4 September 2010
Shanghai, China
Shanghai Kick Off
I woke up at 7 am on the dot.
I put on my sports clothes and went to the front desk to inquire about the gym the Rayfont claimed to have on the hotels.com listing, but I didn’t expect there to be one in actuality because I had not seen it on the first floor nor seen it mentioned elsewhere. He told me it was on the 34th floor. I got in the elevator, and there were only 33 floors. At first, I thought, ah, here we have the reported Chinese reluctance to saying “no” straight out! He just sent me to a non-existent floor! I rode to the 33rd floor, anyway, and indeed there were stairs heading up another floor. Loud work was going on nearby.
The gym was there and very rundown but with two working treadmills and even a rowing machine. It was nice to run looking out at Shanghai, trying to guess what lucky shapes the buildings were supposed to bring to mind, if that one could be the budding magnolia, or the bamboo, or the pineapple crown or some part of a lotus flower.
Then I got ready for a day with Xiaomei. She was the first person I had called yesterday after arriving in Shanghai.
Xiaomei is Chinese and went to the Mississippi University to Women, which is on the south side of Columbus, Mississippi, where I grew up. It is also my step-Mother’s alma mater and favorite cause. Then Xiaomei went to Mississippi State University to study business. (We Ole Miss Rebels will forgive her for that!) Afterwards, she worked in Jackson, Mississippi, including for my cousin Wen Nance’s business, Trinity Apparel. http://www.trinity-apparel.com/
Now Xiaomei is a successful entrepreneur and runs her own import-export business here in Shanghai. So, basically she is an amazing woman!
When I called Xiaomei, I thought she might offer to meet me for dinner soon or help me figure out my cell phone, but little did I know that her Mississippi skill set extends past business to perfect Southern hospitality! First of all, she gave me a dinner recommendation. While options are nice, it was utterly refreshing to be given complete direction after a full day of traveling. She told me one specific restaurant and suggested a bar to check out afterwards. Simply Thai is in Xintiandi, which is a trendy expat area. While Xintiandi is anything but Chinese, it is full of good bars and restaurants, and dinner was great. A Frenchman and his regal Chinese companion sat next to me sipping from coconuts and speaking French.
Anyway, the second thing Xiaomei said was that she would pick me up this morning and take me out into the countryside. My first full day in Shanghai and leaving for an adventure already!
I was ready when she called to say she was downstairs. When I met her, she immediately grabbed my hand. In her other hand she carried a bag of pastries and soft drinks she had just captured at the shop next to my hotel. She led me to the car, which her husband was driving, and another friend sat in the front seat. Xiaomei and I rode in the back, and I breakfasted on a very tasty pastry with small pieces of dried fruit in it. The drive out of Shanghai was mesmerizing. In no more than ten minutes, the densely packed high rise buildings were replaced by active farmland littered with small huts. The fields were punctuated by groups of white egrets.
We drove to Dianshan Lake, where Xiaomei and her husband recently bought a second home. Their friend is interested in buying one there as well, so we spent the better part of the day looking at houses that were for sale in the same development. It had two parts. One looked like a rather nice neighborhood development in the U.S. There were big yards with plants just like Mississippi: magnolias, crepe myrtles, and monkeygrass. They also had a tree that reportedly keeps mosquitoes away, and as a result everyone wants at least one in their yard. It sounded to me like a good export opportunity.
The second part was a traditional Chinese area. It was sort of new urbanist with a Chinese twist: the entries were pedestrian lanes, lined with bonsai trees and doors with exciting handles fashioned like fantastical animals, and most entryways had a mosaic, such as the symbol of long life or a deer. But, in the back, instead of being an alley for cars and garages (like Harbor Town, for instance), there were ponds with walkways and Chinese pavilions and darling little bridges lifted over them. I fell in love… and then I wondered where on earth the cars went. I asked Xiaomei, “Where do they park? How do they bring groceries to their houses?” Coolies.
