Drinking supposedly boiled Chinese water right now, so hopefully I don't pay for it in the morning.
My tradition while traveling in the states is to find some Blues and or Jazz in whatever city I go to. Jazz and cars are at the heart of American culture, so it's a bit different here. But at the same time there are McDonald's on every corner, so why shouldn't US cultural hegemony extend to some of the finer aspects of what we've created.
Tonight started by going to the Blues and Jazz club of Shanghai. It was an unduly pricey establishment. But what else would one expect of the best blues club in the most modern city in China? Top shelf drinks were about $11 a piece. That's less than the going price of my favorite jazz spot in Harlem the last time I went (in 2008) so despite the fact that it took nearly a full 100yuan bill for every drink I didn't complain. Moreover, the music was really good. Like reallllly good. In Asian fashion it was done a little differently. Most of the time when you hear sincerely good blues or jazz there's only one white dude in the band, continually pinching himself he's so happy to be there. This time around there was one black girl singing surrounded by a bunch of white 20 somethings. That's Asia for you. She was seriously good, but come on man. I don't want white boys playing my blues more than I want Asian people working on my Chevy. Of course, music transcends racial stereotypes and I thoroughly enjoyed the single set I showed up in time for. Sadly, that place closed at 2am. In Nashville, Harlem or St Louis blues is a way of life for many people. Blues musicians are easy to come by and bars with live acts have a large audience to cater to. In China they have only a small portion of the expat community, so there isn't a glut of shady clubs that keep going until the wee hours. This being the case, once the band wrapped up I hit the bricks immediately.
The bartender told me that the nearest late night bar was something called "Mint". Mint sounded like a classy name. Moreover I had seen it on the way there... on the top of a skyscraper. Still, my thoughts on the matter were basically "why not?". To make things difficult though, while in the blues club my phone had conveyed to me that I was once again without 3g, so it was up to me to figure out where I was going. Once in the general vicinity I could no longer see the sign on top of the large building and a lack of clearly marked entrance had me through a loop. To tell the truth at this point I was all but done for and was pretty glad I couldn't find the place. But all of the sudden a bunch of westerners got out of a cab and upon seeing me asked if I was looking for Mint. "Sure", I responded. I tried to make some polite conversation with the leader of the foreigners. "China Unicom cut me off again, without my GPS I never have any idea of where I'm going." He responded "Do you have a reservation?". Really dude? A high and mighty response worthy of the Portuguese, but from their accents I could tell it was worse... French. "No... but I've got a bunch of monopoly money". The mile joke was lost on the Frenchman. They continued on, smug looks upon their faces. The stupid Frogs may do things by the book, but in Meigou we don't need reservations. It there's a door I want to go through, I'm going through it. Had it come down to it I would have simply handed the bouncer some colorful toilet paper. Luckily all I had to do was walk in with the flag waivers dressed better than they were. Upon getting to the top of the building a few things were made clear. (1) They were prepared to spend a lot more Euro than I was Dollars. (2) given the girl to dude ratio of all the Chinese clubs I've seen so far and my current level of intoxication, hanging out for thirty minutes and spending 100 US dollars on two drinks would have been a waste of monopoly money (3) Rich westerner clubs in Shanghai are RIDICULOUS.
Tourist stuff is all well and good. I've seen a bunch of interesting museums and have wandered different parts of the city extensively. These things have definitely given me perspective on who the local people think and a taste of what their lives may be like. However, to come to a place with a name like "Shanghai" and have not gone to the clubs at all does seem like a bit of a waste. Lucky for that bouncer, he may go home a few bills of colorful toilet paper richer tomorrow.
Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of this one because I didn't want to look like a d-bag in front of the flag wavers. Here's one of the Shanghai skyline from the Bund. It looks cool in this picture but trust me, there's nothing like seeing it in person.
My tradition while traveling in the states is to find some Blues and or Jazz in whatever city I go to. Jazz and cars are at the heart of American culture, so it's a bit different here. But at the same time there are McDonald's on every corner, so why shouldn't US cultural hegemony extend to some of the finer aspects of what we've created.
Tonight started by going to the Blues and Jazz club of Shanghai. It was an unduly pricey establishment. But what else would one expect of the best blues club in the most modern city in China? Top shelf drinks were about $11 a piece. That's less than the going price of my favorite jazz spot in Harlem the last time I went (in 2008) so despite the fact that it took nearly a full 100yuan bill for every drink I didn't complain. Moreover, the music was really good. Like reallllly good. In Asian fashion it was done a little differently. Most of the time when you hear sincerely good blues or jazz there's only one white dude in the band, continually pinching himself he's so happy to be there. This time around there was one black girl singing surrounded by a bunch of white 20 somethings. That's Asia for you. She was seriously good, but come on man. I don't want white boys playing my blues more than I want Asian people working on my Chevy. Of course, music transcends racial stereotypes and I thoroughly enjoyed the single set I showed up in time for. Sadly, that place closed at 2am. In Nashville, Harlem or St Louis blues is a way of life for many people. Blues musicians are easy to come by and bars with live acts have a large audience to cater to. In China they have only a small portion of the expat community, so there isn't a glut of shady clubs that keep going until the wee hours. This being the case, once the band wrapped up I hit the bricks immediately.
The bartender told me that the nearest late night bar was something called "Mint". Mint sounded like a classy name. Moreover I had seen it on the way there... on the top of a skyscraper. Still, my thoughts on the matter were basically "why not?". To make things difficult though, while in the blues club my phone had conveyed to me that I was once again without 3g, so it was up to me to figure out where I was going. Once in the general vicinity I could no longer see the sign on top of the large building and a lack of clearly marked entrance had me through a loop. To tell the truth at this point I was all but done for and was pretty glad I couldn't find the place. But all of the sudden a bunch of westerners got out of a cab and upon seeing me asked if I was looking for Mint. "Sure", I responded. I tried to make some polite conversation with the leader of the foreigners. "China Unicom cut me off again, without my GPS I never have any idea of where I'm going." He responded "Do you have a reservation?". Really dude? A high and mighty response worthy of the Portuguese, but from their accents I could tell it was worse... French. "No... but I've got a bunch of monopoly money". The mile joke was lost on the Frenchman. They continued on, smug looks upon their faces. The stupid Frogs may do things by the book, but in Meigou we don't need reservations. It there's a door I want to go through, I'm going through it. Had it come down to it I would have simply handed the bouncer some colorful toilet paper. Luckily all I had to do was walk in with the flag waivers dressed better than they were. Upon getting to the top of the building a few things were made clear. (1) They were prepared to spend a lot more Euro than I was Dollars. (2) given the girl to dude ratio of all the Chinese clubs I've seen so far and my current level of intoxication, hanging out for thirty minutes and spending 100 US dollars on two drinks would have been a waste of monopoly money (3) Rich westerner clubs in Shanghai are RIDICULOUS.
Tourist stuff is all well and good. I've seen a bunch of interesting museums and have wandered different parts of the city extensively. These things have definitely given me perspective on who the local people think and a taste of what their lives may be like. However, to come to a place with a name like "Shanghai" and have not gone to the clubs at all does seem like a bit of a waste. Lucky for that bouncer, he may go home a few bills of colorful toilet paper richer tomorrow.
Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of this one because I didn't want to look like a d-bag in front of the flag wavers. Here's one of the Shanghai skyline from the Bund. It looks cool in this picture but trust me, there's nothing like seeing it in person.
Paragraph.
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