Night markets, hot weather, ‘old’ food and driving after dark with no lights
This week has been the hottest we’ve seen this year, with three consecutive days seeing yellow alerts for heat. Even so, we’re only in the “slight heat” solar phase. I guess we need to get ready for a scorching summer!
On Wednesday, the temperature in downtown Xujiahui reached a sizzling 37 degrees Celsius, and residents were advised to limit outdoor activity, drink lots of water and wear protective clothing if possible.
All this and we’re still not out of the “plum rain” season, having only just entered xiaoshu, or “slight heat.”
Luckily the city is ramping up nighttime activities, so you still have lots you can enjoy a bit later in the day when the temperature is a bit more favorable.
Shanghai-based travel company Trip.com said that famous tourist spots all over the country are offering night tours, including Shanghai. Food, night views and light shows are some of the aspects people most look for, as well as theme parks and night markets.
“Developing night tours is the trend of the tourism industry to satisfy tourists’ varied demands and boost night consumption,” Fang Zeqian, a tourism researcher, told Shanghai Daily. “The summer vacation will further fuel this night tourism boom.”
One of the Shanghai attractions trying out night time tours is the Haichang Ocean Park, which has seen ticket numbers and hotel stays at the venue increase some 20 percent since they started offering night time visits on June 11.
The park is themed on ocean culture and features five major theme areas, an ocean resort, three interactive animal performance venues, and more.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the number of couples on dates visiting the park at night is 10 percent higher than those taking a romantic stroll in the day.
If you’re planning to visit the park at night, or anywhere else in the city for that matter, don’t forget to turn on your headlights if you’re driving.
Surprisingly, driving at night without your lights turned on isn’t punishable by law in China, so local police have been sending what they call “friendly reminders” to drivers they catch through street cameras who fail to turn their lights on.
The reminders come in the form of text messages, and they inform drivers when and where they were driving in the dark, advising them to turn their lights on for the safety of everyone on the road.
Around 1,500 such reminders have been sent since May, two of which reached drivers who said they would otherwise not have known their headlights were broken.
Lastly this week I want to mention a new fad seeing young Chinese buying nearly expired food at huge discounts as a way to not only save money but reduce food wastage.
This idea is nothing new to me, since my home country New Zealand is dotted with what we call “best before” stores, selling food that has passed its “best before” date, but not yet expired.
China’s near-expired food market exceeded 30 billion yuan (US$4.6 billion) in 2020, and 47.8 percent of the consumers were aged between 26 and 35, according to a report by iiMedia Research, a Chinese consulting agency.
“I don’t care much about the date as long as I can eat before its expiry,” said Wu Lin, a 19-yearold college student. “It meets my demands while saving resources and protecting the environment, which is a good thing.”
Chinese people are famous for their high demands when it comes to food quality and safety, which is why nearly expired food would traditionally be avoided by local consumers and often thrown in the garbage can.
But with the yearly value of food wastage worldwide estimated at about US$400 million, it’s high time to start thinking twice.
“Near-expired food is safe and buying these products is a good practice to help prevent waste of resources, which should be encouraged,” said Zhou Yu, a professor of food nutrition and safety at Anhui Agricultural University.