I’m finally here in China and I am loving it! I kept telling Marc tonight during dinner, “I could live here. This is so cute!” We had late night drinks and super yummy food in Xintiandi Square which is a fun, lively, hip area. Reminds me of the Marais district in Paris. Crowded lounges and restaurants at every turn. There were a lot of non-Chinese people walking around, too.
Getting to Shanghai couldn’t have been easier. I flew United from San Francisco to Los Angeles, then China Eastern from LAX to Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Although the flight was a very long 14 hours, I got to stretch out and sleep because I had a row to myself. Doesn’t get better than that! I slept well, ate some pretty good airplane food, and read our book club book which wasn’t so great, but kept me entertained.
The first thing someone said to me in Shanghai was that I looked very young. Thank you, customs!
Marc and the hotel driver were waiting for me as soon as I exited baggage claim, then we quickly drove off for the ride downtown. My first impression through a car window is that Shanghai reminds me of Burning Man or Vegas. There are scattered neon lights in the distance, tall buildings, interesting architecture–often times I felt like I was in Europe. Even at 9pm, there were still people shopping.
I made Marc promise to take us back to Xintiandi. I could spend hours walking along the cobblestone streets, eating Shanghainese food, and people watching.
I loved Shanghai and it is much cooler than when we were there in the 80s.