Just kidding. The cars are underneath. Effectively, the whole thing is built on top of a shared parking structure in which everyone has a garage under the rest of their house, but you would never guess it from street level. Take note, Henry T!
I was enthralled by this development and could not believe my luck to be on a real estate tour on my first full day in Shanghai – and not least in a neighborhood where asking prices have gone up 25% or more in the last six months! But nothing could compare with my first real Chinese meal. Not that the dumplings were not amazing, but the Chinese have a particular style of meals, which I’ll call “high maintenance family style.” Not only is the food wholly different from Chinese food in the States (which I never liked anyway), but the methods and meaning of what you order and how it is served are enough to confuse the most curious China newcomer. Everything matters. You must balance yin and yang, salty and sweet. You pick not only the food, which is all shared, but also the order it comes in. You must even take note to order a lucky number of dishes!
So, as you can imagine, an authentic Chinese meal is not something I could just roll up and order myself. For one thing, eating alone is an oddity here. So, at this stage, the only real chance to have an authentic Chinese meal is to be invited to one, so I was extremely grateful to experience one on the very first day.
The food was new, healthy, incredible.
Four dishes arrived first. One was a rectangular plate with boiled peanuts on one side and, separated by a beautiful purple and white orchid, bright green beans of some sort. The electric green beans were the best green thing I had ever tasted, and doubled as an exceptional way to practice using chopsticks. You picked up the pod and held it while you slid out the individual beans with your mouth.
The other three to arrive together were roast duck, sliced beef with a glaze, and pumpkin, which they noted was not the same type of pumpkin we eat in the States. The pumpkin was a deep fiery orange and cut in dense, juicy chunks. At the beginning of the meal, they also brought me silverware and offered me a Coke, but I did not use the first and declined the latter. I maneuvered as best I could with the chop sticks and drank tea with everyone else.
Next came broccoli, which before the first course was my favorite green vegetable.
Shanghai, China
Shanghai Kick Off
I woke up at 7 am on the dot.
I put on my sports clothes and went to the front desk to inquire about the gym the Rayfont claimed to have on the hotels.com listing, but I didn’t expect there to be one in actuality because I had not seen it on the first floor nor seen it mentioned elsewhere. He told me it was on the 34th floor. I got in the elevator, and there were only 33 floors. At first, I thought, ah, here we have the reported Chinese reluctance to saying “no” straight out! He just sent me to a non-existent floor! I rode to the 33rd floor, anyway, and indeed there were stairs heading up another floor. Loud work was going on nearby.
The gym was there and very rundown but with two working treadmills and even a rowing machine. It was nice to run looking out at Shanghai, trying to guess what lucky shapes the buildings were supposed to bring to mind, if that one could be the budding magnolia, or the bamboo, or the pineapple crown or some part of a lotus flower.
Then I got ready for a day with Xiaomei. She was the first person I had called yesterday after arriving in Shanghai.
Xiaomei is Chinese and went to the Mississippi University to Women, which is on the south side of Columbus, Mississippi, where I grew up. It is also my step-Mother’s alma mater and favorite cause. Then Xiaomei went to Mississippi State University to study business. (We Ole Miss Rebels will forgive her for that!) Afterwards, she worked in Jackson, Mississippi, including for my cousin Wen Nance’s business, Trinity Apparel. http://www.trinity-apparel.com/
Now Xiaomei is a successful entrepreneur and runs her own import-export business here in Shanghai. So, basically she is an amazing woman!
When I called Xiaomei, I thought she might offer to meet me for dinner soon or help me figure out my cell phone, but little did I know that her Mississippi skill set extends past business to perfect Southern hospitality! First of all, she gave me a dinner recommendation. While options are nice, it was utterly refreshing to be given complete direction after a full day of traveling. She told me one specific restaurant and suggested a bar to check out afterwards. Simply Thai is in Xintiandi, which is a trendy expat area. While Xintiandi is anything but Chinese, it is full of good bars and restaurants, and dinner was great. A Frenchman and his regal Chinese companion sat next to me sipping from coconuts and speaking French.
