Fake

There are whole markets dedicated to fake here.  Do you want a Rolex?  Check.  

New shoes (I’ve seen a pair with the swoosh backwards). Check.

DVD’s of movies that are still in theaters?  Check. Check. Check. 

Sometimes you even get the pleasure of Spanish and Chinese subtitles at the same time!

The truth is I've been fake too.  I've been a fake and lazy Shanghainese resident.  The truth is I've had more of this,

 this,

 and this,

than I have anything that resembles this.

It’s just so easy here.  In addition to the voracious appetite for western culture from locals, the 200,000 person strong expat community brings a little bit of home with them too.  Scroll up and look at that grilled cheese again.  I’ll wait.  That’s local hunanese pork, New Zealand cheese, and American jalapenos.  The picture above it is at a German brauhaus in a neighborhood called the French Concession.  The chipotle eggs benedict and beer above that is from a Portland native who’s a serial restaurateur and craft beer king here.  I met an auto engineer from Royal Oak, Michigan who’s starting a sports bar here. 

Maybe that’s what Shanghai is now.  The same melting pot we’d expect in any American city.  Wouldn't you laugh at someone in Chicago who ate deep dish and barbecue every night of the week?  Why should this place and Chinese food be any different?  Or, maybe I'm really just being lazy…