Local Shanghaiese (feed cats in parks)

I didn't think I would feel the need to spend my last 24 hours in Shanghai doing the rounds and saying goodbye to the people and places I got to know while I was here. As a New Yorker who grew up in Manhattan, I took for granted the routines I developed. I used to buy a bagel with butter at the bodega on my block on my way to school. I did it so regularly that they used to have it sitting by the register ready for me every morning, and would let me cut the line to pay; the candy store owner always knew I wanted Twix; the guy at Subway had my sandwich memorized. I was a creature of habit, but I never quite knew what to make of these relationships. They were little parts of my life, just business as usual, and yet I still look back on them fondly. The last thing I ever expected was to develop similar habits in China.

A view from our 32nd Story apartment window

Being in Shanghai has been tough. At first it was tough because I was comparing everything I experienced to a New York equivalent - or at least I was trying to understand Shanghai in terms of New York. Then I went to New York a few weeks ago and when I came back to Shanghai I realized it's just a different place. It is also a bustling city with fashion and tourism like New York: our neighborhood in Shanghai feels in many ways like the ritziest parts of Manhattan. Busy, bustling streets filled with tourists and shoppers, side streets dominated by locals, and the occasional park where people get a respite from the hustle and bustle. Other than the language and demographics what could be different?

Just some guys moving stuff around Shanghai by scooter, no big deal

Most people don't know but I spent two college summers working as a doorman on Park Avenue in New York City. For no other reason than that, I never wanted to live in a building with a doorman. Being a New Yorker, being class sensitive, and frankly just not enjoying the interaction, I purposely avoided living as so until now. There was no choice when we came to Shanghai, there were very few housing options and they all involved doormen. It has felt a little like a hotel to me with a concierge, athletic facilities and restaurant (have I mentioned we literally live above a mall!), but I have gotten friendly with a few of the doormen here. There are two in particular who I always share a big smile with. Maybe it's my long hair, relaxed attitude, or the occasional commiserating eye roll that they appreciate. Either way, it's been surprising that I could get used to a situation I had spent a long time avoiding: I guess Shanghai has changed me a little.

A scale model of Shanghai at the Urban Planning Museum

Katy and I have visited, and previously wrote about, a bottle shop called "Much Beer" here in Shanghai. It is located on a quiet street that doesn't get much foot traffic and is filled with beautiful trees and a seemingly authentic Shanghaiese feel. Scooters are parked on the sidewalk, the elderly sit on folding chairs on the curb, occasionally kids can be seen playing down alleyways, in short neighbors seem to be intertwined in each others' lives. Much Beer is a store that sells brews from back home and plays poppy American music on the radio. The shopkeeper quickly remembered me and over the course of a dozen or so visits we exchanged many communications via Baidu translate. I told him he had a beautiful shop, he told me about his favorite beers, and we shared snippets of information about each other. One time I went in to buy Katy a six-pack of her favorite beer. He wasn't working, but when I saw him next I told him about my past visit and he said he had suspected that I was the one who had bought the six pack. I never had the heart to tell him that he had a misspelling on his front door, which featured various "Ales and Largers".

Bathroom artwork at the bottle shop named: "Much Beer"

Down the street from Much Beer is a store called Flower Talk. I would often stop in after visiting Much Beer and buy Katy an assorted bouquet of flowers. While American IPAs aren't cheap, the flowers certainly are. There I quickly became friendly with the husband and wife owners. The novelty of seeing a laowai (similar to gringo) may have scared off some shopkeepers, but not this one. He spoke English on a better level than my Spanish, although he constantly apologized for not remembering more of his high school English. We communicated well and had some nice conversations, sometimes with the assistance of Baidu translate but often through his mental sweat and my confirmations. When I told him today that I was leaving Shanghai, he refused to let me pay for the flowers I was trying to purchase. To me it was an obscenely generous gesture and I tried to refuse it. Many shopkeepers in Shanghai live in the backroom or above the shop where they sell. At Flower Talk, however, only a curtain separates the living space from the business space. I tried my best to express gratitude and told him I hope we see each other again some day.

Some random art I liked

The air quality in Shanghai is bad. Not as bad as Beijing, but so bad that I can tell just by breathing when the air quality is better or worse. Katy and I regularly marvel at the few joggers we see puttering past. We have to remind ourselves that it's impossible for them to become runners, it hurts the lungs and might be dangerous to their health to exercise outdoors. On the iPhone Weather App there is an extra line at the bottom for Air Quality Index, and sometimes it reads: "Dangerous for Sensitive Groups". So instead of my regular running, I have adopted a walking routine. Since I'm not working but crave being outdoors (as well as the runner's high), I eventually worked up to two hours a day, which is a lot of time for people watching. My favorite loop is in Fuxing Park (pronounced fu-ching, not that dirty word you were thinking). The loop in Fuxing Park is around a third of a mile so in two hours I get over 20 loops in. There are many regular walkers I see multiple times per week: one man who walks faster than me sweats through his dress shirt for over an hour each day, he doesn't like eye contact; another woman seems to live in the park, she is almost always there regardless of what time I am walking; I recognize all of the policemen and many of the people doing park maintenance, and many recognize me. At lunchtime a few hundred people come to the park to walk around, some I have seen often, but many are not regulars. The majority of regulars are also my favorite people to watch: those who come to feed the cats.

Pizza and cats

I have never seen a single mouse or rat in this park,but hardly a day goes by when I don't see multiple people snapping cell phone pics of the park cats. Katy and I recently did a long walk together in Fuxing Park and Katy counted over a dozen cats in a single lap. I suspect there are upwards of two or three dozen cats in the park total: orange cats, black cats, white cats, tabbied cats, and even a few very young cats who presumably were born in the park. We think some cats were pets that got abandoned, but for whatever reason these homeless cats seem to be quite tolerated by the city. Dogs aren't allowed in the park and I suspect it may be out of respect for the cats that make their homes there. The people who come to feed the cats on a regular basis are the most interesting subset of Shanghaiese I have encountered. Old and young, wealthy and poor, male and female, a true cross-section of the city. They bring cat food, purchased at pet stores, and seem to have particular cats that they feed. They're not just feeding random cats, I watch them look for their cats, call to them, and shoo away other cats trying to steal THEIR cats' food. Pets are rare and expensive in Shanghai so I think having a cat that you care for, that lives in a park, is a compromise many Shanghaiese are happy to make.

Peace Out Shanghai

Shanghai has many beautiful parks, many charming sights, but also a number of regular spots that I have developed routines around. I never expected to develop any sense of home when I came here, but it's weird having that feeling as I leave. As I did my last 20 laps in the park today, visited Much Beer for the last time, and spent an hour talking to my favorite florist in the world, I never expected to start to miss a place that became a temporary home. I showed up to Shanghai jaded and comparing everything and everyone to New Yorkers, but I'm leaving feeling like I had some meaningful experiences and wondering if and when I might come back to Shanghai. If I do I suspect many aspects and qualities of the city will have changed (hopefully the air pollution will have improved), but also I suspect I will still be able to go to Fuxing park and watch local Shanghaiese feed the of cats, hopefully after an American IPA at Much Beer and a trip to Flower Talk.