Anyway, the second thing Xiaomei said was that she would pick me up this morning and take me out into the countryside. My first full day in Shanghai and leaving for an adventure already!
I was ready when she called to say she was downstairs. When I met her, she immediately grabbed my hand. In her other hand she carried a bag of pastries and soft drinks she had just captured at the shop next to my hotel. She led me to the car, which her husband was driving, and another friend sat in the front seat. Xiaomei and I rode in the back, and I breakfasted on a very tasty pastry with small pieces of dried fruit in it. The drive out of Shanghai was mesmerizing. In no more than ten minutes, the densely packed high rise buildings were replaced by active farmland littered with small huts. The fields were punctuated by groups of white egrets.
We drove to Dianshan Lake, where Xiaomei and her husband recently bought a second home. Their friend is interested in buying one there as well, so we spent the better part of the day looking at houses that were for sale in the same development. It had two parts. One looked like a rather nice neighborhood development in the U.S. There were big yards with plants just like Mississippi: magnolias, crepe myrtles, and monkeygrass. They also had a tree that reportedly keeps mosquitoes away, and as a result everyone wants at least one in their yard. It sounded to me like a good export opportunity.
The second part was a traditional Chinese area. It was sort of new urbanist with a Chinese twist: the entries were pedestrian lanes, lined with bonsai trees and doors with exciting handles fashioned like fantastical animals, and most entryways had a mosaic, such as the symbol of long life or a deer. But, in the back, instead of being an alley for cars and garages (like Harbor Town, for instance), there were ponds with walkways and Chinese pavilions and darling little bridges lifted over them. I fell in love… and then I wondered where on earth the cars went. I asked Xiaomei, “Where do they park? How do they bring groceries to their houses?” Coolies.
Just kidding. The cars are underneath. Effectively, the whole thing is built on top of a shared parking structure in which everyone has a garage under the rest of their house, but you would never guess it from street level. Take note, Henry T!
I was enthralled by this development and could not believe my luck to be on a real estate tour on my first full day in Shanghai – and not least in a neighborhood where asking prices have gone up 25% or more in the last six months! But nothing could compare with my first real Chinese meal. Not that the dumplings were not amazing, but the Chinese have a particular style of meals, which I’ll call “high maintenance family style.” Not only is the food wholly different from Chinese food in the States (which I never liked anyway), but the methods and meaning of what you order and how it is served are enough to confuse the most curious China newcomer. Everything matters. You must balance yin and yang, salty and sweet. You pick not only the food, which is all shared, but also the order it comes in. You must even take note to order a lucky number of dishes!
So, as you can imagine, an authentic Chinese meal is not something I could just roll up and order myself. For one thing, eating alone is an oddity here. So, at this stage, the only real chance to have an authentic Chinese meal is to be invited to one, so I was extremely grateful to experience one on the very first day.
The food was new, healthy, incredible.
Four dishes arrived first. One was a rectangular plate with boiled peanuts on one side and, separated by a beautiful purple and white orchid, bright green beans of some sort. The electric green beans were the best green thing I had ever tasted, and doubled as an exceptional way to practice using chopsticks. You picked up the pod and held it while you slid out the individual beans with your mouth.
The other three to arrive together were roast duck, sliced beef with a glaze, and pumpkin, which they noted was not the same type of pumpkin we eat in the States. The pumpkin was a deep fiery orange and cut in dense, juicy chunks. At the beginning of the meal, they also brought me silverware and offered me a Coke, but I did not use the first and declined the latter. I maneuvered as best I could with the chop sticks and drank tea with everyone else.
Next came broccoli, which before the first course was my favorite green vegetable.
Now, imagine the largest mixing bowl owned by someone who loves to bake. That is the size bowl that arrived next full of noodles. Then came the most divine looking – and tasting – dish. Each of us received a large shell with a clam resting on a bed of vermicelli noodles and seasoned with a devastating garlic concoction. The last two things to arrive were scrambled eggs with scallions and, finally, watermelon.
