SHANGHAI

With Zhengzhou and the Shaolin Temple checked off my list, I took off for Shanghai! My friend Mac, who I taught English with in Thailand has been living in Shanghai for the last two years and was kind enough to put me up for a few days. Having felt completely lost in the English-free city of Zhengzhou, I arrived in Shanghai feeling as though I'd just resurfaced back in the western world. I could probably live in Shanghai and never learn Chinese. I think some people do. On our first night we went out in a neighborhood called the French Concession - first to a sports bar where I ate nachos and pizza, and then to a brewery where I drank a tasty draught IPA. Don't worry, I also got my fair share of delicious Shanghai style cousine while I was there, including some explosive soup dumplings that literally blew up when I bit into them - xiao long bao, more like xiao long BLAOW! I got a great taste of Shanghai, from the sweeping, modern Pudong skyline, to the old but rejuvenated alleyways of Tianzifang - it was one of those cities that I could almost picture myself living in.