of pigging out!

The hotel was great and the service was fine. Most of the staff spoke English so it was easy enough to check in and find our way around the hotel. We are never disappointed with the buffet and this night was no exception. There is always a large selection of Western and Chinese food, along with a huge assortment of sushi, which I love. As always, there was oodles of fresh seafood. Every buffet is accompanied by some sort of roast and this time it was a large roast leg of lamb. The other great thing about the buffet is there is always a good selection of cheeses and breads, two things which are not that common in Wuhan. And really good deserts. After a great buffet dinner, with bottomless red or white wine included, we headed for the pool on the fourth floor. It was one of the biggest indoor hotel pools I have ever seen and we basically had it to ourselves. There was one other person there who left about five minutes after we arrived. On the same floor, there is a good exercise gym along with saunas,massage rooms, hot tubs and a spa. The saunas and hot tubs are located in the change rooms so it is not possible for couples to do those activities together!

Our room was on the 20th floor so we had great views of this area of the city at night. Another bonus was English TV, which we don’t have at home. The mall is located about a twenty minute walk away. Like everything else in this country, it is huge. We watched Battleship at the theater. The trick here to see if they have an English movie playing is to take a picture of the poster outside, show it to the ticket office and inquire whether or not the movie is in English or not!

So, for our little one night getaway in our own city, we got to have a wonderful buffet dinner, watch English TV, relax in a great pool, sauna and hot tub, and gorge ourselves again in the morning with a large breakfast buffet, complete with fresh-ground coffee. Most of these things are taken for granted in the rest of the Western world. Here, our options are limited!

The hotel is not located in the most convenient part of town but many things are a short distance away by taxi including the Yellow Crane Tower and the Hubei Provincial Museum. For a one-night holiday, it was a great choice!