shanghai

i got back from shanghai about a week and half ago. . . and really wanted to share my thoughts on it.

shanghai, is an amazing city - nothing like i expected. sure, i heard it was very developed, actually almost psycho- developed. seriously, it's like NYC except that the signs are all in chinese! nanjing lu, like times square. huai hai lu - low end park avenue.

there's just a tremendous amount of energy and movement there, almost like if you close your eyes for two seconds you'll miss something. so many people i know in LA want to move back there, i thought that they were crazy - but now i get it. i had dinner with someone that had moved to shanghai from sf and commented that his mom thought he was nuts - and said that our parent's generation left china to give their kids better opportunities, now our generation is heading back to china for better opportunities. irony at its best, i guess.

it seems that starting about maybe 5 - 10 years ago, shanghai went through this uber rapid development - so much so that i believe that they outgrew their infrastructure, which i think will be a problem eventually. my grandmother lives in pudong, which is across the river from shanghai, and i was told that it was still very rural only 15 years ago! now it's going to host some world expo - crazy, isn't it?

basically, shanghai is trying to establish itself along side Hong Kong, an amazing feat - but seems doable, and almost done. the saddest part of all this is that when you're there, you can't really figure out what's really chinese about it all. when you walk the backstreets, like in the French Concession or Old Town part of the city, you can still see the old historical buildings. but in most of the city, everything's been torn down, and rebuilt on models of architecturally modern and very western styles. economically and developmentally, it's great, right? but i couldn't help but wonder what the ultimate costs will be. i hear that buildings aren't built up to code, that certain policies and procedures to protect the people are still very lacking. i guess i keep forgetting it's still a communist country. i just felt that the city didn't have a culture or style of its own any longer. very sad, in my opinion. except for the traditional principles, etiquette and mannerisms of the chinese and the fact that most residents still don't believe in using a dryer to dry their clothes, most of what was physically chinese about shanghai is slowly dissappearing.

prices for everything are cheap - maybe just a bit more that in Vietnam. food was good. i love shanghai-nese food - so i was in heaven. those damn dumplings and sweat rice things wrapped in banana leaves were my daily snacks! shopping was cool, though i'm not much of a shopper to begin with. my staff was ecstatic when i brought back the purse and wallet knock offs for them - they wouldn't even beleive it when i told him that fake gucci purses cost less than $10.

besides the city itself - it was a very special trip for me because i had the chance to spend time with my grandmother, the one that raised me when my parents first came to the US - amazing woman. even better, i was learning so much about the history of my family. both sides of my family were originally from Shanghai. in fact, my grandfather on my mother's side was actually a general in the army under Chiang Kai Shek. my mom's family was one of the first families to move to taiwan. i also met my grandfather's brother's family. apparantly, because my grandfather took off to taiwan, his brother was held captive in a prison to try to persuade my grandfather to return to china, and he actually died while in captivity. how touching it was to meet his children and grandchildren.

the real reason for the trip was my grandmother's 90th birthday. besides my mom - my uncle, aunt and cousin were all there. they took this opportunity to do a bit of a ceremony as well. my grandfather is actually buried in taiwan, but my family wanted to somehow bring him to shanghai, where is brother and mom are buried. so they actually bought a plot in a beautiful cemetary and he's only feet away from them. it was actually really strange. i had not thought of my grandfather in years - but being there was so overwhelming, i couldn't stop crying. i have been begging my mom's side of the family to collect all his journals and have them translated so that future generations of our family will know him and what he did.

so, the first part of the week - i was consumed with family events - dinners, lunches, etc. a friend from LA did hook me up with this girl who lives in shanghai - and she took me and another "friend of a friend" to this hollywood- style afterparty for the Formula One race. it was fully catered by "Laris," which is apparantly one of the top restaurants in shanghai, and sponsored by red bull. it was pretty freaking flashy- they actually built a small village made of bamboo and hung red lanterns everywhere - just for this party. the icing? the party was across the river from shanghai, so we actually had a view of the infamous "bund" with all the lights. . . . a memorable picture, trust me.

it wasn't until thursday that i finally had a chance to really get out again. and that last weekend was a blur. i was damn lucky. my friend's friend also knew other people in town, who knew people i knew, etc. so there was about 6 of us that partied together friday and saturday. it was just me and the boys on thursday - something i'm used to anyway, as most of you know. it was so much fun. we were out until 4 or 5am every night. i didn't even make it back to my grandmother's until almost noon on both days. it was crazy fun.

what really made the trip super special for me, was that this group of people i met were so cool. i never thought i'd go to shanghai and meet people that i liked that much. everyone was so friendly, engaging, and just letting go and enjoying themselves. trust me, i am going to do my best to keep in touch with these people.

the guys reveled in the agressive local women, no they were not all "working girls," but damn were they persistent. one time, i turned around to put down a drink, and one the guys i was talking to, was already approached by two women! it's almost the total polar opposite of the LA club scene!

and though i had no real plans, the week ended up being such a great collection of memories. and i was so glad that i didn't waste too much time on the touristy stuff. walking the back streets, checking out the old markets and just sort of going with the flow was great! my only regret was that i didn't get to take enough pictures.

i have so much more to write about, but this will have to do for now.

"what you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do - especially in other people's minds. when you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. people don't have your past to hold against you. no yesterdays on the road." (William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways)

"travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
more later. . . .