The Gubei Road Shanghai big tree flower sculpture is in Lyon France!

Photos by: randyi66, spiky247, Diamond Header and kl loth on Flickr.


Sorry I have been away for so long. To make up for it though, I have one heck of a crazy post for y'all.

I have stumbled upon something very very interesting, by chance.

I have discovered that there is a twin sister of that giant, crazy, colourful tree/flower sculpture thing in Gubei!!

I'm sure many people (both residents and tourists) have passed that sculpture wondering what it's doing there.. It seems like it's in the middle of nowhere (which it sort of is, at the junction of some very busy big roads/freeways) on a big patch of grass. It is definitely eye-catching, some may say gaudy but personally, I like it.

The bright colour breaks up the horribly grey polluted sky...

It seems that everyone has seen the sculpture but nobody knows anything about it.

Until now!

Like I said, I found the twin sister in Lyon. And have managed to dig up some info about it (excuse dodgy translation):

The bouquet of giant flowers is a work of Korean Jeong-Hwa Choi, entitled “Flower Tree”.

It was exposed on the place Antonin Poncet, near the quays of the Rhone, at the time of the 7th biennale (September 18, 2003-January 4, 2004). The sculpture circulated since, in particular with the royal saltworks of Arc and Senans in 2004, before integrating the public domain of the Town of Lyon (deliberation of July 13, 2006). The common one wished to acquire it because of the passion of the Lyoneses for this work which they have a long time, like you, kept in their memory. Currently, the sculpture is in the course of restoration to find all its colors and to remake its appearance at the same place as in 2003. It will remain there during all 9th Biennial Contemporary art (September 19, 2007-January 6, 2008) then will join a site whose localization is not decided yet.


Over the years, the living sculpture, "The Flower Tree" is one of many symbols of Lyon. The Tree Flowers was installed in place Antonin Poncet during the Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2003. The sculpture was created by Jeong-Hwa Choi and is the reason the sculpture is located in place Antonin Poncet (because it has chosen the place for his sculpture itself). The sculpture is made of stainless steel and painted with polyester resin and measures 6 meters with a total of 85 flowers of polyester resin.

Now it seems that the public has become a fan of The Flower Tree. I asked a few questions to people who passed the statue to see the reaction of the public and each person said they liked the sculpture and thought it was pretty. I also asked if they thought it was an obstruction in a beautiful place with Lyon Rhône on one side and the hill Forvière on the other, but they said they did not think it was an obstruction of anything and instead, he added color and interest to the sector. One person said, "[The Flower Tree] brightens the landscape of the 2nd District because the colors of the sculpture has bright colors that are not found in winter. For my part, I find it pretty."

However, not everybody was happy with the sculpture. In fact, it was the Commission Supérieure des Monuments Historiques who originally opposed the installation of the sculpture. The Commission said the tree was to flowers "misrepresenting an exceptional" and was "too modern highly intellectual."
Personally, I agreed with people so I did a survey. I pass by the tree flowers almost daily and, in my opinion, the sculpture is a living work of art that gives a bit of joy and color to the neighborhood and the majority of people who view the work of Jeong-Hwa Choi each day.

Source: Lyon Capitale.


I know, I know. That still doesn't answer the question of the Gubei one.

Some questions I have and I wonder if anyone knows the answers???

1. Is it created by the same Korean artist?

2. Is it a replica of the one in Lyon, or vice versa?

3. What year was it put there?

4. Who created it?!

Interesting...

There was also a bit of a discussion of the Gubei Flower Tree here, on Trip advisor

Carrefour Gubei Half Price Day May 1st

I haven't read anyone else reporting on this yet so so far.. You heard it here first.

On May 1st Carrefour Gubei (not sure about the other Carrefours in Shanghai) will have a half price or 'buy one get one free' off all food (hey don't quote me on this though).

To counteract the "anti-French" thing currently going on, the manager is going to see if people can resist a sale.. when it's been known that people have queued on the paths outside for hours because the eggs were on special... just a few RMB jiao/fen/cents off!!

