I love watching Shanghai get ready to celebrate the new year. I’ve written about this before, but one of the preparations that grab my attention is the habit of hanging out marinated meat and fish to dry on the cold days we’ve been having lately. I wander the streets stalking treasure.
Even in the midst of the most modern areas of Shanghai, the old traditions literally hang on. Here’s what caught my eye last week as I tooled along in front of smart clothing stores:
In the wet market a few blocks down the street, I spotted a bonanza in the rafters, available for purchase:
“Let that be a lesson to you!” my friend chuckled when we came across this dangling pair elsewhere in town:
At our house, we’re do-it-yourself-ers. Wang ayi has pork aging in the garden again this year:
Son Christopher and I sampled it on Friday, his last day in Shanghai before an early-Saturday flight to return to the States for college. Chewy and full of sharp flavor. Reminds me of Kentucky ham, he observed, recalling the specialty my husband used to have shipped from his hometown.
Sorry to say, Christopher and I spent Friday night hugging the porcelain goddess, retching our guts out. He could barely muster to get on the plane in the morning. Sure, the problem could have been with any of a number of treats we had loaded up on in the last couple of days, but I’m nervous.
Undaunted, my husband insists he’s going to give it a few more days and then sample the delicacy himself. Sometimes, I guess, he really misses Kentucky.