Trader Vic's and the Young of Shanghai

I went to the opening of the first Trader Vic's in China on Friday evening. This Polynesian-style restaurant and bar is located just a block off busy Nanjing Street on otherwise dark Fengyang Street. A lot of money was obviously put into this development in downtown Shanghai and I hope they do well. I didn't get a chance to sample any food but their maotai's were good. The only glitch in the opening was a serious miscalculation in the cloak room. Everyone received numbered tickets but the coats were not stored in any sort of order. When everyone tried to leave at the same time in the typical Shanghai way (sans queue) there was chaos. Not a few unpleasantries were exchanged. I often criticize Shanghainese for rude behavior in public but in this instance they had some stiff competition from some expats for championship rudeness.

Shanghai changes people, foreigners included. When foreigners find themselves faced with the queue-jumping, the shoving, and the general everyone-for-themselves nature of this city they choose one of two ways to deal with it. You either have to maintain your principles and lose the battles or you have to adopt the ways of the most aggressive Shanghainese. I vacillate between the two depending on the moon's position and the behavior of my opponent. If he comes off as taking me for a fool I'd just as soon put an elbow between his belt loops. If he shows a hint of consideration I'll make way for him.

Consideration is, I'm sorry to say, a rarity in public here. But it does happen and most frequently among the young Shanghainese. Empty seats are hard to find on public buses but two or three times young people have tapped on my shoulder to point out an empty seat for me. Once in a while a person will invite me to go through the door before them. In almost all cases I can think of, the nice person was young. I don't get this sort of treatment from Shanghainese over 30 - not unless they need something from me. Could this have something to do with the Cultural Revolution of the late 70s? I've heard people say that the horrors of that period debased Chinese society and caused people to distrust one another. I've heard Chinese say that their society hasn't been the same since that experience. Could the young people's increasing exposure to international norms of behavior be affecting the way they see others and causing them to be more considerate? I think there is hope.