Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

            There are still so many industries in China that haven’t discovered the idea of customer service yet.  It must stem from the communist thinking that when a product or service is offered to a consumer, it is offered in one bland form, on the producer’s terms and conditions, and if you don’t like it you can go find another option (wait, there are no other options because there’s no competition.)  Take the past week in the SUFE dorms for example.  When the heater broke in my room along with several other rooms, instead of trying to get the resources together to fix the actual problem, they simply told us to switch rooms, within one hour.  The 阿姨 (pronounced Ah-Yee) working that night was appalled at the idea that she had to open a new room for us, so she gave us a new key and said move it all within an hour.  The best part is now I don’t have internet again because China Telecom (state-owned enterprise of course) requires at least one week before they can get over here to switch my internet service to the new room.  There is no competitor to China Telecom so you will get their service when they feel like it.

^Tea with Moony at Tianzifang.

            But if options are what you’re looking for, then you need to head over to 田子坊 (Tianzifang), which is just a short walk away from Dapuqiao Metro station on Line 9.  This place is hands down the best place I have found to shop for souvenirs, find some decent European style cafés, and even smoke some hookah.  Pretty much to go to any other market and then reference the prices at Tianzifang and you will find that in most cases they are 25-50% cheaper at Tianzifang.  Also, if you’re looking to buy some original art at knock-off prices you’ve got to see the big art exhibit at Tianzifang.  When you walk into the art exhibit walk straight into the first shop and have a cup of tea with the shop owner, Moony (all Chinese people have chosen the most ridiculous English names i.e. Moony, Purple, Kitty, etc.), she’ll tell you all she can about the art.

^Tea set purchased on Tianzifang.  450 Yuan for all of the above, best deal I've found.

            I’ve also had a blast kicking it with my roommate, he’s literally so 高富帅(Gaofushuai [Tall, Rich, Handsome], which equals us saying swag) for a Chinese college student.  In fact, he makes me feel like the nerd sometimes.  His friends had a table at a bar last Wednesday night and unfortunately I had to decline, but he came back at 3:00AM with some wild stories about the gold-diggers at the bar that night.  In the same token, all that swag sort of disappears when they start playing their computer games.  My roommate and his friends are a bunch of 宅男 (Zhainan = computer geeks).  At one point a few of them had bet on a game and played for every waking moment for two days straight.  Get ready to hear them freaking out in Chinese about how they’re lost in the game, or can’t afford the sword they’ve been saving up for.

      

^Roommates playing their online games in my room.  If you look closely at the one all the way on the right you'll see the anime mouse pad with boobs on it that they all have.

             The nightlife in Shanghai is not a bad time.  It’s like New York but newer and flashier.  On Friday night we made it over to Sugar for a free champagne cocktail hour, which happens every friday night and has such a great mix of people from fellow study abroad students, to executive level expats, to some Chinese people.  Then after that we made it over to No. 88 Bar, which has really become of our favorites, and is an awesome time if you’re looking for a more Asian experience, plus you’ll probably get a kick out of all of the Chinese couples’ drunken antics.  They also have shows every night, for example, this past friday they did a Michael Jackson, Adele, and Usher performance, all look-alikes of course.  Saturday we made it over to Bar Rouge on The Bund and the view of Pudong from this top floor club was pretty good. Thatsshanghai.com will likely be your best bet for keeping up with the never-ending stream of events going on in Shanghai.  Look out for the free stuff because you really don’t have to spend much to enjoy this city on the weekends.

^Wealthy Chinaman ordering a flaming tower at No. 88 bar.

             It’s been a fun mix of professionalism and recreation in Shanghai.  Before I arrived in Shanghai, I contacted all of my alumni from GWU living here and one is currently working at the newly launched Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance within Jiao Tong University.  He got me and a friend set up with a ticket to their annual Spring show and I got the chance to meet some of the current and prospective MBA students, as well as watch this most entertaining show.  If you’re vigilant about networking here, you’re going to do just fine because everyone has been doing their best to lend a helping hand.

^Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance's Annul Spring Festival, Chinamen in perfect form.