One of the things that I love to do when we travel is go for runs around the city, especially in the early morning. You get an opportunity to see an honest city, you know, like seeing your new girlfriend before she puts her make up in the morning. It allows a sneak peek behind the scenes of the back alleys and all those nooks and crannies that really define the city.
When we first arrived in Shanghai I took a week before I started working. Still jet lagged, I would go for runs in the wee hours of the morning. It was surreal. Shanghai is definitely a city with mask on, or as a good friend so appropriately put it …”it’s lipstick on a pig”. I tend not to wax such witty metaphors and simply say that this city is “wonderfully fucked up”. I’ll elaborate on this many more times…trust me.
Going back to surreal nature of my run; I’d suit up, do my stretches, pop in my IPOD and hit the road. No joke, the first song of my first run in China was Tupak’s “California Love”. I’m smiling to myself as I turn on Nanjing Road and see all the old Chinese folk doing their morning exercises. It’s beautiful…imagine the juxtaposition of Tupak’s lyrics “….California knows how to party….in the city of LA….in the city of good ole Watts…in the city…city of Compton…we keep it rockin’…we keep it rockin’…”
I turn my head to the right to cross the street and a scooter hauling slaughtered pigs almost knocks me on my ass. The next song that comes on as I pass all the early morning Xiaolongbao (soup dumpling) street vendors on Maoming Lu is (Hey Baby) Que Paso by the Texas Tornadoes. Now I’m laughing out load and thinking to myself “where the hell am I and how did I get here”…. Insert here….. “Once in a Life Time” by the Talking Heads.
When we first arrived in Shanghai I took a week before I started working. Still jet lagged, I would go for runs in the wee hours of the morning. It was surreal. Shanghai is definitely a city with mask on, or as a good friend so appropriately put it …”it’s lipstick on a pig”. I tend not to wax such witty metaphors and simply say that this city is “wonderfully fucked up”. I’ll elaborate on this many more times…trust me.
Going back to surreal nature of my run; I’d suit up, do my stretches, pop in my IPOD and hit the road. No joke, the first song of my first run in China was Tupak’s “California Love”. I’m smiling to myself as I turn on Nanjing Road and see all the old Chinese folk doing their morning exercises. It’s beautiful…imagine the juxtaposition of Tupak’s lyrics “….California knows how to party….in the city of LA….in the city of good ole Watts…in the city…city of Compton…we keep it rockin’…we keep it rockin’…”
I turn my head to the right to cross the street and a scooter hauling slaughtered pigs almost knocks me on my ass. The next song that comes on as I pass all the early morning Xiaolongbao (soup dumpling) street vendors on Maoming Lu is (Hey Baby) Que Paso by the Texas Tornadoes. Now I’m laughing out load and thinking to myself “where the hell am I and how did I get here”…. Insert here….. “Once in a Life Time” by the Talking Heads.
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