Adventures at the Caojiadu Flower and Aquarium Market….and the tragedy that followed

A few weeks ago, we decided that our apartment needed a big green houseplant so we made a trip to the Caojiadu Flower Market, an exceptionally aromatic corner of the city. Before entering, you can smell what awaits you as the sweet buffet of fragrances waft through the Market's entrance and out onto the street. Upon entering, your senses are attacked; flowers of every shape, petals of every color, and that same fragrance you smelled outside has now been multiplied by ten. Flower hawkers enthusiastically announcing their products (anywhere from 1RMB-15RMB per stem) provide the soundtrack to your sinophrenic acid trip.

When you reach the end of the main corridor, you find that wholesale flowers aren't the only thing the Market has to offer. Other shops specialize in basic potted plants, orchids, ferns, cacti, bonsai trees, and herbs. We bought some potted lavender for 10RMB and basil for 6RMB. Most potted plants were in the 5-20RMB range. Other shops are a little more full service and offer specialty plants in elaborate pots (mostly Chinese and Japanese style). If you like stone or ceramic pots with big Chinese calligraphy on the side, you can swing a good deal at the Market. Other accessories like soil, pots, and seeds are available at onsite specialty shops.

But that's not all. Caojiadu also specializes in Aquarium pets! If you want to buy fish, salamanders, turtles, frogs and all the aquarium essentials, you can get them here REALLY cheap. Most small animals are 3-8RMB while bigger fish and turtles go into the double and triple digits. You can get an electric aquarium from 50RMB and a year-supply of fish food for 10-30RMB.

We had come for a big green houseplant and left with two potted herbs, 4 fish, 2 salamanders, fish food, a big glass fish bowl (30 RMB), a bag of tiny rocks (15RMB), a couple big rocks (15 RMB), a fish net (5RMB) and a marine plant (“free”). Everything cost us about 170RMB. Still no big green houseplant.

All in all, I was actually surprised how well kept the entire market was. My nose never encountered the slightest wiff of rotten flowers and the cement floor wasn't littered with plant debris nor did it contain any of Shanghai's signature “mystery-street-ooze-liquid.” Though, it probably helped that it was a cold day.

Address:
Caojiadu Flower and Aquarium Market (the entrance from the street reads "Flowers for Selling Flowers and and Birds" but I saw no birds).
1148 Changshou Lu, near Yuyao Lu
曹家渡花市
长寿路1148号, 靠近

余姚路

The Tragedy that followed
The lady who sold us the fish and salamanders said that the salamanders will eat fish food and you can put fish and salamanders in the same bowl. Rather than doing an internet search to confirm this, I took the lady's word as gospel and put the salamanders (Sal and Amanda…cute right?) and the fish (Padma, Ginger (the red-headed fish), Frank Reynolds and Charlie Kelley) in the same big bowl.

A few days later, I realized the fish were not very active. Looking around the bowl, I only noticed three fish. After a few minutes, I witnessed Sal attacking (or humping) Padma. I thought it was best to separate the fish from the salamanders so I put the fish in a beer glass. Unfortunately there was no sign of Charlie Kelley. Obviously, he had been eaten by Sal and Amanda. The remaining fish immediately perked up when there were no signs of predators around. Unfortunately a few days later, Padma also died.

We have since put the fish in a big flower vase with a nice aquatic plant and a new friend, Pinky the goldfish. The salamanders are still jerks, but we now realize their species are fully-aquatic predators, meaning that they almost never leave the water and they eat bugs and larvae that wind up on the surface.

My advice
If you buy an animal at the Market, do your own research and find out what kind of species you have and feed it and care for it accordingly. Don't rely on the shopkeepers' advice. Also, if you buy a fish bowl or aquarium without an electric filter, be sure to replace the water every three days and use filtered water (not Shanghai city tap water).