Herbert Engineering Corporation

Herbert Engineering Corporation (HEC) is a reputable ship design company with offices in Alameda, Annapolis, and Shanghai. Its primary expertise is in naval architecture consulting for ship conversions and commercial new-builds. I work for HEC’s subsidiary, Herbert Software Systems Inc (HSSI), which develops ship stability, cargo-loading, and salvaging software. I had never worked with Herbert software before this internship, but its relatively small learning curve allowed me to get the hang of the software with only two days of tutorials. So far, I’ve used Herbert’s HECSALV suite for salvage engineering.

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Sichuan Food

Sichuan Fish Dish

Sichuan Fish Dish

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 for its spice. Ken and Aili took me out to a Sichuan restaurant after hearing that I liked spicy food. The bowl pictured above contains a spicy fish dish. It’s the first fish I truly enjoyed in Shanghai. Little red peppers crowd the bowl to add flavor. They are not meant for consumption, as I understood only after letting them burn a lasting hole in my mouth. Little numbing peppers also float in the oily Szechuan dishes to sophiscate the gustatory experience. I thought I was smart to first eat the sharp-tasting numbing pepper (like a strong clove) and then chew a red pepper, but the fire just hit farther down my throat and more unexpectedly. In some Szechuan restaurants, you can hardly breathe, the air is so infused with spice and oil wafted in from the open kitchen.

Suntory

Suntory

We each started out with a tall bottle of Suntory, Japanese beer bottled in Shanghai. I was wondering if I was going to be able to finish the  two to three 600 ml bottles they had purchased for me when I read the finely-printed alcohol level to be only about 4.64%. Many of the Shanghai beers taste like watered-down Corona. The legal drinking age here, by the way, is 18 as it should still be in the States too.

Ginger Chicken and Lotus Root

Ginger Chicken and Lotus Root

Ginger infuses the skin of the chicken and sweet rice stuffs the lotus root. Both were delicious. Chinese enjoy eating meat directly off the bone, which can be challenging with chopsticks. Some restaurants serve plastic gloves to diners in case they have the inclination to eat with their hands.

Lamb on a Stick

Lamb on a Stick

Though I love lamb, I cringe a little every time I eat it in Shanghai after hearing a rumor that cat sometime substitutes lamb. After all, stray cats come free. That’s probably only the case for some street kebab vendors,  but all the meat here, with the exception of chicken, tastes a little different and I wonder how easy it would be to swap the animal type in the kitchen if there’s little cultural objection to eating it in the first place.

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Purchasing an Erhu – Part IV

Dubious Erhu Salesmen

Dubious Erhu Salesmen

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 am to have not purchased an erhu from them, though I learned the most about the ancient instrument in this shop.

Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto – Part I

Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto – Part II

Before I left, I asked the dealer, the young girl’s father, to play China’s most famous musical piece. See video above.

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Open Mike at Oscar's Pub

TJP

TJP

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 and had a film crew following them today to make a documentary. Tom, the mandolin player in front of the space heater, is an amazing mandolin player. I’m trying to learn from his soloing technique, but he’s often too fast to follow.

VIDEO: Violin at Oscar’s

(This is one of many videos that a singer, Echo, took tonight. Uploading here is slow, so please be patient.)

Above is a short video with two guys from Bee Dee’s, another Shanghai bar. Jeff, on the right, owns the bar and they just invited me to play at their open mike on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Cloudy, Vivi, and Mei

Cloudy, Vivi, and Mei

Mei stopped by the open mike to listen with two of her college friends, Cloudy and Vivi. I stayed late and had to take a cab home since the metro here cuts out at around 10pm.

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Pu Jersey

Times Square, Pudong

Times Square, Pudong

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 area was farmland. Now, it’s one of the newest and most built up districts in Shanghai.

Pudong Apartment View

Pudong Apartment View

Above is the view from my twentieth-floor apartment in Pudong. Below is a close-up of the base of the skyscraper in the top-left corner.

