Let me get one thing straight: I love Shanghai. That being said, if I were to be homesick, there are a variety of "American" restaurants that do an interesting job of covering the spectrum that is culinary America. Compare "Chinese" food in America to real Chinese food here and about the only things I have found in common are rice and pot-stickers, and each are especially delicious here. (Believe it or not, the pot-stickers are among the more difficult foods to eat with chopsticks, and the rice is among the easiest to eat). The food is unapologetically different.
The past week has been fairly uneventful, which is good news for my more immediate family, who have taken a particular liking to my culinary adventures here in China. That is what I have to talk about, so this blog will focus more in detail on that.
American Food, Apparently?
If you venture away from the traditional Chinese food, the "American" options vary, quite a bit. A first example, probably discussed before on this blog, is "New Orleans Chicken," their general American chicken dish equivalent of General Tsao's Chicken. {Insert South Park Joke here}. You see this at any pizza restaurant. It is essentially Chinese style chicken on skewers served with a combination of Creole and Chinese seasonings. To summarize, this "American" chicken dish has influences from Creole (French and African), and Chinese. Yes, this dish, summarizing "American" food in China has influences from the three major continents comprising the Eastern Hemisphere. I digress, but I found this ironic.
The pizza is, to be kind, below average. The cheese is a little bit sweet, in a sort of artificial way, the sauce essentially invisible, and the ingredients are alright. My Hawaiian pizza almost tasted like a frozen pizza in the US. Edible, not a very bad option if the cafeteria food looks particularly unappetizing. This happens about 20 percent of the time, with the remainder being either pretty decent or awesome. Keep in mind that this is cafeteria food, which is very below average Chinese food. A lot of it is very salty, and if you choose the wrong option, it can be cold.
Silk Market
Last Tuesday, we went downtown to purchase and get measured for suits. A new, fitted two piece suit that was "100 percent cashmere wool" and a fitted shirt cost 650 RMB, or just over $100 USD. Not bad, even if the quality really isn't what they say it is. Afterwards in the silk market, I went to purchase a "100 percent silk" tie. Note that the probability of this actually being silk is much lower than the chance my suit will be wool. The lady offered 220 RMB, ($36) and I laughed because that was a simply outragous price. After negotiation, and taking approximately a half step away, I walked away with the tie for 30 RMB ($5 USD). Still probably could have gone lower, but at a certain point, it really does not matter. Being cussed out by a shop owner is not exactly what I consider fun.
American Food, Actually?
I present the fanciest food chain in all of China:
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| I am trying to pursue a career as a professional photographer. Some of my fine work is displayed above. |
Proof:
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| Yep. You read that right. |
Meanwhile, Yao Ming was posting up near Pizza Hut. We became good friends and took a picture:
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| Kindly ignore any signs in the background that say anything about a wax museum. |
Back to Food, of the Delicious Sort
(After proofreading, this is an error. Pizza Hut was delicious, but I am too lazy to appropriately read and correct the title appropriately)
On Thursday night, we went wandering into Minhang, the area near campus, for Korean food. It was a fairly busy restaurant, which is generally a good sign, but we were seated immediately, although in peculiar fashion. As we entered a raised section of there restaurant, the base of the steps was stacked with a variety of shoes and flip-flops. We had to take off our shoes. The table was probably two thirds of a meter above the ground, and we were supposed to sit on the floor for our meal. Well, technically not the floor, but a foam pad probably taken from foam puzzle pieces I played with throughout my childhood. Very unique. |
| I don't have the heart to leave you without some food porn. Squash soup, Korean noodles, and Kimchi. |
A pantheon of unusual, unfamiliar, and generally delicious food arrived at our table after I put my trust in the ordering abilities of my classmates. We ate family style. Dishes contained rice, eggs, pork, chicken. Some of it looked like fried rice; other dishes looked like sushi. Everything tasted different. Although I am not a big fan of Kimchi, a popular Korean ingredient, most of the food was delicious, even the food containing Kimchi. Some of it was spicy, but a good spicy. It's the kind of spicy that tastes good, not the kind that tries to kill you. All in all, each person had a 25 RMB bill, essentially 4 USD. I can see why this is such a popular place in Minhang.
American Food, I Might Actually be Kinda Sorta Confident this Time
After another stop at the fake market today (Saturday), we went to an American style dive bar, Helen's. Upon arriving, we ventured up the graffiti riddled, possibly shady stairs. The inside looked like a typical college bar, kind of like a more eclectically decorated Dominck's. Flags of the United Nations hung from the ceiling. Pictures. Uh...Pictures???
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| Glad I chose engineering, not photography. |
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| Helen's was covered in graffiti, including the menu. Hope the Chinese is less offensive than the English. |
From around 5pm to 9pm, the bar filled, mostly with expats, and a seemingly high population of Koreans and Germans, although my ability to identify which Europeans are which is, shall we call it, underdeveloped. Either way, this is my kind of place. The people seemed mostly down to earth, which is generally a rarity in expat heavy bars. No overcrowded dance floor/area, just a playlist taken directly out of 2003, but without any Britney. Somehow, One Direction snuck onto the playlist. So did Lynyrd Skynyrd. Also, and importantly, the burger was delicious (and also 16 RMB, or about $3).
It's no wonder I liked the place. The writing was on the wall, er...ceiling:
Future:
Next week, I have regular classes, which technically continue through Sunday because there is Dragon Boat Festival, a national holiday where we get the 10th through 12th off. The festival is on Wednesday, the 12th, and since we get two additional days off, the University needs to make up these days, and the precious weekend is the only option. {Stops complaining about Michigan's policy of not cancelling class in the case of a snowy Armageddon}.
For the festival, I am heading to Qingdao, located halfway between Shanghai and Beijing. It's a nice beach city on a peninsula. It is relatively small by Chinese standards. It's population is just above 8.7 million. (The population of New York City is just above 8.2 million). There are also some cool mountains/scenic areas there, so I am looking forward to the whole trip.
That's all for now. I will most likely post pictures after Tuesday of me looking spiffy in my new suit. Might also venture to some classy jazz halls in order to act like a classy old man. Then again, I have the rest of my life to be a classy old man, and I kind of like Helen's.
Also, really cool video showing the expansion of Shanghai (and a couple other cities). Highly reccomended. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqUSo2hstHI
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