One might not expect to find an alpaca on Huaihai Zhong Lu. An alpaca, living not in a pet-petting café but inside a tranquil, elegant Chinese-style teahouse. It is named Turtle. The teahouse and the alpaca. Stepping inside this Zen environment, one hears traditional Chinese flute… and an alpaca, in the background, chewing hay. What the heck is going on!

Opened in May, Turtle (wu gui in Chinese) is a Chinese-style teashop that also serves exquisite tea-inspired desserts in fancy presentations. No coffee. The owner believes there are enough Western-style afternoon tea places in Shanghai. Only a small line drawing on the window suggests what lives inside. Otherwise, Turtle looks like any other café. Until, until, until… one walks towards the end of the main room. The smell gives it away. An alpaca, quietly eating in a fenced area. This is not a scheme to exploit an alpaca for petting-money. This is the owner’s pet. The alpaca lives in the store during the day to keep her company and goes home with her at night. She takes it out for late-night walks to keep it healthy. Just a lady and her alpaca in a teahouse named Turtle smack in the middle of downtown in one of the world’s great urban metropolises. Another day in Shanghai. Another alpaca. Turtle is at 1250 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Huating Lu. See the full listing here.