I am more and more interested in antiques. Every now and then I like to visit a random antique shop here in Shanghai – purely out of curiosity. I am most fascinated by objects that create a calm state of mind in a person and emit positive vibrations – be it objects related to Buddhism, the Chinese culture of drinking tea, or other little things, e.g. in the form of animals, lights, signs and ornaments. My idea is to one day have a small, quiet, specially equipped space, surrounded by such items, not only from China, but also from elsewhere. There I could completely disconnect for a moment from the electrified everyday life and, while drinking tea or listening to music, allow my thoughts “fly” freely.
When I was still living in Juiting (area in Songjiang District of Shanghai) almost two years ago – that is, when I last returned to China, in October 2020 – I decided to deliberately “hunt” antique shops for one weekend off. I tagged a few addresses, that I dug up with the help of the browsers “Google” and “Baidu” and went exploring. I didn’t have to go far to find one. One shop was just a subway station away from where I lived. The subway station I was going to is called Sijing on line 9, and the shop is only 10 minutes away by bike in an old area called The Ancient City of Sijing. When I got to the destination, this was the only shop open there, all the other shops next to it had a lock on the door, and they were closed. The most likely reason is the lack of visitors, the era of the internet, the neglect of the area and, of course, the Covid-19. The shop is very small, which does not mean that it does not offer much, on the contrary – it is a shop with a lot of different and interesting things, from old jewelry, watches, statues, paintings, vases, tea pots… In the store sat a seller, a middle-aged man, a father of four children, a very kind man and the owner of this unique shop, whom we later became friends and stayed in touch via WeChat long after I said goodbye that day.
Sijing ancient area has a history of almost 1000 years, about 800 years to be more exact, and dates back to the time of the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century. A small area, which is still showing the signs of an ancient city, is in poor condition, abandoned and without people, only here and there you can see the locals doing housework, walking or sitting on narrow streets. However, this is about to change soon. When being there for the first time – almost two years ago – as I mentioned above, the machines were already buzzing, which indicated, the abandoned and neglected city was about to change. Personally, I don’t necessarily like this, since I enjoyed and liked the peace, quietness and laziness there before – but on the other hand, it is a good thing for popularizing the area and recognition of its heritage.
Recently, a man wrote to me and asked, if I would like to visit his shop again, since it has been a long time since I first visited. I gladly accepted the invitation and went there one nice warm morning. Now the shop is not as close to me as before. I moved to downtown center during this time. Since Metro Shanghai is extremely convenient, overcoming the distance and moving around the city is a very easy task, so the current distance to the shop does not pose any problem and is not even worth mentioning.
A lot has changed since my last (and first) visit. At that time, the area was muddy and dusty, and it was difficult to get through, because heavy machinery and fences were everywhere. Now the main road of the ancient area has been renovated. By the road there were already several restored antique buildings, to which new elements and shapes were added. Despite all this, they still have a lot of work to do before they can attract new life and other energy to this part of the city, but it will undoubtedly happen very soon. As I entered the ancient area, I noticed a temple with a pagoda right next to the canal, which I, perhaps due to heavy construction work, missed the last time. Of course I stopped there for a quick look. The small temple is beautifully maintained and renovated. Inside the temple fence, I met a man who did Tai Chi and I couldn’t help myself but to take a selfie with him (*see the gallery) before I cycled from there to a friend’s shop a few blocks away. In his block, unlike the rest, not much has changed. All the shops next to him were still closed. All the same, all the same. Some people were sitting outside talking and playing mahjong. Mahjong is a traditional Chinese, tile-based game that was developed in 19th century. It is commonly played by four players, and it is a game of skill, strategy and luck. Inside, the owner waited for me with a big smile and a bottle of water. He had many friends with him, who gathered in his shop and in front of it. There were at least ten of them. Some of them were very interested in where I come from, what I do, how old I am, I am married and if I have any children… With my broken Chinese, we spoke a few sentences and took some pictures together. Everyone was very kind. There was no lack of laughter either. The owner even prepared me a small gift, a bracelet that Buddhists usually wear. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift – as you already know, I love everything about Buddhism. From that day on I am wearing it everyday and it become part of me. I only put it down when sleep and doing sport.
I took the time to take some shots of the shop interior and the items in it, for the purpose of promotion. I would like to help the owner to let more people know about him, his shop location and the items he has for sale. I’m not exactly an influencer, but you need to start somewhere. I shared some pictures among friends and also on my newly created account on the 小红书 “Little Red Book” (@marko_degenek), an extremely popular, Instagram-like, Chinese app that is used by more and more people. I received quite a few nice feedbacks and likes. Give it a look…
