In Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s, summer meals included soft drinks, ice cream, sour plum soup and modern shaved ice. Some old Shanghainese who had dealt with foreigners were able to make some of the drinks themselves at home. For example, this is how old Shanghai made soft drinks: a clean glass bottle containing boiling water, then cooled, put some baking soda, citric acid, and added a little saccharin. Economically well-off families. Can add some fruit juice, better flavor. Put a good, immediately after the cork plug tight, the soda is ready. Economic constraints of the people, boil a pot of water, put a little sugar in it, buy a few crushed ice cubes to put in, made of iced tea drinks.
In the hot summer, in front of the cold drink store erected Coca-Cola, Holland soda and other tempting advertisements, make people salivate. Through the window, you can see the modern young lady with a straw in her lips, gas bubble jumping in a tall glass cup, or slowly scooping ice cream with a small spoon, a thousand kinds of style and charm, but also a living advertisement. Cold drink stores generally have electric fans, and even air-conditioning, "white-collar" Shanghainese, passing by a cold drink store after work, often go in and drink a cup of shaved ice, ice cream, or soda, cool, cozy, and then go home, Sunday is about three or five friends to meet here. As a result, the business of the ice store is always booming in summer, the lady pulling the door does not have half a chance to rest, and the waitresses in white dresses are busy like bees shuttling back and forth.
There is also a large stall-style drinking place, next to a white flag, a large "ice" word, even if it is a signboard, simple and eye-catching. Several large round barrels, painted with red Beijing or Tianjin sour plum soup characters, and marked prices. A few ordinary tables are covered with white cloth. Cups of different colors, neatly arranged on the basin. Everything is modern. These street ice drinking places are also modern, with fresh oranges and shaved ice for sale, and a straw stuck diagonally into the cup. Long-shirted drinkers and short-shirted customers can get a cheap and modern drink for a few coins, and these street cafes are often full of customers, no worse than a cold drink store.
Sellers of sour plum soup and other beverages can be found everywhere on the streets, wearing short shirts, buttons are not buttoned up, while walking and yelling, sweat drop by drop from the forehead, but they can not afford to take a sip. Besides the laborers and the hard laborers, the children in the alley were the regulars, running over and gathering around his burden, enjoying the cheap cold drinks with the little money their parents had earned, with pleasant smiles on their faces.
The Hatch Cinema was not for the faint of heart. Only the fashionable and rich men and women went to some air-conditioned movie theaters to cool off, and they sat there from noon until dusk. Because some cinemas buy a ticket, can not be limited to the number of shows, stay all day also does not matter, the most suitable for people who are in love. Watch open-air movies, also quite fashionable, cool and enjoy the movie in one fell swoop. Shanghai has several open-air movie places, generally in the park, the air is fresh, pleasant environment, a dark, all over the place are sitting on the ground to watch. There are also some young men and women in the opposite direction, to the ballroom summer. A couple of couples in the beautiful melody and dim light, forget to dance. The electric fan next to them was spinning, and sweat was still pouring down, but they didn't feel hot. For them, dancing seems to be more effective than any other way of summer vacation.
Shanghai near the sea and the river, take a leaf boat, night to the river to summer, since it is romantic and elegant, but the Huangpu River wind and waves, have to worry about the boat overthrowing people, so borrow the ferry boat ride cool, cheap and affordable. Farther away, to Wusong to go. Wusong is located at the confluence of the Huangpu River and the Yangtze River, facing the ocean, literati and scholars called Wusong summer for "Wusong see the sea". From the city to Wusong, you can take buses and small trains. During the day, in the vast seaside play, night, the sea breeze from afar, body clothes single, will also feel a touch of cold. Chuansha Gaoqiao seaside white sand area, the Shanghai Municipal Government in the thirties in this seaside bathing beach, for the public to swim to escape the summer heat. Seaside terrain is flat, bathing sand, are removed with a sieve mixed with small stones, long-distance view, the tide is rising and falling, the water and the sky, it is refreshing, come to swim in an endless stream of people.