SAARA Shopping District

After visiting 2 libraries and the museum of fine arts, I was ready for shopping in the SAARA (Society of Friends of Rua Alfândega and Surroundings) district of Rio.  This area is known as one of the best shopping districts in Rio for just about anything including home improvement items, t-shirts, and souvenirs.  This area dates back to the 19th century and was started by a group of immigrant shopkeepers.

We purchased a few Christ the Redeemer wooden statues from the store Xin Xin owned by a man of Chinese descent.  This shopkeeper spoke both Mandarin (Chinese) and Portuguese, but very little English.  It was probably pretty amusing to watch to two Chinese people try to communicate in Portuguese / English.

What was really funny when he made it very clear to us that these little Christ the Redeemer statues were hand carved here in Brazil, NOT made in China!

Here is his card in case you want to shop there too.  He gave us a discount for buying four of the same item.