PJs at the Bank, PJs at the Market

It's been a very busy week of 14-hour workdays so I haven't had time to get to post anything. There seems to be more night-time work activity in Shanghai than most cities. Receptions, banquets, ceremonies etc - it never seems to end.

Every morning, on the final approach to my office, the taxi passes by a hole-in-the-wall shop with a few forlorn items on a shelf and a man in boxer shorts in the doorway. Some days he has on red boxers. Some days blue. On rainy days he wears faded yellow ones with Snoopy cartoons on them. I began to keep track of his choice of underwear and look for correlations with weather, stock prices, and temperature. So far, it seems to be a random choice but if I can just crack the code I have a feeling it could be a step toward discovering the much-sought-after General Theory of Everything.

While we are on underwear - any visitor to Shanghai will notice the large number of people wandering about the streets in pajamas. People go to the supermarket in pajamas. Couples go to the movies in pajamas. I even saw a man at the bank in cartoon pajamas. I'm not sure if this is a fad or a longterm habit of the Shanghainese. I'd be interested in any background readers can offer on why pajamas are so popular in public here.

This just in: Dean forwarded me this article detailing the results of a survey that reveals that the wearing of pajamas in public in Shanghai is both indulged in by a large percentage of the population and irritates a large percentage of Shanghainese.