Vibrant city life is back to normal in Shanghai
Shanghai began getting back to normal on Wednesday. Wet markets, food stores and coffee shops are back.
It was a busy morning.
People visited stores, buying their favorite snacks, or grabbed a cup of coffee on the way back to work, celebrating the lift of the two-month lockdown.
Fiona Li is so happy back to the Wuzhong Market, carrying a bunch of green onions.
At 318 Wulumuqi Road M., the Wuzhong Market in Xuhui District began known last year for a collaboration pop-up event with luxury brand Prada. At that time, lots of people crowded to the market, taking photos with bunches of green onions wrapped in Prada's patterned paper.
Today, people posed with green onions again, this time to celebrate their first offline wet market shopping since April.
Half an hour before the opening, dozens of people were already waiting in line.
People wait in line outside the Wuzhong Market.
"Ordering online is hard for aged people like me, so going to the wet market is the first thing for me today," a customer told Shanghai Daily.
All the vegetables are sold in small portions, priced from 4 yuan (60 US cents) to 10 yuan per bag (about 500 grams).
All the vegetables are packed in small bags for sale. Carrots, lettuce, green peppers and onions are priced at 4 yuan per 500 grams.
The market is only offering vegetables and pork in June. Fresh fish and other seafood will be available when the stallholders return.
Opening hours are 9-11am and 1-4pm. The market is disinfected at noon.
A negative nucleic acid test result from within 72 hours is required to enter the market. Visitors are also required to have their health condition verified via the "digital sentry."
Venue code and "digital sentry" are must at public places.
At 296 Wulumuqi Road M., a steamed bun shop reopened on Wednesday morning.
"I came to the shop the minute our compound's lockdown was lifted, making baozi since 2am," said Fang, owner of the bun shop. "I was too excited to sleep and could not wait to open my shop after a 61-day lockdown."
Ms Fang, owner of a bun shop on Wulumuqi Road M., sells baozi.
"It's my first time to have a fresh steamed baozi since mid-March," a customer said. "It's still as delicious as I remember."
A few meters away, a small fresh noodle shop at 310 Wulumuqi Road M. also reopened.
Uncle Lu, the owner, had prepared all the fresh noodles by 8am as he did daily before lockdown.
Fiona Li buys wonton wrappers at Lu's fresh noodle shop.
A Shanghai uncle who bought a bag of rice cakes told me it's one of the things he missed most during the past two months.
The longest queue for delicacies in the city on Wednesday must be Guangmingcun, a time-honored brand on Huaihai Road M. Its pork mooncakes are the favorite taste of Shanghai aunties.
The long queue in front of Guangmingcun for fresh pork mooncakes
The two takeaway windows reopened with the famous pork mooncakes and signature delis.
I met an uncle who has bought all kinds of delicatessen items in the restaurant. He told me it's for his family dinner to celebrate life returning to normal after two months.
In the long queue for the pork mooncakes, a Shanghai auntie told me her parents missed the taste so much during the lockdown, and she queued for more than an hour to buy it for them.
All the signature dishes were available on Wednesday.
Now each customer is limited to four boxes of pork mooncakes, one stewed duck in soy sauce and two boxes of duck wings.
Wandering along the street on Wednesday morning, I found all the coffee shops were preparing to open.
At 11:30am, I was the first guest at the Hinichijou cafe (also known as the "bear paw cafe") at the K11 mall.
The signature brown paw waves at Hinichijou cafe, welcoming customers on the first reopening day.
According to the staff of Hinichijou cafe, the coffee shops in Crystal Galleria, The Mixc Mall, K11mall, as well as the Paradise Walk, have been open as usual, and the other shops will be back very soon.
After ordering online, just the same as two months ago, the takeaway cup was handed out from a hole in the wall by a brown paw that also gave me five.
At the moment, I've got a real feeling that the normal life is back.
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