Apple Pie to Stir Fry: Pet & Plant Street

We have made the short trip to Pet and Plant street a couple of times since we arrived here in Suzhou because as any of you who know Stan can attest...the man loves plants. He comes by it quite honestly.....his mom is also a lover of all things green and she converted Stan's dad and they have created (read: worked their tails off for 7+ years) the most amazing back yard ever with ponds and bogs and plants and plants and more plants..... but I digress. Back to pet and plant street.

It is literally a street where there are probably close to 40 or 50 shops selling plants and more than that selling animals. I use the term "shop" very loosely as many are just a small room (imagine a flea market environment and you are close). Anyway-we made the trip (10 short minutes by taxi and 20 by e-bike) right before Xan began school about a month ago and I've had these pics just sitting on my computer waiting for me to share them with you. The plant part of pet and plant street is very lovely and lush but the pet part is a different story. There are literally hundreds of different animals that are for purchase and the conditions are certainly less than optimal. Those animal protection folks would go nuts but it does make for an interesting morning and some pretty good pictures too. So here is a random sampling of what we saw that morning....in no particular order. (thanks for the photo advice today from my friend Danielle on getting them to up load quicker....thus resulting in more blog posts--- hopefully)

A cage full of pigeons.

Tiny baskets for the crickets you can purchase.

There are TONS of turtles....all sizes, all colors, etc. One of the delicacies here is turtle soup and there is literally a whole turtle floating in top of the bowl when it arrives at the table. I haven't partaken but Stan has and he says it's actually not bad. I think these smaller turtles are for pets.....at least I hope so.

Yep....this is a bag full o' turtles.

Just because I could.....here is a picture of a shop owner cleaning her toenails.

This sweet little girl watched us very intently.

I was glad she let me photograph her without posing.......I loved this picture.

More cricket cages.....this is only about 3-4 inches square.

and if you want a bit more style for your cricket this one is for you

Here are some of the hundreds of crickets.....it was loud and I can't imagine wanting one for a pet. Obviously the locals can and do.......lots of them for sale and all kinds of accessories.

Xan was checking them out.

Here are some of the smaller plants.

Again...because I could...high heels are literally worn every day by all kinds of workers....doesn't matter what you do or if they even match your outfit. I'm shamed in my comfy flip flops or tennis shoes by these ladies walking the streets and working in their heels.

This is for Stan's mom.....Yep that is trumpet vine. Want some??

This large, lovely plant is now a member of the Everitt greenhouse. He had it delivered to our apartment that same afternoon with about 5 other smaller plants. It really is beautiful.

Stan is just loving life here.....he gets very happy when he is around lots of green things.

This is a very common stance for people here in China to do work. They squat and will sit forever doing tasks or just chatting with each other. The older folks do it too....the men will squat and play dice games on the sidewalk. I don't know how they do it.

This cutie pie stopped to admire the very large, ugly cement lions that we did not have delivered to our apartment that afternoon. (I do have my limits)

Just some pretty flowers-

Some kind of nasty worm....there was a shop with tons of these bins full of them. I'm not sure what they are for....not sure I want to know.

This guy was one of several in the bird section that had a great seat to watch the shoppers go by. He was quiet but there were lots that weren't.

More birds...

and because he can.......a man working without a shirt on. [Side note: unfortunately this is not the least dressed that I've seen a man working. I drove by a construction site one day and saw two men in their tighty whitey's and hardhats and shoes. I promise! It was almost traumatizing if I hadn't gotten so tickled.]

Fish.....lots and lots of fish.

Some of the dogs....most were the small breeds but we did see a few large dogs.

More fish...

Just a sad puppy.

Trying to fit in with the locals.......ok- not so much.

A basket of eggs that were near the pigeons......this picture doesn't do them justice. They were a beautiful almost see through white color. Very unusual...again not sure if they eat them or what.