Friday evening we walked down to the river front for dinner. The weather has improved soooooo much we could sit outside and watch the river.

The happy walkers.....down by the river.

The restaurant was a combination of different cuisine...pasta, chicken, and spring rolls. Abi's dinner came with a salad and since it had "green things" in it she was more than happy to give it away to her mother.... I thought is was very pretty!!!


The round ball between the buildings is the sun....hmmmm might be a little smoggy today??? We watched the sun set after it disappear behind an interesting cloud.

River front walking area....

There were many families out enjoying the nice weather. Two little boys came over where we were eating and tried very hard to communicate with us in English...they were sooo cute!!

Monday we were off to the pearl market. The ground floor is a "fake market" with lots of vendors saying "Hey lady.... you want to buy a watch". The second floor is all jewelry. Mom found a silk hand bag and .....of course....pearls!!!

Next we went to a furniture market. Mom and Dad were amazed at the location. The market is located down a gravel alley in an abandoned warehouse area. Six different businesses are located in this area. We met the owner of Hu & Hu and she gave us a personal tour of her store and answered all our questions. She is Irish/Chinese/American and is a really fun person. She will be giving a talk to expats about her business and Chinese antiques later in the month.

This is the alley where the antique furniture market is located. When I stopped to take a picture of the alley I left the door open and the car filled with the worst smell you can imagine.....it was really stinko!! Next time I will be more careful where we stop to take pictures.

Our third stop was the HongQiao Flower Market. There are many little shops around the outside of the market......so much shopping....so little time!!!

This plant was in the flower market....notice the curly fern leaves. They are growing out of a big "trunk". The leaves are curled by hand to make them have this shape.

HongQiao Flower Market

More shops outside the flower market