Nothing could beat this spectacular day, but it was augmented by a nice night in Shanghai. My IESE classmate, Gerald, arrived, and I immediately took him to eat dumplings at the spot I discovered yesterday. Then we met up with my MIT sorority sister, Myraida. She works at Apple and sources parts for products you may have heard of, like the iPhone and the iPad, spending half her time in the Bay Area and the other half in China. While it may seem tepid to meet at someone’s hotel bar, Myraida was staying at the Meridien and her hotel bar was 789 Nanjing Road, which affords dumbfounding views of Shanghai. Arriving there, I saw the view from the guidebooks in person for the first time, looking down toward the Bund and the Huangpu River with the Oriental Pearl TV Tower standing like a psychedelic beacon in Pudong. I caught up on MIT sorority gossip (with a very patient Gerald) and even heard some from more than five years ago that I never knew. Myraida also told us about her amazing job and even showed us her personal pictures of the “safety nets” they put up at Foxconn. (Foxconn is a major supplier for Apple that has over 300,000 employees both working and living at their Shenzhen manufacturing complex --- and they have a suicide problem which they are fighting by, among other things I assume, putting up nets to combat jumping.)
Then we adjourned to the Bund. We met up with a friend of Gerald’s from Germany and her Chinese boyfriend at Glamour Bar. Divine view, music, scene, and shockingly enough they even had a very tasty chicken schnitzel. Afterwards, we took a walk on the Bund. In our picture, can you tell who is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower (looks like a space-age rocketship with globular growths) and who is the Hyatt (looks like a bottle opener)?
Photos: (2) Chinese section of the Dianshan Lake development; People’s Square metro station at night and behind it the Meridien (outlined in blue neon) which houses the bar 789 Nanjing Road on its top floor; the view from 789 Nanjing Road; Pudong as seen from the Bund at night; Gerald and ECL get architectural on the Bund at night
Nothing could beat this spectacular day, but it was augmented by a nice night in Shanghai. My IESE classmate, Gerald, arrived, and I immediately took him to eat dumplings at the spot I discovered yesterday. Then we met up with my MIT sorority sister, Myraida. She works at Apple and sources parts for products you may have heard of, like the iPhone and the iPad, spending half her time in the Bay Area and the other half in China. While it may seem tepid to meet at someone’s hotel bar, Myraida was staying at the Meridien and her hotel bar was 789 Nanjing Road, which affords dumbfounding views of Shanghai. Arriving there, I saw the view from the guidebooks in person for the first time, looking down toward the Bund and the Huangpu River with the Oriental Pearl TV Tower standing like a psychedelic beacon in Pudong. I caught up on MIT sorority gossip (with a very patient Gerald) and even heard some from more than five years ago that I never knew. Myraida also told us about her amazing job and even showed us her personal pictures of the “safety nets” they put up at Foxconn. (Foxconn is a major supplier for Apple that has over 300,000 employees both working and living at their Shenzhen manufacturing complex --- and they have a suicide problem which they are fighting by, among other things I assume, putting up nets to combat jumping.)
Then we adjourned to the Bund. We met up with a friend of Gerald’s from Germany and her Chinese boyfriend at Glamour Bar. Divine view, music, scene, and shockingly enough they even had a very tasty chicken schnitzel. Afterwards, we took a walk on the Bund. In our picture, can you tell who is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower (looks like a space-age rocketship with globular growths) and who is the Hyatt (looks like a bottle opener)?
Photos: (2) Chinese section of the Dianshan Lake development; People’s Square metro station at night and behind it the Meridien (outlined in blue neon) which houses the bar 789 Nanjing Road on its top floor; the view from 789 Nanjing Road; Pudong as seen from the Bund at night; Gerald and ECL get architectural on the Bund at night
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