Shanghai

Very early Monday morning, I said bye bye to the Swissotel Beijing and jumped in a cab to the airport to make my way to Shanghai to visit with my parents' friend from high school (yes, high school!) Leslie and her husband John. When I had visited Leslie and John during the summer, they described Shanghai as cultureless and money-hungry. So I thought, "Why would I ever want to go there!?!" When it turned out I had a few extra days before spring break was over, I decided, I might as well see it now while I'm in Asia, even if it sucks. And I am SO glad I did.

The flight was easy and I arrived around 10 AM to meet Leslie and Mr. Wong, their wonderful driver. Leslie knew that of course I would want to see The Bund, which is the famous street you always see in pictures of Shanghai with all the old, western style marble and brick architecture. What's so cool about it is that on the other side of the river are all the crazy, futuristic spaceship/bottle opener looking buildings! I just loved the old and the new of Shanghai! We went to this super cool place for lunch that had outdoor seating and an amazing view of the Bund. Like a silly tourist, I took a million pictures and probably totally embarrassed Leslie and her friend May who joined us. Afterward, they took me to the Fabric Market where you could literally have ANYTHING made. I was dying. The coats, the suits, the dresses, skirts, robes, tops, were soooo cute and such good quality! but I didn't have time...or money for that matter! Then they took me to the fake stuff market, which apparently the English translation of is Treasure Market. I got a beautiful "Ferragamo" - real leather. Shanghai has the best shopping. Around 4:30 PM, Leslie says, "How does bolognese sound?" It was like she read my mind. I hadn't had a homecooked meal of bolognese in AGES! Let me tell you. It was SO nice to stay in a HOME with a kitchen and your own bathroom, a television, and couch to read on. Before dinner, we went for a walk in their neighborhood in the French Concession. It's a great area because all the buildings are very low. They're all about 3 stories tall and made of brick (reminded me of Boston a little). The streets are windy. (not like breezy, like twisty) They're are lots of trees and parks. So many great looking cafes, restaurants and cute little boutiques. I loved this area. Cultureless? At this point, I had no idea what John and Leslie had been talking about! We headed back and I read my amazing book, Eat, Pray, Love, for a while, then Leslie taught me how to make Cosmos - Mandarin Oriental style. 3 shots of cranberry juice, 2 shots of Absolut citron, 1 shot of Cointreau, 1 shot of fresh squeezed lemon juice. I can't wait to make it for everyone when I get back! They were superb. Then I ate about a ton of bolognese and I'm sorry Dad, but this may have been a tie for first with yours! After dinner, we entertained each other with travel stories and shared music. It was a great, really relaxing night!

The next morning, Mr. Wong drove May, Leslie and me to Xitang, a small water town an hour and a half outside of Shanghai. What's cool about these old water towns is a) they're like Asia's answer to Venice (with the little boats and stuff) b) they are pretty well preserved examples of life during old dynasties like the Ming. We just walked in and out of little shops along the canal, under the "covered walk way" that this town in particular is famous for. Each homeowner is responsible for maintaining their portion of the roof and they all do a very good job of it! I got one of those LONG skirts that's really bright and has a tie-dyed bottom and a wall hanging for RUBENSTEIN (woo!) that's navy blue and has fish on it. I like animals. Soooo good! Oh! I forgot to mention that Mr. Wong joined us and was absolutely, adorably ecstatic the whole time. Before dinner, Leslie and I had a 1 hour Chinese, full body massage, and a 1 hour foot massage for $24 USD! in a really nice spa! Freaking amazing! Then we went to this delicious restaurant for Peruvian tapas and white sangria. Mmm... How I miss good ethnic food when I'm in Hong Kong! Shanghai has the BEST food! Over dinner, Leslie convinced me that I should do a 6 month program to learn Putonghua (Mandarin). So we started talking about whether I should do it in Beijing or Shanghai. Apparently Beijing has the nice accent, if you do it in Shanghai, you may develop a Shanghainese accent which is not so pleasant, but I really loved Shanghai, so I decided I'll take the Shanghainese accent. I don't know that I'm ready to live in Beijing yet. So I guess all I have to do now is find an employer that will send me to China for 6 months!

On my last day, Leslie took me to the antique market. Basically, it's just a bunch of people's junk they try to tell you is really "rare" or "old" so that you'll pay a mint, but it really is AMAZING STUFF! Everything I saw I wanted to buy and put in my future house. I kept thinking, "When I buy a house, I'm also going to buy a plane ticket back to Shanghai so that I can come to this street and buy all my home furnishings!" I bought a "real silver" elephant tea pot and a four-faced Buddha. See! At first the woman said, "450 RMB for you!" And I was like, "Woman! Are you crazy!?!" So she said, "OK, OK, how much you want, you tell me how much you want," handing me a calculator to punch in my desired price...but I only have about 140 RMB with me at this point. So I see the Buddha, she says, "150!" I punch in 80, she says okay. So I get it. Then we're walking away, and Leslie says, "She said she'd give you the elephant for 200, you sure you don't want to go back?" Yes....I did want to go back. I HAD to have that tea pot! So the merchant says, "You can use card! Come with me." So we follow her through this alley, upstairs in this sketchy building, to a guy sitting in what looks like a toll booth. And wouldn't you know! They take VISA at the antique market in Shanghai! Then, we went to see the bird/cat/dog/turtle/cricket/mealworm market. It was so silly and super loud! The crickets are the scariest. Leslie says they fight them, like dog or cock fights, only they're crickets. Afterward, we walked to a delicious dumpling restaurant called Din Tai Fung to meet John and his secretary, Sammy, whom he and Leslie call their "adopted daughter." It was yummy! Then I found out that there is one in Hong Kong AND one in Los Angeles!! Hurray! Oh! and did I mention that my flight back to Hong Kong was NONEXISTENT!?! Yes. Luckily, John had been nice enough to have Sammy check on my flight, only to find that that flight didn't run on Wednesdays! I guess I still have a lot to learn about travel...but anyway, it worked out, and I got back to Hong Kong, happy as a clam and full of ENERGY, around 10 PM. (I wore my big magenta skirt to school the next day.)

I don't know what it was really. Maybe it was the "luxury" of a nice hotel, or having parents planning stuff for us to do, or a home to stay in, or cabs and drivers, or sleeping about 10 hours a night, or reading my life-changing book (oh! how I wish it never ended!), but China reenergized and rejuvenated me. It was the first time in a while I had completely let go of "work" and just enjoyed and soaked up every moment. I finally felt really fortunate/glad/proud to be abroad in Asia. I finally felt I had made the right decision. Leslie even helped me to start appreciating those things about Asian culture I didn't liked at first, like hanging your laundry out the window to dry. Whatever it was, the second half of my semester abroad has begun and I'm really looking forward to what is to come! Stay tuned for Vietnam! (Coming next week)