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Dodging masses of pedestrians along crowded sidewalks on one of Shanghai’s busy shopping streets, my friend, Rui, and I followed a 30-something Chinese man.\u00a0 He glanced backwards surreptitiously every so often to be sure we were still following him. Finally he turned into a narrow alley and signaled for us to follow him down a dark, dirty, cramped passageway — an old neighborhood of sorts hidden inside the modern city.\u00a0 Walking past opened and closed doors, we continued zigzagging our way deeper into the bowels of a seldom visited (by outsiders) section of the city.\u00a0 Stopping at a plain black wooden door, he ran a bell.\u00a0 Some one answered but said we had to wait.\u00a0 We glanced up and down the alley — laundry hung above our heads on bamboo scaffolding that doubled as storage and perhaps balconies.\u00a0 One woman brushed her teeth spitting into a big metal bowl.\u00a0 Another woman stood washing her face in an outdoor sink.\u00a0 People stopped and stared at us.\u00a0 Finally we were allowed inside.\u00a0 A small, clean room was filled with shelf-fulls of faux designer purses, wallets, luggage, and watches — all black market merchandise.\u00a0 They spoke no English so I busied myself looking at “knock-off” Channel, Louis Vuiton, Guccci, and Prada purses while Rui and the shopkeeper haggled.\u00a0 We did not buy anything; we had not planned to.\u00a0 (The real bags cost $500 – 1000.\u00a0 Who wants to walk around with fake ones that make people think you are decadent enough to spend that kind of money on a purse?)\u00a0 We were just there for the adventure.\u00a0 When Rui said they did not have what she was looking for, they led us through a tiny door we had not noticed, into a larger room with more shelves and purses with even more expensive price tags.\u00a0 Eventually we were taken to two other secret locations in the area, one even more crowded and dirty which was hard to believe possible.\u00a0 The conditions in these slums are squalid.\u00a0 It appears that they have electricity but maybe not running water.\u00a0 It is so crowded in the alleys — the two sides of the “street” so close together – that it feels like you are indoors.\u00a0 And because their rooms are so small, the residents must spend much of their time outside — washing clothes, bathing, working.\u00a0 This was a real third world experience, and one that will stay in my mind forever!<\/p>\n
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