June 1, Shanghai - Yes, I Have Yellow Fever

Chris spent the morning and early afternoon touring the new facilities of his employer from last summer. This left Alex and I on our own. So we headed out to the main pedestrian district and poked around for a few souvenirs. We ended up in the middle of a 12-story mall with shops and people everywhere. It was about 1 PM, and luckily there was a great café on the 4th floor, in which we were able to grab some delicious fried rice and soup. See below:



I should note that in Shanghai, it is quite common (it seems) for GREAT restaurants to be located in the middle or on top of shopping malls. While we might consider this to be a sign of something tacky in the US, it is not the case here in China, as we discovered at dinner in the evening – which I’ll discuss in a second.

Alex and I headed back to the hotel and got in touch with Chris – his old boss, Phil, had invited the three of us out to dinner along with Phil’s wife and another senior employee, William. We got in a cab and headed out to the restaurant, which was on the other side of the river separating Shanghai in two.

Dinner was terrific – absolutely and without question one of the best three meals I have ever had. (P.S., the other two were in the South of France and D.C.). The custom here is for one person to order all of the food for the table. In this case, Phil’s wife (who was the only one at the table not speaking English) ordered all of the dishes. Food came in piles – there was special Szechwan duck, beef, and chicken, as well as bacon-wrapped Chinese seafood and asparagus. There was boiled bok choy, or cabbage, or something green and tasty. There was lightly cooked shrimp, and ribs, and a very traditional fruit-like desert.

I couldn’t take pictures. Sorry to the readers here, but this place was just too nice. Phil picked up the tab – Alex and I promised him a 5-star dinner should he make it to New York. After dinner the six of us walked along the riverside and took in the views of the Shanghai skyline:

We bid adieu to Phil, his wife, and William and headed out to meet up with some of Chris’ friends from the previous summer in Shanghai. We arrived to a bar/restaurant called Barbarosa – one of the coolest venues I’ve ever been to. The drinks were a little pricey, but the location was unbelievable – set on a small island surrounded by a lake of lily pads. It was raining, so the picture is a little blurry, but here’s one photo:


Chris’ friends included Max, a Columbia student, and several Shanghaiese girls – Ping-Ping, Christie, Queenie, and Joanna joined Alex, Chris, and I for a few hours. It was a great time. Here’s a couple of pictures:


We eventually headed home, with the hope of getting a decent night’s rest of, ahem, well, 4 hours, as Phil planned to pick us up at the hotel at 9:30 AM for a day trip to a village outside of Shanghai. More to come tomorrow…

Thanks for reading – safe travel to those of you traveling this weekend.

Mike