Saturday, June 30, 2007

Six cold dishes
Assorted barbecued meat platter
Deep-fried cuttle fish balls with sliced almond
Wok-fried shrimps with green pepper and lily bulbs
Braised shark's fin and fish maw soup with abalone and sea cucumber
Braised sea cucumber with black mushrooms
Baked chicken with black mushrooms and ginger
Steamed sea urchin with egg and vermicelli
Steamed Mandarin fish
Braised mustard with ham
Fried rice with vegetables
Chinese petit fours
Seasonal fruit platter
This was the menu from a recent banquet I attended. There's nothing particularly unusual about it. Virtually every dish has meat or seafood at its center. Rice isn't served until the end of the meal. Fruit punctuates the finale and signals that it's finally time to go.
If you are in business or government in China you can expect more than one banquet a week on average. The typical high-ranking Chinese official will have one or two banquets every evening. They either enjoy them or are adept at pretending to enjoy them. As for me, I enjoy meeting interesting people, but I could do without the food. I never eat meat or seafood so I always have to dance around the interminable parade of meat dishes and hope the wait staff takes away the uneaten dishes quickly. Occasionally, the waiter will let the various uneaten courses accumulate into a traffic jam of dishes which become difficult to hide behind my wine glass and juice.
With a Chinese banquet there is also no choice about what is served to you. I much prefer the individual dishes and choices of most Western dinners. Not only do I enjoy Western food much more, and the individualized dishes, but also the freedom to eat at my own pace. At a Chinese banquet it is impolite to take a sip of wine without toasting someone else for each sip. At a Western dinner one can, of course, take a sip whenever one pleases and without guilt.
One thing a Chinese banquet isn't, is typical Chinese home cooking. I like simple, home style Chinese food - centered around rice or noodles and with plenty of vegetable choices. The simpler the better.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

The Summer of 2007

As I write this I'm setting on my balcony in the humidity of the first day of the 2007 summer of Shanghai. We've had a remarkably mild spring and early summer - until today. My recently departed family members from the US just missed the arrival of a humidity that characterizes the miserable summers of Shanghai. When I left the house this morning to visit the art area of Moganshan Road the water vapor hit us as I walked out the door. "Oh no, it's here," I thought.

On the way back from Moganshan Lu the subway was filled with sopping wet people. I should have taken a taxi.

Now I'm recovering on my balcony in front of a fan turned on to the highest speed. Around me is the buzz and whine of construction equipment, hand saws and hammers. Shanghai seems to be under constant remodeling. If the neighbors next door move out (as they just did) the landlord has the insides gutted and redone. Across the wall, in the adjacent compound, multi-million dollar mansions have been under constant construction for at least the 1.5 years I've been here. In the other direction part of the subway is under construction in front of our compound. Cranes swing this way and that way, dropping bundles of rebar on concrete. Sometimes the noise is overwhelming, especially when it starts at 6 am on the weekends. I have no hope that it will ever stop. The fall will come however, and this humidity will have an end, at least for awhile.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Momllsnnem came and went and are busy reviewing the soldiers in the hinterland today.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Old Shanghai

On Sunday S and I took a tour of some of Shanghai's remaining old villa homes. The tour was organized by the local government to introduce foreigners to some of Shanghai's rich history. We started at the Xuhui Art Museum near Huaihai Rd and Fuxing Rd. The museum itself dates from the early 20th century and was turned into a public library before the Communist takeover in 1949. The museum includes an interesting bilingual exhibit on the architecture of Shanghai.

Among the other homes that we were shown was the "Love Cottage" at #9 Dongping Rd. that was owned by KMT leader Chiang Kai-Shek and his famous wife, Soong Mei-ling. This two-storied villa of French design was built in 1932 and was bought by Soong Mei-ling's brother for her dowry. The house has been repaired from extensive damage it suffered during the Cultural Revolution and now is the Music Middle School of the Shanghai Conservatory.

The guide we had was colorful but hopelessly politically incorrect. He did not endear himself to the ladies on our bus, most of them professionals and executives, by repeatedly asking them if they were depressed because they weren't out spending their VIP husbands' money. He asked one lady executive next to us what her husband did - showing absolutely no interest in what she did. He introduced our two translators, one male, one female, as a "gentleman" and as a "pretty girl". The ladies fumed but held their tongues. S and I left the tour early to avoid the linching I was certain the guide would suffer.

Most of Shanghai's grand old homes have been turned into schools, government offices, or restaurants. When the Communists took over China the homes were taken away from their original capitalist owners and used as government buildings. Some were given to Communist leaders and some were given over to multiple families which occupied the various rooms in the houses. When China opened up a bit in the 80s and 90s many of the government agencies occupying the homes sold them to businesses or opened their own businesses to earn revenue.

Today, I had lunch at the Magnolia on top of the Mansion Hotel at the corner of Xinle Road and Xiangyang Road. This new boutique hotel in the center of Shanghai used to be the home of Shanghai's most notorious 20s gangster. The five-story limestone building fell into disrepair and became home to several dozen families before it was recently renovated and turned into a hotel. Standard rooms at the hotel go for $385 a night. Suites are $800 a night. Those of us with more sense than money can enjoy the rooftop terrace restaurant for the price of a $12 lunch and go home with $788 in change.

Saturday, June 09, 2007