World Plaza

World Plaza

I work in the World Plaza. Though the English letters are conspicuously written above the entrance for all passerby to see, if you say “World Plaza” a block away, no one will know what you’re talking about. The 50-cent DVD dealer outside the entrance probably would not know where to direct you.

Union Square, Pudong

Union Square, Pudong

It confuses my senses to see New York names here, especially since Union Square is supposed to be southeast of  Times Square, like in Manhattan. Pudong places them only a busy block apart from one another.

South Pudong Lu

South Pudong Lu at Night

The most hazardous aspect of my 15-minute walking commute is crossing the street. I feel like I almost get run over on almost every crossing. Taxi cabs in particular appear to be exempt from the rules.


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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, I walked into a small shop selling the erhu, guqin, and traditional flutes from different provinces. Upon inquiring about erhu lessons, I was directed to a young girl in a fluffy pink jacket. “She can be your teacher,” her mother persuaded in Mandarin. I wanted to hear her play some of the cheaper erhus I was interested in, but since she was a “professional,” she gave up in frustration every time her mother handed her a cheap one and finally agreed to play a full piece on this more expensive erhu. I then picked up an erhu in the shop and attempted  in vain to imitate the twelve-year-old girl (just a guess at her age). Her mother exclaimed that I would learn quickly and brought us to a shop across the street owned by the girl’s father. All of this would have been impossible to understand without Mei Yi Ling’s interpretation.


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Purchasing an Erhu – Part II

Music Shop, Jinling Lu

Music Shop, Jinling Lu

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. Most of the shops’ employees are musicians and are happy to let you play their instruments all day.

Me at First Erhu Shop

Me at First Erhu Shop

Since the idea of renting instruments seems foreign in Shanghai, we set off to buy a suitable erhu . Above, I’m trying an erhu at the first shop. The bow is stuck between the two strings, D and A, the same as the middle  strings of a violin. The instrument consists of a resonating box with a snakeskin cover, a bridge, a stem, and tuning pegs for the strings. For an apparently simple instrument, it is extremely difficult to play. In fact, I would consider it harder for a beginner to pick up than the violin. The angle at which you hold the bow with your right hand is key. Though at first I could not discern the difference between cheap and expensive erhus, I soon became well acquainted with the features that distinguish these wooden string instruments.

Video 1: Gujin Lesson

At a shop I visited, this girl was playing the guqin (goo-jin), an ancient Chinese instrument claimed to have 3000 years of history. Note the mother sitting patiently through the lesson, eagerly watching for progress. My impression is that many parents will get their children classical music lessons solely to play the famous Butterfly Lovers’ Concerto. Every Chinese person is expected to know the story behind this beautiful piece, which is analogous to the Western tale of Romeo and Juliet.

Coming Soon

Movie of My Playing a Chinese Film Piece on a Shanghai Factory Violin

My First Erhu Lesson

Detailed Explanation of the Erhu With Pictures

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Purchasing an Erhu – Part I

Mei, Me, & Mei Yi Ling

Mei, Me, & Mei Yi Ling

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.

Baby Doll

Baby Doll

Studded leather booths with red lanterns broadcast the restaurant’s peculiar fusion of Chinese food with Western presentation. Pictured above are papaya and chicken soup (lovely combination), goose liver, and the house specialty, Baby Doll (not sure what went into this one).

Baby Doll

Baby Doll

When this red splattering arrived, I was afraid that I may have to sit through the meal facing a fetus, but it was fish. Both the look and taste didn’t appeal to me.

Fruit Tea

Fruit Tea

After the green tea was brewed, the waiter poured it into a glass teapot filled with apple, kiwi, and orange slices. Hot fruit tea was the delicious result.

Baby Doll

Baby Doll

Iced kumquat juice at the far end supplemented the hot beverage. Mei’s hand rests on a dish with the consistency of lasagna but made of tofu with a little bit of cheese. The large plate in the foreground holds a giant sushi roll with fake crab and fruit at the center.

Fresh Sugar Cane Juice

Fresh Sugar Cane Juice

Mei’s cousin and I then set off to find erhu lessons. I learned that his firm consults for electrical power companies. As a result, he gets to travel to different provinces to give training presentations on risk. On our way to the music shops, we had some sugarcane juice from a street vendor. The machine attached to the back of a bicycle grinds the cane stalks on spot.

