Realized on my way home from an interesting trip to the bakery that we need to be sharing the craziness of Shanghai so we are finally back at the blog and will give you some entertaining stories to read. Setting the scene, its a warm evening in Shanghai a city of 23+ million (likely closer to 25 million, its tough to count millions of migrant workers). A city where no one goes home because they live in tiny apartments with their extended families. I head to the bakery at 8 pm as I turn the corner from my apartment onto the busy street I spot over 200 people in rows on the sidewalk learning a new 4 step dance from an instructor. I haven't seen this group since fall, so it appears their winter hiatus is over. Every evening they crowd the side walks trying to learn dance moves to face paced music, everything from hip hop to Bollywood. The dancers are of all ages from small children (which you always see out way too late on school nights) to their grandparents (who are keeping them out).
In China, your either a singer or a dancer. Across the street from the dancers is the rival group of karaoke singers. They belt out Chinese favorites from about 7pm until 10pm, its amazing how promptly they stop and its a good thing since you can hear these off pitch tunes from a apartment 13 stories up, with closed windows. This is a markedly older group, eligible for AARP card if they lived in the states.
Well, I head past these two groups into the bakery, one of thousands of chain bakeries around the city. Grab a few blueberry pastries and head for the line. A woman is ordering a coffee so I set my try down on the counter and take my place, second in line. A friendly looking man, who is probably on his way from singing karaoke approaches the line, he sees my try moves it aside and cuts to the front of the line. Not at all surprised by this blatant disregard for the line I pick up his try move it aside and as he reaches for it I sneak back to the front of the line as the woman is receiving her coffee. As the clerk rings up my order I look at the friendly old man to see if he has any reaction to being beat at his own game but he will not look my way calmly waiting for the clerk to finish. I don't want you to get the wrong idea, in a normal situation I would not be jockeying in line with a kind old man but this is not a normal situation, THIS IS CHINA. If you don't do that here you will never get anything done. Grandmas shove you in the subway, grandpas cut in front of you at McDonalds, businessmen in fine suits push you on the street- so if you don't play their game then you will get walked all over.
On the way home I remember to grab some bottled water (since the tap water here is poison) I pass an interesting store. An old lady is sitting in a chair inside a children's clothing store, I take note of this because blasting over the speakers is the most explicit rap music I've heard for a long time.
Well I grab my waters, head past the dancers and singers and go back to the apartment to watch a bootleg BBC Nature Blue-ray DVD I bought for 50 cents earlier that day.
This is in no way an extraordinary night, I just decided its time to start sharing some of the craziness.
