Lowes!?

Last weekend I went riding around the neighborhood and finally discovered where the contractors in Shanghai go to get their building materials. The area I found was a huge triangular section of streets, about 3-4 blocks wide and 6-7 blocks long. You can see it here, just click on the satellite image and look for the blue roofs (I cannot seem to link to the satellite version, click on the map of the world in the upper right hand corner)

The whole approach was very much based on the bazaar-style approach. Each of the shops appeared to be owner-operated and specialized in something different. The number of cars/trucks/bikes/scooters made me wonder how anyone ever actually manages to get what they need.

I've got a pretty good track record that for every 2 hours working on a project I need to make one 30 minute trip to the hardware store. I believe any projects in Shanghai will completely invert that ratio to every 2 hours spent getting my materials will allow me to make 30 minutes of progress.

Need some wire?

I was glad to see that Kohler found a place to market their goods, I'm sure the people back in Sheboygan will be reassured that the Kohler brand actually is very noticeable. I've been to alot of shops, restaurant and hotels with their stuff.

Need a new hot water heater??

Of course what I should have really taken pictures of were all the bikes with large wagons attached (tricycles actually), loading/transporting all the different items. The one that stuck in my memory was carrying two very large valve assembly's, easily large enough to double as fire hydrants.