Settling in Shanghai is taking a while. Between the whole city being a building site in preparation for the World Expo, the boyfriend and I commuting between Beijing and Shanghai to see each other and the work driving me suicidal, I miss Beijing. Desperately.
Luckily, there is the French Concession. The leafy streets with the colonial villas, the local cobblers, markets, food stalls and the very trendy restaurants and caffes can ease the mind and body very quickly. I think I could live forever in the French concession. Particularly since I have my ballet and yoga class around the corner from the house.
Shanghai is also full of foreigners. There are so many foreigners who think they know China just because they know Shanghai. Would I love China as much if I only knew Shanghai? I doubt it. Would I like Chinese food as much if I did not Guangzhou? I doubt it even more. One can say anything they like about Guangzhou. It's messy, it's sticky, it's loud but nowhere in China is the food as good.
Still, it is very easy to live here. A dash of exoticism with all the comforts of home.
The climate though is appalling. If it's not steaming hot it's raining. Downpours that flood the streets and make the taxis disappear....and no heating in the winter.
But we do have warm crisp bread and elegant restaurants. It's just that every now and then I have to force myself to go and look for China.
I miss China.
I miss chicken feet and 1000 year old eggs. Not the smelliest French cheese can rival stinky tofu.
I miss this bsurd language, where everything sounds the same and the word shi can mean ten, yes, lion, to be, business and matters. I miss the soppy karaoke songs.
I miss the Cantonese that are aliens even to the rest of China. I have never felt as isolated, autistic or surrounded by a fishbowl as I was in Guangzhou. Nobody spoke English, there were no pictures on the menus and you could buy starfish in the supermarket. This was a place where where you could flag down a motorcycle for a ride - until they banned them, that is - order your food at the zoo that every respectable restaurant keeps and be surrounded by sights, smells and noises that cannot be identified. But Guangzhou is also where the "Mediterraneans" of China are, loud, welcoming and noisy.
Then, there was Beijing. There is magic in Beijing. It is both the most human and inhuman city in China.
The scale is inhuman. What looks like a two block walk on a map is easily a 40 minute trekk. Tian An Men, the city's heartless heart is like an immense desert, an endless flatland. But within this city there is humanity to spare. One street behind Tian An men and you are suddently propelled in a turn of the century provincial village. Complete with local barber, market and free ranging chicken. Beijing, the "cool" one but with a coolness that needs not prove itself. Cool with class. I miss its lakes and parks and vibrant art scene. Its thousand year old history and futuristic architecture. I miss my little hutong house. I even miss the cabbies in their uniforms and friendly chit chat.
Shanghai has lots to offer. I am learning to love it also. I am learning to get out of the usual expat haunts and look for the dodgy food streets and the local tailor. We are now cycling to everywhere we go and this does make the city all the more fun nd interesting.
Cycling to Lupu bridge to see the Expo site. Cycling to the flower market to get dirt to repot the house plants. Cycling to work. Cycling randomly in the city, there is still lots to discover about mythical Shanghai frenetically preparing for its World Expo moment. Surrepticiously, like those sleek tongued charmers who you know will break your heart, it is very quickly winning me over