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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 not a primary concern to many. Overall, I would consider Shanghai to be the happiest city I’ve visited.

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Suzhou, the Venice of China

Suzhou

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.

Shanghai Railway Station

Shanghai Railway Station

To get there, a coworker, his friend, and I took a high-speed D-Train from Shanghai Railway Station. The 45-minute journey was more like a flight than a train ride. Seats are assigned by ticket, tea and snack carts are pushed down the aisles, and there are sickness bags and exit maps behind every seat.

Streets of Suzhou

Streets of Suzhou

The city, especially this shot, reminded me of Tintin in China. I would have brought a copy of The Blue Lotus by Herge but didn’t want to be caught with literature that stereotyped this culture. The ancient part of the town has broad paved walking lanes lined with old or historically renovated buildings.

Spicy Chicken with Peanuts

Spicy Chicken with Peanuts

Before sightseeing, we went out for lunch. Pictured above is a popular Szechuan dish (Sichuan is a province known for its spicy food). Also on the table are shrimp cooked in another province’s style, a hot pot dish from yet another province, and deep fried salty-sweet pork, a Suzhou specialty.

Suzhou Infant

Suzhou Infant

This girl, the restaurant owner’s daughter, stared at me by my side for the entirety of the meal.

WC

WC

Suzhou’s public restrooms were reminiscent of India, where even the toilets in the airports consist of no more than two treads and a hole.

(more pics to come – Garden of the Humble Administrator)

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Grocery Stores

Hanging Meat

Hanging Meat

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 still remember him well. The house band started up at 9:30 pm with a singer/guitarist, bongo drummer, and mandolin player. The lead guy is American and asked if I was a singer when he noticed I was keenly watching them play. I was pretty happy to finally see live music in Shanghai, let alone good acoustic music. When I replied that I play fiddle but didn’t have one with me, I got a pretty positive response and the guy said he wanted to talk to me at break. Shortly, I found myself being introduced to a bunch of musicians scattered around the bar and then led upstairs to try out the mandolin player’s violin from Beijing. It played pretty well and I was so excited to finally be playing with others for the first time in ages that music was pouring out wildly from my fingers and they loved it. Shanghai has been an overwhelmingly inspiring place for writing and music and I had so many tunes to express at last on the violin. Though I’m classically trained, playing improvisational music is my favorite, both alone and with others. I practiced at the top of the staircase, playing blues outside the bathrooms in the two-story pub. The guy’s bathroom was crowded and I incidentally served as the waiting music. The cleaning woman was my biggest fan. She just walked right up to me and stared at me and my fingers for about five minutes with the biggest smile on her face. It was also amusing when people forgot they had to go to the toilet.

I then got to play with a few expats, accompanying them with chords and harmony and soloing when they’d nod off to me. Since the bar was crowded, only a few people close to us were really listening at first. I then turned up the mike a little, got a drunk Irish guy who said he could play bongos to try to accompany me with whatever he could, and started playing a show-offish Irish fiddle piece. It starts slow and people started clapping, which got attention. I then slowly sped up until I was doing double speed. By the time I got to triple speed (I was really excited to be playing last night and felt almost like I was at my best), the bar was practically silent and then exploded with cheers. By the time I played with the house band, I was well warmed up and alternatively soloed with the guitarist and mandolin player, who is amazing and just got back from studying music in the States. I also played a butchered version of the Devil Went Down to Georgia with a guitarist who sang the lyrics, replacing both “Johnny” and “Devil” with “Simmy” and “Georgia” with “Shanghai.” It’ll be hard to top those two pieces, but the music is fun and I have a lot to learn from these guys.

Thank you to Stefan for this amazing recommendation. You’re a hard act to follow, but I look forward to heading back to Oscar’s on Friday and Saturday to play with the house band.

