Posted by
November 18th, 2006 / 03:35:00
I’m Chinese. Never been to Shanghai or Beijing, the 2 largest cities in China AND the two most talked about cities in all the world now. So I didn’t know what to expect on my first visit. I’ve heard so much about both places that I needed to go see for myself, what my peoples were up to. I just tried to leave my mind open and absorb the environment. Many people asked me why I was going…what purpose etc. They think everything I do has a business objective and while its true my working brain is never really “OFF”, my answer to these people was usually: “…just exploring”.
This photo really sums up Shanghai in a nutshell. The “old” literally crashing into the “new”. OLD being the long history of China and NEW being the business capitalist mind of the Western World. Don’t get it twisted; Shanghainese are all up on their Tall Mocha Frappucino’s and California Pizza Kitchen. Shit, I ate the best corn beef hash and eggs in my life in Shanghai!
I was nice enough to be taken around the city by the Nike Shanghai office and Joe, who is their Energy Marketing person…(for those who know, he’d be the Gavin of China.)
Gerry Erasme as many people know, made NYC Basketball what it is today for Nike. He and I also birthed the NRF together. (Season 3 starts up in Dec!) He’s out in Shanghai now looking to the make the next Yao Ming into the next Lebron James. haha…
Joe Liu, thanks for everything…you were a great host. This was an excellent dinner with Angie (Nike Apparel) and Carol (Marketing Director for Nike China)…peep that rug tapestry in the background! I want that!!!
EDC was here. Stay tuned for more in December.
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Some sights of the town.
Of course I had to have my name carved into a “chop”. My Chinese name translated into English means, Child of Gold. Wish i could tell you this is an ancient process of chop carving, but the reality is, it took 5 mins with a Dremmel. The haggling took much longer, heh…thanks to Joe, it went from 150RMB (US$19) to 30RMB (US$4). Everything in Shanghai is “negotiable”.
I was schooled in the art of tea for sure. Lin Mei here has parents who harvest the tea somewhere near Tibet while she sells to “Gwai Lo’s” (foreigners) in Shanghai. Ever see tea like this in US?
Some things just make so much sense. A timer on their traffic lights? Genius.
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Urban Magazine is the only mag in Shanghai talking about the streetwear culture that we know. HIMM and KIKI, the owners have been grinding it out for 4 years now! Amazing as they are not even authorized to be publishing it in the eyes of Communist China, but they do and have been giving it away for free since Day One. Props to their effort for educating the PROC. We did a Q+A and Photo Shoot while I visited their office. I must be an annoying person to shoot because I’m always thinking like an Art Director of a magazine and throwing in my 2 cent suggestions of how the shoot should be. They’re prob just like “Just stand there and shut up.”
(HF x Adfunture)
The amazing creative office of Adfunture. Keep doing your thing Eddi.
If you’re in China, you cannot miss the Hairy Crab! Its an amazing delicacy and I give props to the first man who had the balls to crack this nastiness open and eat it. Dinner was joined tonight by Tom/Clot, Nona (Himm’s GF), Kiki/Urban, Leslie from NY, Joe/Nike, Pav/Clot and Himm/Urban. The best part is the brain of the crab. Best eaten with its ripped off leg of course.
My biggest surprise was just how Westernized Shanghai has become. I knew it was happening, but there were more Western people (OK, I’ll say it, WHITE People) there than in downtown Manhattan! I mean you sit in a restaurant in Soho and its a mixed bag of culture. Sometimes you sit in a Shanghai restaurant and you think you’re in Boston. As well, the architecture is really Westernized and modern. There were times I felt like I was in Las Vegas…not really knowing what was actually historic and what was a modernized prop. But all in all, I had a blast and I will def go back…very soon. But, now before i am even able to unpack, its back on a plane and heading to the capital city, Beijing.
