Ben Chafe's Travel Journal

It was July when I first stepped onto the streets of Shanghai. It was hot, crowded, loud and disorganized. Having intended to take in the city at ground level, I soon found that “taking in” Shanghai meant dodging throngs of people and mopeds speeding down the sidewalk. The traffic volume made the idea of crossing the street laughable, and browsing the myriad of unfamiliar foods, clothes, trinkets and DVDs being sold on one street corner alone would have taken me all day. This would be my life for the next year, working in the most populous city on the planet, a bustling, loud, tangled mess.
A few months later, I discovered the delicious chaos that is hotpot. I went to one of the many hotpot restaurants in Shanghai with a group from work, a mix of expatriates like myself, and native Chinese. Even though I had worked with the local staff for months they seemed closed off from me; I felt isolated. So when we were all seated, I made sure to sit next to Li Can, a woman I saw every day but with whom I had never exchanged more than the cursory ni hao.
In the center of the table was a large metal pot: the hotpot. In it simmered a broth spiced with Sichuan peppers and a seemingly endless variety of other seasonings. A quick exchange between the member of our group who spoke Chinese and the waitress, and then tray after tray of rice noodles, raw lamb, tendon, tarot noodles, radishes, sweet potato, bok choy and beer bottles were carried in.
All of these ingredients were unceremoniously dumped into the hotpot and then doled out so fast, I soon found myself struggling to eat the growing pile of food on my plate while keeping my neighbors' glasses filled with beer-- basic Chinese etiquette.
As we ate, I noticed the Chinese staff come alive in a way that I had never seen before. They were teasing and laughing, and none were embarrassed about their English skills or hesitant to go along with a joke. For the first time since I had arrived in Shanghai, I really felt included in a distinctly Chinese activity. It was messy, too crowded and too hot, but lively and exciting. People who had, until moments ago, been virtual strangers, were welcoming and friendly, and I began to feel like I did that first day in Shanghai. I was confused and hot and elbow-to-elbow with more people than I generally feel comfortable with, but astounded by the energy that permeated our little group, gathered around the hotpot.