Shanghai: Part 2

In my one day of free time, I didn't really get to see that much of Shanghai. However, I did get to visit Xintiandi (新天地) and the area around it.

The place is a refurbished area of all old-style Shikumen buildings (石库门), which is basically an architectual style that blended Eastern and Western styles. It's surrounded by segments of both the new and old Shanghai. Just outside one can see brand new office buildings and crumbling hutongs (胡同). It's quite an interesting contrast between three very different but very historically and culturally intertwined crowds. Also in the area are a number of parks. I've been to a lot of cities in the U.S., but I have never seen any parks as pretty and well kept as the ones in Shanghai. They are totally asymmetrical--as goes the Chinese style of gardening--and with every step you take you feel like you've walking into a new park. Everything is winding, yet perfectly groomed, and there is no trash anywhere. There are always people walking, resting, 散步-ing, playing with their children, or doing Tai Qi (胎气). It's very relaxing to walk through, and I could hardly tell I was in the middle of a bustling city.

Inside the Xintiandi are large paths and small alleyways with Western restaurants, cafes, and Chinese boutiques on each side. There are tons of tables outside with people sitting and drinking cappucinos or having a meal. At this time of year, the area is filled with Halloween decorations and flyers for Halloween parties. The crowd is an varied mix of Western tourists--mostly Europeans, Chinese tourists, and very expensively dressed Shanghainese. It was pretty crowded, but the atmosphere was kind of a relaxed liveliness--much like what one would find in a Western cafe.

To me, one of the most interesting characteristics of Shanghai was its small shops. In Chinese cities, I'm used to seeing four main kinds of shops. First, the TeaFoodAlcoholCigarettes stores (茶食酒烟, or however it's supposed to go). That's the name of the store, and that's literally all they sell. Second, the Chinese-style small shops. You find them along the streets and in the little underground malls. It's normally a small room--about the size of a medium-sized bedroom--with whatever selection of a particular set of goods the shopkeeper is selling. The products aren't always the best quality, but you can bargain there and get good prices. Third, the Western-brand knockoff stores. There are more fake Nike's in China than I can count on one hand. Interestingly enough, some of them are starting to have the same level of quality and actually pretty decent name recognition. They're very similar to their Western counterparts, but the prices are a little lower and the quality normally isn't as good. Fourth, the Western brand stores themselves. They're everywhere in the brand new malls that are popping up like popcorn in all the Chinese cities I've visited. They're almost exactly the same as one might find in an American mall. I'm used to and tired of these kinds of shops. They're basically all the same, and I could just buy all of their goods in Beijing.

However, Shanghai was the first place I've gone where I've found shops with local personality. This is something rare and very difficult to master. Everything from the design of the store to the goods themselves have to be different from that of large brands and have their own kind of appeal. The stores of this kind that I encountered offered a very polished mix of Chinese and Western characteristics. One shop was a home decor store offering products that took a very modern twist on classical Chinese art. Tea sets, rugs, and furniture with very simple and clean design, but very traditional-style Chinese artwork on them. These shops are all ridiculously expensive, but I really enjoy them. Even just seeing shops like that creates a feeling that the area is special and can't be easily duplicated. I find that particuarly rare in the very consumerized parts of China.

Afterward, I went to eat at an Italian restaurant nearby. The food was... 特别... it was interesting. I find this in all the Western-style food I eat in China. It's not that there's anything wrong with it, it just clearly doesn't taste authentic. I think the cooking style was pretty accurate, it's just that authentic ingredients aren't available. The flour is different, the milk is different, the meat is different--it's just impossible to get the same flavor when the core ingredients are so dissimilar. The same issue comes up with Chinese food in America. The Chinese food in American restaurants is normally just poorly made anyway, but even in nice restaurants it just doesn't taste the same. Regardless, it was the first time I had pasta and bread since I came, so I was very, very satisfied.