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Chicken Soup

Chicken Soup

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 from the United States to China, lying on top. The dish continues to cook after it is served in a ceramic pot above a burner. The longer you take to eat, the spicier the soup gets as the flavor of the red peppers leaks into the broth. Occasionally, the waitresses come by with a kettle to douse the chicken. Ours still managed to get burnt, though.

Quail Eggs

Quail Eggs

These small quail eggs went perfectly with the chicken, especially when placed in the pot to heat and soak up the spices. A refrigerator lined the far wall of the restaurant from which you could choose plates of eggs, lettuce, or random Chinese vegetables to add to your soup.

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Haggling – Calculator Games with Old Ladies

Dajing Lu

Dajing Lu

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 favorite street.

2 Yuan Store

2 Yuan Store

I finally found the Chinese equivalent of the dollar store, or the 2 Yuan store (converts to 30 cents). I was in disbelief that the jewelry was that cheap, so I asked the shopkeeper, “duoshao chian” (how much)? He reacted strongly by holding up the large purple sign on the right with a serious expression and made welcoming gestures to buy as much as I wanted. I would describe the products in detail for you but many of my cheap purchases here are presents for the primary readers of this blog.

Kite Seller

Kite Seller

Each shop had its own specialty with goods hanging outside like beautiful bait and a usually pushy merchant guarding the entrance.

Cops on the Corner

Cops on the Corner

After I tried to get a picture of the cops on the corner, one of them took an aggressive step toward me, shrugged his shoulders, and put his palms up in front of me in a sharp motion, expressing something like, “why the hell did you feel the need to take our picture? There’s no scene here.”

The Chopsticks Lady

The Chopsticks Lady

I’m glad I had the opportunity to snag a photo of this woman on my way out of her shop because she was by far the most fun out of all the characters I encountered that day. Like many people I meet here, though her expression never changed and she spoke no English, she managed to clearly convey to me what she was wanted. In her shop, I browsed fancy chopsticks until I found a single beautiful jade set with matching turtles as chopstick rests. Keenly following me and noticing my curiosity, she plugged 350 (51 USD) into her calculator to indicate the price to me but I shook my head. All the vendors keep calculators with them to display the cheap register’s price to gullible foreign customers. The woman then shoved the calculator into my hand and I punched in 100 (14 USD). She acted shocked, put my fingers on the chopsticks to  feel that the jade was real stone, and then punched in 330 like a gaming addict. Eager to show her how I played the game, I punched in 100 again. After dropping her offer in several small but drawn out increments, she made made a fed-up expression, abruptly laid down the calculator, and dropped the chopsticks into a plastic bag for 100 Yuan. I was probably foolish to have not set the price even lower, but I’m happy with what I bought. Prior to this purchase, I had given up haggling because of my linguistic lack, but the Australian girls I met nearby gave me confidence by claiming that they always set the price they wanted, never budged from it, pretended to walk away, ignored all pleas, and walked off with the good purchased at their reasonable price.

Clothes Shop

Clothes Shop

I bought a pretty white Chinese top here. At one point, when I expressed interest in different patterns of another top, the shopkeeper sent off a boy lurking around the shop to fetch some more tops from some nearby shop. While I was finishing bargaining for the white top, he returned panting on a bicycle with a few more shirts in hand. He seemed a little upset with the merchant as I exited.

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50 Moganshan Art District

Gallery 1

Gallery 1

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 red and gray paintings out of tessellations of women and babies to glorify the purest forms of life.

Gallery 1

Gallery 1

Some of the art was political. Mao’s distinctive outline can be seen in red at the far end.

Gallery 1

Gallery 1

Most of the paintings had Chinese themes and were aimed at capturing peaceful laughter. This European one stuck out from the rest enough that you could feel her expression, as if a live human were hidden among the paintings.

Gallery 3

Gallery 2

Aside from a very graphic gay-lesbian gallery that we briefly entered, this gallery was the most nude. Pictured above are naked coal workers whose figures are meant to disturb the viewer.

Gallery 2

Gallery 2

Almost all the paintings featured men either being dehumanized by their labor or injured by their machines.

