I Miss Shanghai Already

Robs and I just got back from a five day weekend in Shanghai. It was an awesome time as it was my first time in Shanghai ever.

It's the strangest mix of contrasts you'll ever see folks. Where you'll see malls selling high end capitalist merchandise, you'll also see ironic portraits of chairman Mao right above them. Just when you think you've landed in an eastern version of New York, you'll see old world technology and peasant class poverty.

Food? You bet. You can have the traditional Shanghainese fare just minutes away from the local TGI Fridays and Taco Joint. Contradictions a plenty in a now socialist world which Mao never imagined.

Behold! Rodrigo (Don Rigo) with a Corona and some great Cubans he gave me.

Here's Robin with her new boyfriend, the street kebab guy. I think it was the aroma of meat on a stick that attracted Robs to this guy, but the affair didn't last.

Anyhow, we enjoyed Shanghai under the guidance of Don Rigo and saw so much of the city. We aite at places where we probably shouldn't have and strayed into parts of the city that most foreigners will never see. Thanks Rodrigo.

Here's a few shots of what we saw:


The amazing thing about being in Shanghai is that you are a witness to the transition of China. These contradictions between tradition and modern living is a battle where old China is losing at the edge of a bulldozer. Try to see Shanghai before the end of all things. It's definitely worth it. Better still, pick a few good friends to do it with you.