Nov. 17 – Shanghai

 The Raffles City mall, just off People’s Square downtown, just happened to be in my path as I stepped out of the Metro. I hate the lobotomized sameness of shopping malls. But when you’re barely 36 hours into China, you’ll see something new no matter where you go. So I went in.

 The place had a gloss that made it exciting. And when I saw the chrome stork figures in the fountain, and the candy-red handrails on the escalators, I really started to pay attention. Here’s where the power of the fabled billion-consumer market can really be felt. Every single shop offered an astounding variety for each item. Want a pair of New Balance trail shoes with Vibram soles? Pick your colour; not just white or black. But pink, red, brown, yellow with green, magenta with orange, you name it. The Shanghainese are famously fashionable. Not just in their dress, but hair also. I guess when everyone is born with straight black hair, the drive towards the perm, the bouffant, and various dyes can be powerful. There’s a wig, or a salon appointment waiting for you at Raffles. And if you want to work on the rest of your body, there’s a large health club on its top floor, complete with lap pool.

 It’s amazing what you can do with a food court if you really try. Not for them the grimy, greasy, tray-top fare that counts as edible in North America. Shanghai is known for its sweets, and the smell tantalized me as I passed the clean, shiny stalls. I had the best mall food experience of my life, probably. Sizzling Korean beef with kimchi and rice. Not to be outdone, the washroom provided the most civilized squatting experience I’ve ever had.

 I walked a big distance in today’s soupy humidity. Shanghai’s downtown, on a Thursday afternoon, was optimally frenetic – lively without being oppressive. The  Yuyuan shopping district is clearly geared at tourists, but somehow avoided the tacky, tawdry feel such places usually have. Shanghai’s broad riverfront promenade, the Bund, is the domain of tour groups, families, couples. I rested my feet, looking at the sand barges churning the Huangpu river, and at the smog-veiled skyscrapers beyond.