Gallery 4

Gallery 3

Upon seeing this piece of artwork, the friend we were traveling with exclaimed in Mandarin, “when you buy this expensive painting, you pay for just this, this, and this,” while leaping and pointing to the two blotches of ink and one strand of real hair adhered to the canvas.

Gallery 4

Gallery 4

The style of this gallery utilized steel and small mechanical parts to make creatures. Large metal insects clung like real ones to the windows.

Front Doorstep of the Art District

Front Doorstep of the Art District

Just outside of the gallery, a man was trying to pull a tree down with his foot braced against a wooden pole and a fellow worker hacking at the tree base with a pick axe. Even in the removed art district, it was impossible to escape the ongoing construction.

Giant Stump

Roots?

This large stump was leaning against one of the studios. If you looked closely …

Roots + Art

Roots + Art

you could make out the carving at the center.

Graffiti

Graffiti

Even the graffiti outside was beautiful and fit well into the artistic setting and old industrial buildings.

Gallery 5

Gallery 5

This gallery consisted of an open space with hanging transparencies of randomly placed English and Chinese news web shots.

Gallery 6

Gallery 6

Lastly, we hit up the one Japanese gallery.


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Yuyuan Gardens

Yuyuan Gardens

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 day, it is possible to achieve peaceful moments within the garden.

Traditional Clothing

Traditional Clothing

Look carefully at the picture above to discern which article of clothing does not match the others. A sign at Yuyuan Garden reads, “Digital Photo Taken With Wearing Ancient Costume.” As soon as this Chinese tourist posed with the traditional garb, every tourist within sight gathered around her to capture what appeared to be authentic.

Latin Names

Latin Tree Names

The Chinese signs identifying trees are subtitled by binomial nomenclature. It disturbed me to see a dead language take priority over English. Notice the famed rock also pictured above. It looked and felt exactly like the fake rock in the Bronx Zoo. I understand what the zoologists were going for in their Asian exhibits much better now.

Jade?

Jade?

Yuyuan Garden is known for The Exquisite Jade Rock. Aside from these green ceramic pillars and perhaps the occasional tint of the rock pictured in the first and third of these pictures, the most jade thing I noticed about the garden was the color of the water.

Yuyuan Garden

Yuyuan Garden

There were more Caucasians here than I had seen in China previously. I almost started taking pictures of them, but then remembered that would be of no interest to you all. I asked a tourist to take this picture of me because at first I thought he was speaking Tagalog, the Filipino national language, which feels native to me compared to difficult Chinese. I could not figure out which language he was speaking, though.

Yuyuan Garden

Yuyuan Garden

The architecture is stunningly well integrated with the surrounding rocks and water. Crossing every bridge feels like a scenic privilege .

Corridors

Corridors

The tall white corridors lined with wooden, stone, and glass art between the buildings set the pace for transitioning from one part of the garden to another.

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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 slow-going here): Old Man Playing Flute – Part 1

Second segment: Old Man Playing Flute – Part 2

Third and final segment: Old Man Playing Flute – Part 3

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Foreign Brands

Steve Madden

Steve Madden

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 States, even after the currency conversion of 6.8 Yuan to 1 USD. It was disappointing to see the shoppers flock to American brands.

Century Avenue, Pudong District

Nanjing Lu

Whenever I request recommendations for places to see in Shanghai, people ask, “have you been to Nanjing Lu?” With the expectation of Chinese markets, Chinese culture, and Chinese people, I took the metro to West Nanjing Road (Nanjing Dong Lu), but was disappointed to see modern glass buildings, expensive Western name brand stores, and only the richest shoppers. Wrong part of town for me. The lighted red lanterns on the sidewalk were pretty, though.

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Construction – Chinese Style

Street Workers

Street Workers

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 could move sideways. Considering the amount of construction in the city – no where else I’ve been comes close – it is surprising that I’ve never seen a road closed down. The cars moved after I took the picture, leaving one worker happily painting his line and the other sulking with his hands in his pockets, waiting for the the next car to pick a fight with.

