Author Archives: simmyw

Sichuan Food

The metropolis is famous for several distinct cuisines, some purely from their respective provinces, others fashionably blended by the city’s demand for extravagance. When you say “spicy” in Shanghai, the automatic response word is “Szechuan,” or “Sichuan,” a province reputed … Continue reading

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Purchasing an Erhu – Part IV

Meet my favorite erhu dealer, plucking a no-name erhu in the corner, and his somewhat English-speaking crony ready to tell me only what I want to hear about every instrument on the racks. I cannot tell you how relieved I … Continue reading

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Open Mike at Oscar's Pub

I’ve only visited Oscar’s Pub three times but am already addicted to their Wednesday night open mikes. A slew of diverse players crowded the place tonight, from country musicians to blues makers. The house band, TJP (Tom-Jerry-Paul), is my favorite … Continue reading

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Pu Jersey

The Huangpu River bifurcates the metropolis into Puxi and Pudong (“xi” means west and “dong” means east). I live in Pu Dong, or Pu Jersey as the expats on the other more eventful side call it.  In the 1990’s, the … Continue reading

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Purchasing an Erhu – Part III

VIDEO Little Girl Playing Erhu – Part I Little Girl Playing Erhu – Part II Little Girl Playing Erhu – Part III The video above is broken into 3 parts because of uploading constraints. – After watching the guqin lesson, … Continue reading

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Purchasing an Erhu – Part II

We started our erhu lesson search by browsing the shops on Jinling Lu. I’ve never seen such an extensive music district before. There are at least 30 separate businesses selling a  range of instruments from ancient erhu’s to electric guitars. … Continue reading

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Purchasing an Erhu – Part I

Like every adventure, this musical weekend started with a feast. I met up at Baby Doll with Mei, my coworker, and her cousin, Mei Yi Ling. Studded leather booths with red lanterns broadcast the restaurant’s peculiar fusion of Chinese food … Continue reading

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The Land of Happy People

It is clear that the primary focus of the government is keeping its citizens happy. Shanghainese show little interest in talking about politics, which is boring to them as it only involves one party. The internet restrictions are troublesome, but … Continue reading

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Suzhou, the Venice of China

Suzhou (pronounced Sue-Joe) is a water town west of Shanghai known for its beautiful traditional gardens, the largest being The Humble Administrator’s Garden. The town was right out of films: red lanterns, silk, gardens, and canals. To get there, a … Continue reading

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Grocery Stores

Hanging raw meat is becoming a common sight. The larger food stores tend to be broken up into specialized sections for each food product, each with their own counter like the butcher’s stall above.

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First Week at Oscar's Pub

Stefan, the Webbie who worked here last Winter, highly recommended Oscar’s Pub, an expatriate joint with live bluegrass, folk, and rock and an open-mike on Wednesday nights.  He used to play with the house band and all the musicians there … Continue reading

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Chicken Soup

The Chinese have a reputation for using every part of the animal. Pictured above is their version of chicken soup, a deliciously spicy coriander-heavy broth with everything but the head thrown in. You can see chicken feet, a major export … Continue reading

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Haggling – Calculator Games with Old Ladies

On my way to Yuyuan Gardens in the Old Town, Puxi, I found many interesting small streets on the other end of the urban spectrum from the financial district where I live. Dajing Lu, pictured above, was by far my … Continue reading

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50 Moganshan Art District

Ken and Aili, friends of a friend of my Aunt Anne’s,  introduced me to the budding art community in Shanghai. Formerly an industrial area, the district is home to several art galleries and workshops. The artist featured above created his … Continue reading

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Yuyuan Gardens

Yuyuan Gardens is a peaceful retreat in the Old Town, costing  3o rmb to enter, or about $4.40. Though the garden was not designed for the multitude of international tourists who explore its bridges, rocky paths, and wooden interiors every … Continue reading

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Flute Player in the Old Town, Puxi

Over the babbling market sounds, you can hear an old man selling his wooden flutes out of small rickshaw cart parked on the corner of a crowded Old Town intersection. Here is the first segment of the video (uploading is … Continue reading

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Foreign Brands

My first New Year’s Eve alone was a little lonely, except for the millions of Chinese shoppers taking advantage of Shanghai’s New Year’s sales and mobbing the city’s modern malls where foreign products are more expensive than in the United … Continue reading

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Construction – Chinese Style

I was amused by these two street workers painting a thick line across the street in busy traffic. As cars were waiting at a red light, they knocked on their doors, making a shooing motion, as if the stuck cars … Continue reading

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The Old Town – My Introduction

The Dajing Pavillion contains the last remnants of the 1553 city walls. It is located on the middle of an urban block and looks quite out of place. An old man and his daughter were trying to get a little … Continue reading

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The Old Town – Unidentifiable Shanghai Cuisine

The tailor found a secondary use for her clothes hangers: meat. Let me know if you can identify the animal(s) and I’ll buy you a carcass while getting my clothes stitched. I saw this abandoned cart of fresh raw meat … Continue reading

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