Visit to Shanghai, China 01/22/2016

Visit to Shanghai, China 01/22/2016

Before I could find food in Raytown, the mothership informed me, through my space pocket watch, of my required attendance to the secret extraterrestrial conference in Shanghai, China.  Teleportation between the United States and China is accomplished by tapping the space pocket watch three times. I tap the watch and buildings seem to gradually crash into each other as they grow taller and taller, the sky becoming covered by skyscrapers as the hands of the watch rotate rapidly, sending me 13 hours ahead to time zone UTC+8. The sparkly modern city grabs my attention as I stand observing the change in air quality and traffic. Everything here is in rapid motion, even in the evenings- cars and bicycles speed through traffic lights, and people are rushing to unknown destinations. 

Shanghai has various architectural styles and a rich collection of buildings and structures.  The Bund, called Waitan in Mandarin, is a famous bend on the Huangpu River, and is lined with historical buildings illuminated by yellowish lights. Colonization in the twentieth century caused the Beaux Arts styled historical buildings to be very different from traditional Chinese architecture. Both foreign banks and commercial buildings were constructed by the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Belgium, and other countries, and Shanghai soon became a major financial center in East Asia. Many financial institutions moved out in the 1950s after the Chinese civil war, and although the building heights are restricted in this area, the Bund has remained a commercial center that has developed into a significant tourist attraction. A short distance across the shimmering Huangpu River, the Oriental Pearl tower catches my eye. Abutting the Huangpu River and located at the tip of Lujiazui, the three large spheres along the height of the tower illuminate the surrounding clouds and reminds me of my hometown three billion light-years away. But the Pearl tower is not the tallest building in Shanghai. The Jin Mao Tower, and the taller Shanghai World Financial Center, ranked the world’s third-tallest, far surpass the height of the Pearl tower. And even more astounding is the Shanghai Tower; completed in 2015 and Shanghai's tallest construction, it has a height of 2073 ft. with 128 floors. It is China’s tallest building and second worldwide.

The traffic noise is not as loud as the growling in my stomach, and I soon smell a delicious herbal fragrance emanating from the entrance to the underground. I move along through the crowd of people drifting in and out of the entranceway. People do not bother to apologize when crashing into each other, and they seem careless, almost to the point of rudeness, but not quite. The only personal space one has here is the layer of sweat glistening on the skin. I suddenly regret that I have chosen to enter the underground, until I spy the bullet train appear at the huge shiny platform. With a ding, the broadcast in English and Mandarin reports that the “subway” has just arrived at East Nanjing road. People on their cellphones mindlessly walk in and out of the subway carriage, disregarding their surroundings. Perhaps this phenomenon is a byproduct of urbanization?

My stomach continues to growl, forcing me to enter a mall connected to the subway to forage for food that is lactose-free. Shanghai is an international city has attracted all kinds of foreign restaurant businesses, including fast food restaurants like Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Starbucks, and Carl’s Junior, as well as restaurants that serve Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, but the majority is foods from other parts of China. I have been told that Guang Ming Cun, whose literal translation is Bright Estate, will satisfy anyone’s desire for authentic Chinese food. People who are born and raised in Shanghai, speaking their own Chinese dialect called Shanghainese (which is very different than the official Mandarin Chinese) are known as Shanghai-landers. This famous restaurant has attracted generations of Shanghai-landers. I determine that the best way for a one-hundred-and eighty-nine year young alien to blend into the culture and environment is to join the Shanghai-landers and enjoy an authentic Chinese dish at this “old” (by earthlings standards) restaurant. Most of the dishes in Shanghai contain lactose or sugar to make them sweet, but as I peruse the menu, I luckily spot one of the most famous Shanghai dishes called Xiaolongbao, a Xiang-style floury but translucent steamed bun which encompasses a bit of salty pork and contains no sugar. Each table has many small bamboo steaming baskets filled with the small buns, and the patrons at the restaurant are gingerly retrieving the buns with chopsticks. I follow their lead and begin by nibbling a small hole to slurp out the broth, and proceed to dip the Xiaolongbao into the small dish of vinegar that accompanies it. I fall in love with the deliciousness of it, and I cannot stop eating…