Construction

Construction

The existence of barriers between the public and construction projects is rare. I walk by this site every day in my 15-minute walking commute. One day, there will be a bulldozer. The next day, it will be replaced by a cement mixer, etc.

Jackhammer

Jackhammer

Construction always surrounds you in this booming city. Under the Levi’s sign, a guy is breaking up the sidewalk with a jackhammer. Also, note the wide load motorcycle dodging the unsuspecting couple.

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The Old Town – My Introduction

Dajing Pavillion

Dajing Pavillion

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.

Dajing Pavillion

Dajing Pavillion

An old man and his daughter were trying to get a little girl to pat the lion’s heads on the fancy fence outside the pavilion entrance.

Dajing Pavillion

Dajing Pavillion

I was most amused by the laundry blatantly hanging outside the historic monument and the huddled groups of old men playing cards and gambling in the cold (one in the foreground and another behind the bush).

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The Old Town – Unidentifiable Shanghai Cuisine

Tailor

Tailor and Meat Seller?

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.

Meat in a Cart

Raw Meat in a Cart

I saw this abandoned cart of fresh raw meat while taking back roads to the Old Town. My recently gained trust in street food rapidly waned.

Australian Girls

Australian Girls

My appetite remained, though, and I was glad to see these two nice Australian girls seated on a bench outside one of the many small crowded food stalls I had been eying, not knowing which ones were safe. I figured that if these girls could eat the food, I could too, though I was only a few blocks away from the raw meat cart.  The girls ordered another bowl of a delicious coriander noodle soup for me. I was glad for some foreign English-speaking company and the girls explained that they had been in Shanghai for a few weeks as part of an exchange program. As a result, they spoke a little Chinese and had seen much of the city.

Tripe?

Tripe?

Well into the conversation, one of them asked if we had tried the meat yet. I fished around the bottom of the bowl and realized that there were very unidentifiable meat slices lurking at the bottom of what I had thought was vegetarian noodle soup. All I can say is that I tried no more than 3 pieces. It was chewy, a little tasty, and totally unfamiliar in both texture and taste.

Soup

Soup

Above is the large container of soup from which all the customers are served. After I took these pictures, a man standing in front of the shop communicated with me in sign language, circling his stomach and pointing to the soup. I can only guess that I ate some animal’s stomach lining, or tripe.

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The Old Town – Famous Shanghai Cuisine

Old City Food Court - Me

Old City Food Court - Me

The Old City of Shanghai is bordered by street shops selling all sorts of cheap items ranging from silk pajamas to imitation watches and chopsticks made of bone. At the center lies a giant “food court” with popular Shanghainese delicacies. There are no seats or napkins. The hundreds of visitors all stand and eat together ravenously.

Candied Fruit on a Stick

Candied Fruit on a Stick

Candied fruit on a stick is a popular snack sold throughout the city. I still haven’t figured out what the red fruit is, though it tastes like an overripe apple with big seeds.

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Yuyuan Gardens – Preview

MVI_4502

The wind managed to die before I could film these red lanterns on the crooked walkway to the Yuyuan Garden Palace.

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Shanghai Railway Station

January 3, 2010
IMG_4348

Shanghai Railway Station

Sunday morning, I was excited to take a train to a neighboring water town, Suzhou. Unfortunately, assuming that I understood the woman helping me with the Chinese ticket machines, this weekend the trains were so busy that there was only one later train available. After having waited in line for a half hour and realizing that more waiting was to come, I decided to take pictures of the lines and then leave for a more accessible tourist activity.

Shanghai Railway Station

Shanghai Railway Station

The Shanghai Railway Station is the hub for all trains passing through the city and is by far the most crowded place I’ve seen here.

Shanghai Railway Station

Shanghai Railway Station

Shanghai World Expo Gumbies mark the train waiting lines.

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The Chinese Take on American Fast Food

Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, Haagen-Dazs, and McDonalds are among the most popular chains in Shanghai.

IMG_4193IMG_4288IMG_4256

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Jinling Lu

Jinling Lu, my favorite road, is lined with music shops. Below, a man plays the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument also known as the Chinese violin.

