Goodbye old friends...

So I've received a couple of shopping blows in the last week or so. Through different developments, my two favorite places to shop will be moving or leaving. The Clothing Market (Dongjiadu) and the Knock-off or Fake Market (Xiangyang).

I'm not quite sure why the Dongjiadu is closing but they are going to be done the end of March. From what I've heard talking to different vendors, some know of a new location and some don't. One of my favorite vendors (some people from the summer trip may remember or have a suit from Jason at No. 82) will be moving somewhere near People's Square. In any case, I'll be on a mission in the next few weeks to get things made while things are still in the same place. Then I'm going to have to collect a bunch of address as I don't think they are all relocating to the same place.

Next is that place you hate to love and then can't live without; Xiangyang. It's a place that takes a bit of getting used to, but sooner or later once you get used to it, it's one of those places that is great for getting souvenirs and fake name brands. They say that the leases of the booths will be up on May15. From there, who knows where things will go. One of the vendors I talked to said he will be moving to Longhua, and that is quite a bit south from the main area of Shanghai. Quite honestly, the fact that it had been allowed to operate so long in clear violation of IPR stuff was amazing. I think that it's going to be funny when all the tourists come with their outdated guide books and there's nothing left of Xiangyang. You can see where I turned into the snobby "I live here" person.

Work is going well and I'm settling into working the 40 hours per week. Looking forward to all the projects and conferences that I can see coming down the pike.