a list of things i love in shanghai

I took my first solo taxi ride in Shanghai last week. Usually I don’t splurge on such extravagance, but I’d just bought a shelf at IKEA for my art supplies, and it was the cheapest way to get the shelf home by myself. I also thought it was time to test my skills with words such as “left” “right” and “straight.” It all went impressively well until I learned that I haven’t yet learned the word for “stop.” No major harm done, though.

While we were stuck in traffic waiting to make a U-turn, I composed this list on my phone. Enjoy!

things I love in Shanghai:

> flower salesman bicycle carts
> chair cart (by this I mean dude pulling a cart with his bicycle that has about 300 chairs jumbled atop it, tied with string)
> bicycle carts of any kind
> bright shoes on almost everyone
> friendly and curious people
> kids in homemade sweater vests over homemade sweaters
> old people strolling
> completely unselfconscious qi gong in the parks
> taxi techno, taxi reggae, taxi barry white
> subway sleepers (someone is always asleep on the metro)
> groups of women gossipping in fake IKEA kitchens
> shady tree-lined streets of the former French concession
> local hole-in-the-wall flower shops in every neighborhood
> couples in matching outfits
> the way young women cover their mouths when they laugh
> dogs, dogs in sweaters, dogs in shoes, dogs tied to race cars by a string
> the millions and millions of different faces with stories to tell
> the super-friendly, slightly cross-eyed doorman who works evenings downstairs
> noticing that people write characters so quickly and beautifully and compactly with fine-tip pens
> how the air cools on the evening

pineapple cart ain't so bad either