Legal Alien: an American in China

October 3rd. Lunar Holiday.

So here I sit, house almost completely to myself. It's nice to have a night of just quiet... but I also miss having the group home. I was invited to go out tonight, but I figure, how many nights alone will I get for the rest of this term? So I sit with my take out curry, enjoying the full moon and catching up on my busywork.( despite the large availability of American/western food, I'm trying to see how long I can hold out before I go running for the pizza hut down the street :) )

My parents came to Shanghai for a few days this week. Unfortunately, the week's rain hadn't stopped by the time they arrived. We spent the first day cruising the Super Brand Mall on the Pudong side of the river. Ten full stories of commercial madness is, at times, overwhelming, but I think they liked it. It was mostly just interesting to see how modern Shanghai has embraced capitalism in it's purest form. After an afternoon nap at the Four Seasons, we headed out for a traditional Shanghainese dinner. We ended up in an old mansion in the French Concession where we were served iced chicken, Mao pork, smoked fish and fresh peas. The flavors and style were definitely not what we were used to, but it was fun to try something new.

Friday was a gorgeous day, so the three of us headed out to the Yu Gardens, the only slightly historical sight left in Shanghai. Because of the holiday week, the gardens were PACKED with people... almost all visiting Chinese with a few random westerners thrown in. Our morning was filled with bartering, shopping, and sampling the local fair. For lunch, we stopped by a crowded stand of street food where whole deep fried crabs on skewers were flying out of the stalls and devoured by local tourists. After an order of crabs, xiao long bao (little dragon buns, or steamed pork dumplings), and egg tarts (amazing!), we finally found the actual garden inside the large circling walls of the complex. The gardens themselves were lovely and tranquil, especially in the Shanghai midday heat. After a walk around, we headed back to the Four Seasons for massages :) and some down time before dinner.

On the way to dinner, we stopped by People's Square to admire the lights and holiday festivities. The whole country seems to have the holiday spirit, waving small China flags and supporting the national activities. We then headed over to New Heights, a trendy bar with an unbelievable view of the Bund. Below New Heights was our restaurant, the Wanpou club, where we had some of the best Chinese food I've ever had. Specialties of the area (xiao long bao) combined with fusion shrimp and sweet pistaccio beef made then dinner incredible. We enjoyed all of these local delicacies while looking out on the river skyline, perfectly clear in the cool autumn night.
Sadly, My parents left come Saturday morning to head back home. After some sad goodbyes, I took advantage of the Four Seasons health club and then headed on my way to explore Shanghai. The day was incredible: perfectly clear, not too hot, and full of Chinese tourists. I headed back down to People's Square to Shanghai's No. 1 department store, where at the request of my father, I bartered myself a working cell phone. I stopped for a Starbucks at the People's Square outdoor patio, where I opened up my Shanghai book and skimmed through the local attractions. Finally, I head back home, got myself some take out, and now sit here reflecting on the past week.

At night, the city is covered in lights and decorations for the holiday. Driving down Nanjing road is almost like going through some lit up Christmas neighborhood... only instead of holiday cheer, the energy is unmistakebly nationalistic. I have two more days of "vacation" until classes start up. I have laundry and homework looming, but hopefully some fun mixed in here and there.

It's amazing to me that after only a month, I really am starting to fall in love with this city. I can't wait to get out and do some traveling (I'm already reeling with stories from my groupmates and their assorted travels) but at least for this break, I'm glad I got to explore the city a little further. I have many more places to try, more things to see, and hopefully some more fun time to experience here. For now, I'll simply enjoy my East Indies shrimp curry and the beautiful full moon in the quiet of my beautiful Jia.