Crissy here.. starting our sixth day in Shanghai and I think we’re settling in quite nicely.
Food note: As I am writing, I am eating an eggy scallion pancake breakfast food that Morgan bought from a street vendor outside. Don’t worry, we tried it yesterday too, it is made fresh once you order, and we’ve felt no adverse reactions. woo hoo street food!!! Best 2 RMB breakfast! (2 RMB = 26 cents)
Family
My main reason for wanting to come to China, and specifically Shanghai was because this is where my parents grew up. About half of my dad’s family still lives here which is still a lot considering my dad is one of ten children. I had only met my dad’s youngest brother Uncle Qing-xian once about 17+ years ago , whom I remembered looking like a younger brother version of my dad.
We had our big family dinner on Saturday night at a wonderful restaurant in the Xujiahui district. The restaurant had private rooms which was so nice for visiting. There were 18 people total! Despite having only met one Uncle before, I felt immediately comfortable and welcome. Pretty much the first thing out of everyone’s mouth whether in Chinese or English was an exclamation on how much I resembled my sister, Bonnie, who has visited Shanghai family twice. It really felt like a reunion and was amazing to be in such a large group and know that it was ALL family. It was also really nice to hear Shanghainese (the local Shanghai dialect) being spoken en masse. This is what my parents speak to each other and has always been my favorite of Chinese dialects to listen to. I cannot really speak any Chinese dialects fluently, but would love to be able to speak Shanghainese.
Then on Sunday we had a super amazing day with family. Uncle QX and his wife Auntie Ping met us at our hostel and we ventured down to the area where my mom grew up, in the Changning district. As with the rest of Shanghai, I’ve been told the lane my mom grew up in looks very different than how it did when she lived there. It was pretty quiet and had a really nice feel to it, but Uncle QX guesses that when my mom lived there it was even more quiet with much fewer families living there and was very, very nice. I liked the feel of it, and imagined nevertheless, my mom as a little girl looking out a window, or walking down the street while holding my grandfather’s hand.
We also visited nearby Zhongshan Park, which was previously known as Jessfield Park when my mom used to come here to play. In her memories of childhood, she often brings up this park and I felt really happy to be walking through it. Zhongshan Park is a gorgeous, spacious park full of walking paths that wind through trees, across bridges and creeks, and by green fields. There’s also a kiddie amusement park in one corner, boats to rent, and a restaurant where we had lunch (dien shing or dim sum).
Lunch was excellent! I particularly liked the chow fun (wide noodles) (an Uncle QX favorite), and the har gaw (shrimp dumping) was way better than anything I’ve had in the U.S. The one thing I did not like was the little durian pastry, which Auntie Ping loved. I did try it, which I’m glad I did, but ended up telling my aunt and uncle that it tasted like fang pi (farts) which made them erupt in laughter. Morgan liked it, what a trooper!
In the afternoon, we went and visited the houses and area where my father grew up, in the French Concession. My father lived in two houses in Shanghai, the first which was very tiny and looked probably much today like it did back then, and another which was very large, three stories, and on a garden courtyard. Before the cultural revolution, each house on the courtyard belonged to one family and according to Uncle QX, many couples and marriages formed between the families who lived in these small neighborhoods. My dad’s eldest sister married the son of a family two doors down and this is where my cousin’s Yujian and Lulu grew up (they live in the U.S. and are my closest relatives on my father’s side). Their father still lives in that house today. On the next side of the courtyard my father’s second eldest sister, Er gu pau, married into that family and she lives there now with her son (my cousin), daughter-in-law and grandson. We had a chance to spend some time visiting with her in her home which I thought was lovely; airy high ceiling, windows overlooking the tops of the trees from the courtyard garden and building tops. It felt very peaceful.
We also had the opportunity, thanks to Uncle QX’s pre-arrangement, to go inside one of the apartments of my father’s old house. No one from my family lives there anymore, the house being divided into ten or more apartments during the cultural revolution. We visited an older couple and their daughter who live in what was the parlor and sitting room during my dad’s time. This family was so gracious, giving us refreshments and asking us to sit down and visit for a while. The conversation occurred solely in Shanghainese, but Morgan and I enjoyed just listening and observing.
A funny moment: It started raining as we began exploring my dad’s neighborhood. We didn’t have umbrellas so we kept ducking under awnings and into stores, and at one point found ourselves in a bank waiting out the shower. All of a sudden, we turned around and my cousin Hwei Hwei was standing there with umbrellas for each of us! The cousin umbrella delivery service! Auntie Ping had called him and he had come to the rescue.
Our second family day concluded at the home of Auntie Xia, the wife of the brother after my dad, in the Minghan district. My cousin Wei Wei and his son Daniel were also there, visiting from Hong Kong. Auntie Xia and Wei Wei had graciously invited us, Uncle QX, Auntie Ping, Er gu pau, and Be be (her grandson, and my second-cousin) over for a home cooked meal. Auntie Xia’s cooking may be the best food we’ve had so far in Shanghai! The table was laden with an array of dishes, while we all sat around the table just having enough room for our rice bowl which we ate out of. Morgan and I both enjoyed eating this way, and observed that plates are a bit unnecessary as they take up too much room, leaving less room for food and people. This felt very cozy. I especially liked the pork with really yummy dipping sauce, the fish, the homemade maw de (soybeans and pickled vegetables), the mushrooms (long stemmed enoki-like with a more substantial cap), and the fish soup with turnip. The entire meal was just delicious! Morgan and I both felt that this was a real treat to be eating a homecooked meal.
Beside food highlights at Auntie Xia’s:
Before dinner we sat around and watched the Shanghai International Ballet Competition on television, which I found extremely amusing, especially when there was a stumble and Uncle QX and I would simultaneously make a disapproving remark.
Little 5 year old Daniel was bouncing off the wall in what Uncle QX referred to with a Chinese saying that means, “people come over, mad/crazy” meaning that he was getting all crazy hyper because guests were over. Daniel decided that Morgan’s name was, “Crissy Gu Gu” or “Crissy’s brother”.
En route to Auntie Xia’s we passed an amusement park where we saw the largest ferris wheel we’ve ever seen. This may be the largest ferris wheel in the world and it was frightening looking. It looked like it could be blown over if a strong gust came by. Scary!
Pirate’s Booty
We have the great fortune of staying about a half block away from supposedly (according to two Shanghai sources) the best pirate dvd/cd place in Shanghai. We visited it yesterday with our new friend (a music contact of Morgan’s) whom we will refer to as The Shiz. Riffling through all those dvds was exciting and exhausting, but we found some good stuff. To celebrate, we got iced green tea and watched a movie!
That’s all for now! We’re off to check out Chinese art, both classical and contemporary.
*c
