Shanghai: Delving Deeper

I spent two days coaching graduate students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. It was a modern, lively campus of buildings old and new, and the grounds were full of the sound of musicians practicing, enhanced by Chinese instruments prominent in the lovely cacophony. The impromptu vibe that surrounded the general goings-on in Shanghai was most amusingly present when I was given 24 hours notice that I would be giving a 3 hour "lecture" to the undergraduate class. I began a tad dryly, but it morphed into a good Q & A discussion that was interesting. Everything went through a translator, the divine Cindy Wang, but the small misunderstandings that would arise in the course of communicating provided poignant insight into why international negotiations tend to be so difficult.

The Dong Hu Hotel was perfect, a historic hotel in the French Concession, surrounded by terrific and varied eating options. The driveway at night:
The lobby was decorated with Chinese antiques:
Amused to see this plaque carefully mounted above the toilet in the room:
The toilets at the Conservatory were of the "hole in the ground" variety; you better bring your own packet of tissues, since there is no toilet paper provided at all. Or soap, or paper towels.
But, fear not, Starbucks locations are plentiful (though they occasionally masquerade with this Chinese sign). Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (a California chain) was also prevalent.
Whereas many restaurants in Hong Kong did not provide napkins at all, most places in Shanghai did. Some even were rather proud of what they provided (like this packet of tissues that lasted me a week).

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Yang's Fry Dumpling (we visited two locations, the first rather rustic, the second, pictured below equally as busy) where soup-filled pork dumplings are covered in sesame seeds and pan fried so that the bottom is crunchy and toothsome, and top is thin and fragile, and the filling absolutely delectable. Tricky to eat, but addictive.

The city's lights at night were dazzling. The amount of electricity I imagine is required is a bit distressing, though!

Nanjing Dong Lu (East Nanjing Street) is a pedestrian shopping street, as glitzy as Times Square, really.