All the World Loves a Shopping Mall

A view from my room!

Friday Night …

After my afternoon nap following my exploration of the Old City of Shanghai with its pungent aromas and bittersweet incongruities, I must admit that I did something unusual. After a week of Chinese cooking, some very good, some not so good, I gave in for a craving for some good Italian food. The hotel has an Italian restaurant with a good reputation. As I entered a friendly European, obviously Italian, greeted me with a mellifluous “Bona Sera” … I was seated and asked for a glass of Sangiovese and he suggested a delicious wine from Moltepulciano. I selected a very good insalata di patate for my starter course. The breads and relishes were delicious. For my main course, there was an exquisite Tagliolini Verdi with Shrimp and Zucchini. For desert, an espresso accompanied my cannelloni with a delicious mango custard. I guess it is obvious that I have a preference for Italian food. I do have a reservation this evening for a very good Chinese meal to end this journey.

After my dinner settled a bit, I headed out to Nanjing Street, which is the highlight of the traditional Shanghai shopping world. Based upon my experiences this last week, EVERY place is a shopping place. It appears that the Shanghaiers have nothing better to do than buy and sell things. The main part of the street is closed to traffic and the lights are legendary. So are the street urchins. It didn’t take more than a minute before I was accosted by a young man wanting to know if I wanted a massage or maybe a young boy. More than a handful of young women asked me to join them for coffee. I’ve never been so popular. After a while I discovered it was easier to just keep moving.

Many people were out strolling in the sub-zero night area and all the shop girls stood shivering attentively. The lucky ones were cooking hot things for the evening snacks. I reached the end of the strip and turned around for home, keeping the “lighthouse” in my sight. I wasn’t lost, it was just soothing to know where I was going to wind up: in a nice warm hotel room with the sheets turned down and maybe a message from a friend or relative on the sluggish e-mail log.

Saturday Morning …

As has been my custom this week, I awoke early, downed some fruit, an energy bar and some coffee and headed to the fitness center. A few hardy souls like myself were toiling on the machines of torture. I put in almost two hours, producing copious amounts of sweat, headed for a shower and then down for a full and varied breakfast, complete with those delicious Shanghai Dumplings they keep bringing me. After breakfast, I headed out with the camera, this time with an extra layer of clothes because it was supposed to be even colder than yesterday. I was heading towards People’s Square, but did so in a circuitous way. The main streets on the way were lower middle class but the side streets and the back alleys were the most scenic.

The traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular was intense. I discovered one of the specialized jobs in China, “The Traffic Assistant”, wearing an appropriate uniform and baseball cap and wielding the requisite whistle. Not all of the cars were happy with these people.

I arrived at the area of the main square and saw the Raffles Mall where every standard western store can be found. Inside the mall, many stories in height, the Musak featured Billie Holiday. I wonder who picks their music. By the way, that syncopatingly-challenged trio was playing jazz again this morning at breakfast. In the mall, they were showing King Kong, appropriately dubbed in Chinese right next to the Starbucks and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

There are millions of people walking around Shanghai. There is no end to them. They almost all seem to be in a hurry to buy or sell something. There weren’t too many people in People’s Square. I guess that’s because you can’t buy anything there. There were a few people in the park, but not many. Who would want to be in a park on freezing day like today when you could be warming yourself and the Chinese economy by buying something?

The views from the park of the many skyscrapers and new structures were phenomenal. So was the obvious smog. Not a handful of people walk the streets with their faces covered with masks. Of course all the rest have a cigarette in their mouths. Maybe not all.

I looked at Shanghai Museum but decided that I was in no mood to look at old stuff so I headed back towards Nanjing Street to see what it was like in the daytime. No lights but many more shoppers. For at least one fellow the shopping got too intense or maybe his wife was lost in one of the malls. Since it was daytime, I was only asked if I wanted a watch or something. The girls must be resting.

After finishing with Nanjing Street, probably forever, I wandered back towards the hotel, again via side streets and alleys. On one corner there was bustle with many official looking men with “INSPECT” on their tunics. They appeared to have “captured” a street person who had constructed a small cubicle out of an old table or something on a street corner. The band of mighty keepers of the public good dismantled the edifice and loaded its content onto an official looking truck, much to the amusement of the onlookers.

I headed back another side street and a door opened and a young woman tried to get my attention. “No thank you”, I said and headed back to the hotel. I guess you can get anything you want in Shanghai, though I’m not sure what the price will be.

Shortly, I will indulge myself with a sports massage at the spa in the hotel. All those hours standing in front of class, or staring into space on the treadmill, or wandering the streets of Shanghai have left me somewhat sore. Then tonight, there will be that final classy Chinese dinner. In the morning I will awaken, perhaps do a short workout, have breakfast and head out to Podung Airport for the long flights home. Fortunately, from this end we get the prevailing Westerlies that shorten the trip a bit. Also, the first leg to San Francisco is only 10 hours and the second leg about five hours. Still, it will be a twenty-four journey from East to West, heading over the poles along the Great Circle Route.

It has been an interesting journey. Thanks for listening. In a few days, check here, or at www.yermish.com/Shanghai for the postcards. Since I took over 750 pictures there should be at least a dozen worth looking at. It will be months before the book comes out. You can place your reservations now by writing me at ira@yermish.com

Oh, and remember, if you were expecting a souvenir, don’t hold your breath. It will take a while for the good pictures to get processed. I’m still only halfway through the Italy trip!