In terms of fun experiences, my week in Brussels was kind of a bust. The first few days we struggled to find decent food that didn’t involve too much time wandering on wet cobblestone. With the exception of one notable meal of moules frites, the city wasn’t living up to its culinary reputation. And then, my weekend of not feeling my best, in which the worse things that I could possibly eat were fried things (frites) sweet things ( waffles and chocolate) and alcohol (beer), effectively prevented me from taking advantage of the city. Although I did bring lots of chocolate with me to live in my hotel mini bar…
Shanghai has been completely different, and way too much fun for work (don’t tell PD). We’ve been working hard and getting a lot done, but have had lots of time to explore. I’m staying in the Westin on the Bund, the very western area on the banks of the river in Puxi, and working in Xintiandi, an even more Western area of the city, filled with office buildings and malls and artificial lakes. Having a quick lunch of paninis from a French bakery on a marble patio at a table we commandeered from the Starbucks…not very Chinese.
Quick sandwiches aside, the food has been very good. I’m loving Din Tai Fung, the upscale Taiwanese dim sum chain that specializes in soup dumplings, as well as all the other random Chinese places where we order by pointing – stand outs have been all the fresh fish and stir-fried veggies, and this cool kumquat tea (the tea in general is super yummy and MUCH better than the coffee).
The city itself has a great feel – it’s like New York but 1.5x the size and scale. The skyscrapers tower over the pristine white stone of the business and tourist districts. The skyline, seen from the bar at the Park Hyatt on the 91st floor of one of the tallest buildings in the world, or from the roof deck of THE expat bar, Bar Rouge, is one of the most breathtaking I’ve ever seen – overlooking the river, it’s as if New York, Paris, Chicago and Disneyworld had a baby that is now twice the size of it’s parents and stays up past its bedtime (and mine!).
Shanghai is also very easy to navigate, even without any knowledge of Chinese beyond “ni hao” and “xiexie.” The cabs are super cheap, and you just give the cabbies a piece of paper with your desired address in characters, or call the “magic number”, a call center set up to translate between drivers and passengers in advance of Expo 2010. According to some folks we met, the magic number also helps with things as varied as dry cleaning and bar recommendations…
It’s also a great place to be an expat – prices are not as cheap as expected if you go to the more western places (food/cabs on par with Nairobi, and drinks on par with Boston), but being foreign here guarantees you automatic admission to the club. You’re twice as cool here as you would be where you are from, so at least you feel really chic while paying $10 for a cocktail.
This weekend we got a chance to explore the city, going to Chabad Friday night and then out to a jazz club in the French Concession and a dance club on the Bund. Saturday we went wandering through an art district, in and out of little shops selling everything from communist propaganda to eco-friendly home goods. The highlight of this was a three story “Art supermarket” with tons of small artist studios selling work ranging from the faux-impressionist to the genuinely interesting. Saturday night was the expat bar scene…If New York men wear “hunting blazers” and Boston bros party in “stripey shirts,” the Shanghai signature look is the extra unbuttoned button on the shirt…eeek.
Sunday was the fabric market and the dizzying array of custom-made clothes (getting a blazer and a shirt, think I’m going to add 1-2 coats, a suit, and more shirts). More online research will need to be done here – all the cashmere and wool starts to feel the same after awhile. Then massages to round out a tiring weekend and get us ready for the work week ahead…
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