Partly Smoggy, mostly cool
Trip Start
Apr 20, 2007
1
5
6
Trip End
May 20, 2007
Shanghai,
China
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Knowing that this would be a very short stay, I was anxious to get from my nicely kept Dragon Air A320 to the overwhelming and overcrowded 90 story Grand Hyatt
A. Sunset in the French Concession
. Anxiously waiting for my bags, I was amazed to see my old friend Colleen Shaw gathering her things with the rest of the Banana Republic Men's Suiting Team. In total disbelief at such a random meeting, we quickly chatted and got updated on each other's lives before being dragged off in different directions by our respective camps. Arriving at the hotel, I witnessed the usual ordeal of getting new arrivals and their luggage from sea level to the 54th floor lobby. Feeling the impending onset of urban altitude sickness, I got quickly acquainted with room 7311 (Yes...that's on the 73rd floor) and moved to begin the not so gentle descent into the lobby of the Jin Mao tower. Ten minutes after leaving the nosebleeds, I finally reached the front of the taxi queue and headed under the river to the Shanghai side.
With a good hour to kill before dinner with the team, I got a little bit of time to wander around the French Concession. The district is a perfect example of what makes Shanghai so unique, as it is chock full of tree lined streets which house a nice mix of low rise residential and commercial space. Strolling up and down the avenues, one is presented with row upon row of unique shops, restaurants and beauty salons. While I probably only covered a square mile, I saw more variety of offering than I witnessed in any other city so far
B. Dinner on the Street
. With darkness claiming the streets, shop lights began to flicker on and the clock confidently struck dinner. Moving on to Julu Street, I found "Mesa" and discovered that Christie and Meredith had beaten me there. With a chic and industrial ground floor, the main restaurant space was proceeded by a steel staircase led skyward to a lovely candlelit outdoor terrace where my work buddies were already seated.
With Frank soon joining the party, we enjoyed one of the best meals of the trip, shoveling down heaps of Australian inspired meats and fishes. Adding some inventive...and somewhat off the wall...cocktails we were happy as razor clams and contented ourselves with a long dessert underneath an only partly smoggy night sky. Returning back to the High Hyatt, I let my eardrums equalize and settled into the clouds. Searching the ceiling for my pop down oxygen mask, I soon gave up and hoped that the cabin would not lose pressurization during the night.
In the morning, I awoke to what was one of the trip's busiest days and began by enjoying what is by far the best part of staying at the Grand Hyatt...the enormous buffet breakfast. Very good.
Once on the ground floor, our team was piled into an aging mini bus and we headed out to visit Shanghai's best. With limited success in the negotiation arena, we first spent time visiting Anto, a vendor with good product but a really bad bathroom. Worst of the trip by far. I almost want to use this as a bargaining chip..."Ok...I can accept this cost even though it is way over my target
C. Low Light and Good Food at "Mesa"
. But please... use the extra money to clean your bathroom. We cannot come back here until you do something about that mess."Our second stop of the day was Xi'An...a new trading company that specialized in glass. The meeting was mostly uneventful except for the lunch service which consisted of pizza delivery followed by Chinese Food Delivery. I was not at all unhappy with the combination, but a little perplexed by the lack of plates. After we sat for a few minutes, and realized that the delivery was complete, we were forced to improvise. Some used their hands and stuck to pizza...but others just couldn't resist the plates full of fried rice steaming in front of them. While most just ate straight from the communal serving plates, Frank was most resourceful (he does design tabletop afterall) and used an empty Potato chip tray as his plate. As we all came close to finishing up ten minutes later, a stack of plates arrived. Better late than never!
In the afternoon, we returned to the WECA office and spent the next few hours in intense meetings with a few of our most important vendors: Fei Tien (Glass Dec Acc), High Res (Lacquer and Resin) and Top Style (Glass Accessories). Accomplishing a ton, we were exhausted by the end of the day and all too happy to bid farewell to our final office.
Loading back into the party bus, we shot straight to Shanghai's Majestic Bund area and were deposited at "3 on the Bund". Our first stop in this small shopping and eating Mecca was the always impressive Jean Georges, where we sat on stylish couches, enjoyed classic cocktails and admired the fantastic river views.
D. Frank And his Potato Chip Plate
After drinks, we headed upstairs to the Whampoa Club where we ordered course after course of excellent Chinese food. My favorite moment of the night occurred after Frank refused to take on his entire Shanghai style soup dumpling in one bite. As he bit into the juicy bit, his shirt was paid a substantial visit by the entire liquid content of his squishy nemesis. We all got a good laugh as he tried to clean up the prominent squirt he was now advertising. Saying our goodbyes to WECA agents Marcia and Echo, we directed the bus back to the Grand Hyatt and spent the ride home in engaged in the most ridiculous alcohol induced travel hysteria I have ever seen. For the next twenty minutes, everything was funny (Especially Aimee) and we laughed so hard that we were all out of breath when we were left in toes of the Hyatt.
Ascending back to my unheavenly bed, I looked out on Shanghai and began to understand what people see in this city....and the more I read about the art galleries and performance spaces, the more I wish that I could get a few weeks to really explore and experience what the city has to offer. While I still believe that the amount of construction going on is hurting the city, much of what is being built is actually quite impressive. In my opinion, this city can (and probably will) be great very soon. The government must respect the history and character of the city and make sure that whatever it adds to the civic landscape does not detract from its unique identity. Lastly, the city's air and land need a serious clean up. World Class cities are not defined by having the tallest or most ridiculous buildings. They garner respect and create a buzz when they can connect modern design and development with a strong social and civic character that is unique to that one place on Earth.
If this city can continue to grow without losing its soul, it's going to be one hell of a destination. Until then, please don't take off those braces. We can all see that her teeth are still a little crooked.
