The New China

We are loving Shanghai, this is a place I'd love to live for awhile. Someone said to us that Shanghai is not the best place to visit/vacation, but it's a great place to live. I can certainly see how that could be true. Shanghai isn't full of historic temples and ancient architecture, it's a new, sparkling, bustling dynamic metropolis. Half the time I feel like I am back in the US, in NYC, and then I turn the corner and I most certainly know that I am in China.

Our apartment is modern and fabulous. We have crazy views of the city from every window, and downstairs a Starbucks, a French cafe, an import supermarket (more important that I would've ever imagined) and a very, very good American restaurant.

We've done very little but relax, eat well, and see friends. Justin and I each have a friend that lives in Shanghai and we've been catching up with them over the past few days. Yesterday we had lunch with Justin's best friend from jr high school/high school, who has lived in Shanghai for over 12 years. He and his wife just had a baby girl and have made quite a life for themselves in China. They are fluent in Mandarin and it's quite a sight to see them babbling away to waiters and taxi drivers, just amazing. Mark has built a very good business here called Sherpa's. He noticed a total lack of food/restaurant delivery services in Shanghai and has built a little empire now, having expanded it to 4 cities in China. You can't go far here without seeing a Sherpa out on his delivery bike.

Later, we visited an area called XiTianDi, an old area of Shanghai that has been restored and developed with beautiful shops and cafes and restaurants. We honestly felt like we were in Paris or Amsterdam, not China. The face of Shanghai is also very international, certainly many Chinese call Shanghai home, but there is tremendous global representation. Almost any language can be heard on any corner. We had a coffee at a french cafe and spoke quite a bit with our waiter. He was complaining about Shanghai, the expense, the amount of people, etc. Then, he moved on to complaining about the government. Saying that the government doesn't care about it's people, that with 1.3 billion citizens it just can't care for all of them, and that all the governors and officials are corrupt (most are). He said, quite funnily, that in America one must get rich first to become governor, yet in China one becomes governor to get rich. I half expected a black car to pull up and haul him away.

Last night, much to Elle's delight, the Chinese Easter bunny made a stop at our apartment. She squealed when she saw that he signed the note that she left for him in Chinese characters. She said this was her best Easter ever and she wants next year to be just the same, but in Venice, California.

We had Easter brunch with a friend/acquaintance of mine from Chicago. Lovisa and Magnus are originally from Sweden, but lived in the US for many years. They moved to Shanghai 3 years ago. They have a son Elle's age and a 3 year old daughter, both kids are fluent in Mandarin, English and Swedish. Elle and Max played on occasion in Chicago, but have forgotten each other. Within minutes though, Max and Elle were fast friends, tearing up the hotel. I was so happy for Elle, it's been awhile since she's had a friend to play with. We are making plans to see much more of them while we are here.

Tonight, I was in the elevator with a guy who asked where I was from (he was Korean, and spoke a bit of English). I said, "California." He said, "Oh, I was just there, in California." I said, "Really? Which city?" to which he replied, very exuberantly, "FLORIDA!" I just smiled and got off on my floor.