Music Shop, Jinling Lu

Music Shop, Jinling Lu

Jackie, the manager of a restaurant on Jinling Lu that I happened to stop at the day after the place opened, showed me the way to this store and served as my interpreter. I was amazed at the quality of their Shanghainese factory-made violins. After playing for a few minutes, I asked them if anyone there could give me lessons. There was actually an elementary Suzuki student practicing with an old teacher in the back. They told me that I didn’t need lessons, so I asked them how I could learn Chinese Classical music. I was disappointed that they could only recommend bookstores for sheet music.

I then picked up the erhu, which was very difficult to play, especially considering there are only 2 strings. The angle at which you hold the body and bow is key. I’ve been inquiring about erhu lessons and hope to buy one to bring back to the States.

Videos:

My apologies that the erhu cannot be heard too clearly over the background music of the practicing Suzuki violin student. Book 3 of the method, I think?

Part I – Erhu player – Part I

Part II – Erhu player – Part II

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Christmas in Shanghai

Times Square, Pudong

Times Square, Pudong

The commercial Christmas spirit is very much alive in Shanghai.

Christmas in the Shopping Mall

Christmas in the Shopping Mall

American Santa stickers adorn almost every building or shop of prominence in the Pudong Financial District. Above, the Christmas tree is brilliantly celebrated in a shopping mall.

Commercial Christmas Tree, Pudong

Commercial Christmas Tree, Pudong

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Shanghai Metro

Dongchang Rd, Line 2 (my station)

Dongchang Rd, Line 2 (my station)

As a New Yorker, I have a preference for the NYC Transit Subways. However, as an English-speaker, I find it much easier to navigate the Shanghai subway system. Hardly a soul you encounter on the street may speak English, but all the signs are subtitled in English and the station design is superior to anything I have seen in the United States.

When I first rode the subway, Mei asked me to try calling her. “Is there reception in the subway?” I asked. “Of course,” she said to my surprise. Occasionally, you’ll hear a loud phone conversation, but the Shanghainese are usually pretty good about not using cell phones excessively in small public spaces. Thank goodness there’s no reception in the NYC subways. There are also television screens in each car.

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No Jumping Sign

Pushing is necessary etiquette to depart the subway train. It’s almost dangerous to stand near the doors if you’re not leaving at the next station.

Subway Turnstile

Subway Turnstile

The Shanghai subway operates much like D.C.’s in that you have to swipe on your way in and out. The card scanners are so good here that I can leave my card in my wallet, quickly slide my wallet over the large green circle pictured above, and proceed to move through the turnstile. No fumbling for metrocards in purses required.

Subway (1)

Subway Lanes

The people on the left side are within the subway system; on the right side, they’ve left or are entering. The signs all have large numbers and are extremely clear.

Subway Fence & Sign

Subway Fence & Sign

Notice the height of the fence, the barrier between those in the subway and those about to enter. It’s between waist and shoulder height. New Yorkers would hop it in a second.

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Dim Sum Restaurant

12.31.09 – Mei took me to a Dim Sum Restaurant in the the Lujiazui financial district in Pudong. The specialty was an animal I had never tried before. It was tasty but not at all lean … see below. When I ordered water (pronounced shoo-ay in Mandarin), they looked a little confused and brought me some boiling tap water. Overall, it was pretty similar to a dim sum place one might find in deep Flushing, Queens, NY.
Dim Sum Restaurant

Dim Sum Restaurant - Me

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Dim Sum Restaurant - Mei

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Pigeon

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The Company Apartment, Shanghai

12.31.09 – Ying Mei, an HEC employee, picked me up from the airport and gave me keys to the apartment. Aside from the chill – space heaters are the only sources of heat – the apartment is very comfortable. Being on the 20th floor and in the Pu Dong financial district, I have a lovely view of the city.
The tap water is very mineral rich and will overpower the most flavorful toothpaste. It’s easy to remember that I’m not supposed to drink it.
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My Bed

My Desk

My Desk

Common Room 1

Common Room

Common Room 2

Common Room (2)

Dumplings with Shrimp

Dumplings with Shrimp

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