The Chinese quarter of Shanghai
used to be walled back in the day when the city was divided between the British, French, and everyone else. It is a section of the city with narrow streets, architecture that might be thought of as classically Chinese, and tons of shops. Missed out on Yu Yuan, which are Chinese gardens in the Old City. Rowat and his buddy Sean entertained by asking vendors if they had busts of Mao with hair because they didn't like the bald ones, and by uttering "I don't speak English" to pushy vendors and laughing at the confusion written on the vendors' faces. After an afternoon of bargaining and exploring this really cool part of Shanghai, Rowat and I took in what can be best described as a variety show at the Portman complex.
The Portman is where the Ritz-Carlton hotel is, and surrounding the hotel are all variety of Western franchises--Hard Rock Cafe, Starbucks, etc. It is also where one will find the highest concentration of white people in Shanghai. The variety show featured tumblers, acrobats, comedians, and magicians, any of which--not to demean--could appear at halftime of a Raptors game. String the acts together for an hour, and the show becomes entertaining and well worth it.
Finished off the night at Face Bar. Before going here, I spoke to three different people who, after hearing that I prefer chill, conversationally-focused bars with couches and good tunes, all said that I would like Face. They were right. Super cool, chilled out place with good but pricey drinks. I had a Caipirinha and a drink made with Sake, honey, and kiwi. Good times.
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