Shanghai Day Two

P.D.A. is not that big in China, but I don't care. I love Courtney and we're thrilled to be in Shanghai!

This is an old neighborhood that's actually just an L shaped street. It's old, it's traditional, it's historically preserved. Duo Lun Street used to be a place where writers hung out. It's now just a nice street where it's street traffic only. We ran into a couple (not pictured) who were being set up by a traditional matchmaker there. Now, not only is it the guy and the gal and their matchmaker. It's also their family including siblings, grandparents. Talk about pressure.

A completely random discovery, we got dropped off by our driver when he said the restaurant we were going to wasn't ready yet . Taikang Art Center is a set of old warehouses and factories converted to artist workshops and exhibition spaces ala Alexandria Torpedo Factory. The most common motif is Mao Tse Tung imagery juxtaposed with the new world. Mao pervades the consciousness of the society here, but in the last few years, with the economic development and new openness, the art displays a remarkable amount of tongue in cheek and cult-like (think Che' Guevara) icons of Mao.


The Shanghai Museum is shaped like a traditional Chinese cooking pot. Boasting an impressive bronze exhibit (weapons, art, bells, tableware, etc), calligraphy, sculptures, coins and ceramics. It is an interesting collection of Ancient Chinese wares. I picked up an English copy of the Chinese classic, the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms.





The Shanghai Concert Hall hosts music, plays and operas. The spaceship-like building behind it just looks cool.

The Yu Yuan gardens and Bazaar is a preserved old town Shanghainese neighborhood that boasts more tourist shopping that you can shake a stick at. I got a traditional chinese chop made.

Ichiban! They have it here too! Courtney and I got some preserved plums.

Now, this picture is interesting for a number of reasons. First, this is the take out counter for a famous dumpling house. The xiao lung pao (little bun dumplings) are so moist and delicious the lines for a table are over 2 hrs long on the weekends. The lines for take out aren't much better. What you can't see is the line. Lines in China aren't really lines. They're a metaphysical representation of a line. It's sort of there. You have to believe it's there. It's as much a concept as it is a real thing. It's people waiting for something. It's a line. For dumplings.

This evening, we all went to a Cirque du Soleil like performance of Chinese acrobats. Girls twirling plates on bamboo sticks, contortionists, strong men who toss 50 pound pots in the air, acrobats and gymnasts. They wouldn't let us take pictures, but it was truly thrilling. An interesting juxtaposition of eastern arts in the over-hyped ethereal spectacle circuses are today in the West.