Shanghaied!

Today’s post is coming to you from 31,000 feet, which means my adventures in China are, for the time being, done. And while the promise of returning to my own bed after a five and a half month absence has its own undeniable appeal – even given the fact that my roommates have converted my effectively abandoned section of the apartment into a storage space that is “a disaster” – I have to admit I experienced a twinge of sadness as I boarded the flight this morning/last night/two weeks ago (plane trips to and from China are proof positive that time travel is vastly complicated.) Working and traveling in the Far East was an incredible experience, and one that ended on a very high note: Shanghai.

The reason for these past few weeks of radio silence is pictured at left – the bustling metropolis that’s mainland China’s financial core. With all the energy of New York and ten times the space – all of which is used for architecture that’s a fantastic combination of art deco and retro-futuristic, including one building that’s a dead ringer for the Daily Planet – Shanghai has a vibe all its own and no shortage of things to see and do. Before 10, anyway. After that, the lights go off and the picture at left resembles a black velvet canvas.

Deciding that the first order of business would be getting a little culture, the boss and I headed for the “world famous” Yu Yuan Gardens. I qualify with quotes because I’ve never actually heard of them, but was assured by many that the property’s zig-zag bridge – at right you can see exactly one zag (definitely not a zig) – is globally renowned. At any rate, the garden was a little island of calm at the center of shoulder to shoulder foot traffic, and that alone was worth the price of admission.

Next up on our tour was the “Shanghai Sightseeing Tunnel”, which – I realize – is a slightly bizarre concept. Luckily, the Chinese seem to be in on the joke. Each small passenger car rockets from one side of the river dividing the city to the other, passing through a tunnel lined with video screens that display a bizarre hybrid of footage from 80’s music videos, TRON and the passageway to Hell. But given that it reminded me of THE TIME TUNNEL, it was definitely worth it.

Then came the Fabric Market. While I was initially a little wary of dropping money on tailored clothes with no guarantee of what I would actually end up getting, I wound up ordering two suits, a tuxedo, a sports jacket, a cashmere overcoat, a cashmere student coat, a dress shirt and a tie, all for $500… and all of which are awesome beyond description. A glimpse of the market can be seen at right, where Gab and our translator Ann play with a vendor’s baby that, we were assured, was not for sale.

Opting for another cultural experience – albeit one that was more Russian than Chinese – we then checked out Slava’s Snow Show, which is currently on a global tour. My roommate told me about the show a while ago, and I have to admit it was pretty cool to see a clown make an existential odyssey chronicling the journey between life and death into a bubble-filled adventure for kids. My only real criticism is that they charge $10 for a souvenir clown nose. That, Slava, is the real tragedy.

After all, $10 is all you need to buy some one of the finest watches in the world (or a close approximation of one, at any rate.) Here’s a snapshot of one of the back rooms at “Copy Market”, a legitimate mall that deals in illegitimate goods. There’s no telling if these timepieces would make like a Timex and keep on tickin’ even after a good lickin’ (I was tempted to try but had concerns about the lead content), but if they’re anything like the highly flammable, 100% “Boretex” North Face jackets we were warned about, my guess is not.

And there you have it – the highlights of my last few weeks in Shanghai. I’m rounding out this entry during a layover in San Francisco that will have me back in LA in a few hours, with the stops after that being my apartment, Vancouver and G.I. JOE…