Well my opinion is that of course no Chinese can resist a sale as great as this. I don't think I'll be going. I want to stay alive and not trampled on by mobs, thanks.

PS I sent hubby a link to that Shanghaiist article and he was too scared to go to Carrefour but tried his luck on the weekend and absolutely nothing happened - haha.

Metro City and Grand Gateway again

On the weekend I finally got better - Yay! All that drinking of garlic in hot water every day/night coupled with taking disgusting Chinese herbal medicine did wonders and 9 days later I finally got rid of this damn cold.

On Sunday I decided to venture out and Mike and I went to Metro City to get his Smiley Face red bean buns from Breadtalk.

After that, we had lunch in the food court in the basement of that mall. It was the first time both of us had been there. I had been in that building before when I was buying my laptop cooler, but not down to the food court. We were both pleasantly surprised. It is the same chain of food courts that we had already tried in Gubei Carrefour and Zhongshan Park, called "Megabite." You must purchase credit which is put onto a thick plastic card a bit like a credit card and use that to purchase your meals. Most meals cost about 18 RMB (Less than $3 Australian or US$2.50). However, we decided to try a Japanese restaurant inside the food court. I have been a lover of Japanese food since I was a young child and I can tell the difference between the authentic and non-authentic stuff. This place wasn't exactly 100% authentic, but nevertheless the decor was fab and the food looked even more fab!

We were not disappointed. The presentation of the food was amazing and it was delicious and came in fairly large portions. The decor of the restaurant was wonderful too, fitted out in a modern meets vintage style with mirrors and neutral colours like grey and camel, but with striking modern looking chandelier lights on the ceiling. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me but you weren't permitted to take photos there, or else I would have! The total cost came to under 60 RMB (or about $9 Australian).

After that, we went across the road (underground, via the subway. You cannot cross the huge fiveways intersection unless you want to be squashed flat) to Grand Gateway. I wanted to check out the supermarket with Mike.

Every expat talks about and goes to Carrefour in Gubei because it's one of the biggest supermarkets in Shanghai and also stocks most foreign goodies. However, after going there.. what.. 10 times?.. I am soooo sick of it and dying to see and 'try out' new supermarkets. Well I had been last time but didn't look at much and didn't stay long. This is Lianhua 联华.

We didn't bring with us a shopping list (oops) so we didn't end up getting a great deal since all the necessities (meat, fruit, veges) we like to buy fresh and our 'ayi' (maid/cleaner/cook/housekeeper, nanny too if you want) also buys them for us.

After that, Mike went off to play basketball with his work colleagues and I went home in the taxi with all our groceries - including the cool mug Mike found and bought for me!





Taxi etiquette - First to push in, first served

There is a queue right outside GG for the taxi but unfortunately, most people in China don't understand what a queue is. With this in mind. I've taken to becoming a "push-er in-er" too.

So anyway I see this middle aged well-dressed couple waiting in an orderly fashion so I queue up behind them. They get impatient and walk off... A taxi comes along and stops right in front me so I'm about to get in, then the couple come BACK and at first I think they are just another Chinese couple pushing in, then I realise it was the exact SAME couple so I thought should be nice to give it to them since they were waiting longer than me... Out of the taxi comes an American(?) businessman with all his luggage and he says something about the taxi waiting for him and then taking him to the airport. Noone knows what he is saying except me.. and I tell the couple in Chinese.. and they start saying あそうですか in Japanese. D'oh! OK so I'm still waiting patiently for this taxi and I see one coming up the driveway into the mall. Then this stupid girl out of nowhere comes out of the mall and the taxi stops in front of her! ARGH! Of course she wouldn't have the decency or politeness to give it to me. So I wait. Again (kinda getting fed up by this stage given I'm carrying heavy bags of groceries!) Well finally, after what seems like an eternity I get a taxi - Yippee!

While I was out and about I thought to myself, "Hey it isn't even that hot" (remembering the last time I was out in the same place) but then when I got home I was so exhausted and realised the heat had zapped my energy once again!

(PS - put up my Weather Pixie today).