Shanghai

October 13, 2011China 2011anna, china, food, kfc, lost girl, nightlife, Pudong, shanghai, skyline, the bund Gallery

I flew from Chengdu to Shanghai to take care of some business (meeting with localization companies). The plan: work in the day, head out and enjoy Shanghai at night.

I didn’t eat on the plane to Shanghai. I thought I would land and be in a packed urban environment with as many awesome foods as I could possibly eat, and I didn’t want to waste and appetite on any poor airline food.
I arrived 2 hours late and really hungry. The taxi driver could not find the hotel I booked online and in fear of paying an outrageous amount for him to drive around, I pointed to the nearest chain hotel near the airport. It was late… maybe 10pm.

Once checked in and settled, I needed food. So I walked out of the hotel, and for the first time in weeks, I saw real darkness outside… there was nothing around. Damnit! I went up to the security guard and asked him. He waved to a line of taxis waiting outside the hotel and, of course, the one unlicensed driver in a black sedan comes over. He drives through hotel parking lot after hotel parking lot and we end up in neighborhood lit by light bulbs hanging by extension cords, which were hanging from some of the oldest shanties I have seen outside of the Guilin river country I traveled through the previous year. I’m thinking “this is ****ing Shanghai?” For the first time, I feel like a complete foreigner, out of place and perhaps fearing for my safety. This place is dark. No one here speaks English, and this driver lets me out and hands me his card to call him when I’m done, and takes off.

The restaurant is in the garage of a home, is small, dirty, and certainly no menu. The family who runs the place is eating their own meal at a table in the corner… the grandmother is peeling vegetables at the next table. There’s a huge bowl of boiled meat on another table… surely this pile isn’t going to be eaten fresh, it’s almost 11 pm!

A cooler… I don’t think it was plugged in, is on the opposite side of the garage door, and it is stocked with fresh greens and bowls of cooked meat… again… how old is this meat?

I somehow communicated “Chicken” and the family nodded and all of them, but the 3 year-old, got up from their meal and began cooking in a super-cramped kitchen in the back. I felt guilty for interrupting, but just sat down and pre-typed some translations I would need into my phone. The little kids just stared at me. A cop came in.. sat down to watch tv… also couldn’t keep his eyes off of me. Another man, must have just gotten off of work, his clothes were filthy and he was oily to a shine. This is a good sign. People eat here comfortably. This place must do good business.

15 minutes later the family brings out these:

This is chicken and those damn kelp-like wood ear veggies I hate. I twas actually pretty good… plenty of meat, but to difficult for me to work around the shards of bone. Maybe I ate too much. I felt guilty. I just figured I am going to get really sick from eating here… and I went all out.

Hey… it’s egg-drop soup… and a good one at that! Tomato soup in which eggs are cracked into it while it’s boiling.

My friend Anna, sort of from around Shanghai, meets up the next day and we grab some food…. her choice… KFC. She is probably one of the biggest KFC fans I know. At this point, after puking the better half of last week, KFC was welcome comfort food. If that’s what she wanted, fine.

Anna and I have exchanged e-mails in the past. I assumed she could speak English, but it turned out she could only write it… poorly. We pretty much rely on my phone and Google Translate to communicate.

She is from a small rural village, but recently landed an urban corporate job. She is certainly a unique personality I just couldn’t place. Take-charge and business-oriented, she runs her own small business on the side, selling exaggerated glamour contact lenses online. She despises eggs and parsley, and I know that because when any waitress brought a dish containing either, she would pick it up and take right it back into the kitchen. One time she changed her order and ran into the kitchen and I heard yelling in Chinese, she then came out smiling. I have no idea what went on. She is deeply interested in American culture, and knows little beyond what she saw in movies. I answered questions about the USA constantly for her.

Anna cannot visit the United State. She cannot obtain documentation, and especially a passport. Anna is a Lost Girl of China. Her parents didn’t register when she was born. They dressed her up a a boy, all in an effort to beat the One Child Policy. Her younger brother is the favorite of the family, often the subject of her parent’s attention and admiration, it doesn’t seem to get her down – her spirits are often up and she has been a fighter and a stern businesswoman. While China has implemented programs to help Lost Girls find their rightful (and documented) place in the country, the vast majority of women are fearful in doing so., worried that it may land their family in trouble.

She has a dog. This is her dog. That shirt is unusual. It’s usually wearing pink dresses.

Anna introduces me to KFC bowls, something that does not exist in the States yet. Here they are Chines-flavored, often very spicy and always use the thighs.

We part ways for the day and I head out to get work done.

After work, her goal was to get me set up in a hotel, make sure I am fed, and show me all the great spots in Shanghai to photograph.

Shanghai is HUGE… inconceivable for anyone who hasn’t been there. It takes forever to get from one side to the next, and just when you think you’ve made it out, you realize you are not even close. Think of driving from downtown to Pudong (just one of their 2 international airports, as driving from downtown Rochester to Canandaigua.

Over 23 Million people live in Shanghai. It is home to some of the largest companies in Asia, and is the center of finance. The richest of the rich are here and they love to show off. Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin– all just common sights down the city center roads. Things are a bit more expensive than in Chengdu. A taxi is twice as much. Hotels are on par with the western food is still pretty reasonable.

It really did feel like a modern western city.

The Bund

She takes me to the Bund, the best spot for a downtown skyline shot.

The Bund is the bank of a curved section of the bank of the Huangpu River in downtown Shanghai. The lack of bridges, ample pedestrian infrastructure, unobstructed view over the wharf, and skyscrapers decorated like Christmas trees make this a superb spot for night-time photos. Thousands of visitors packed in and walked along The Bund to catch a glimpse of the light shows the towers across the river would put on, and the launching of the elite’s super-yachts. The Shanghai Bund was behind me most of the time, it’s classical western architecture, illuminated by golden light, of little interest to me as I photographed the sparkling modern structures of Pudong, across the river.

A view of some of The Bund:

Pudong:

Super Yachts lined up along the The Bund… dozens of thems. Many of which are owned by financial institutions.
Where did all that bailout money go again, Citibank?