May-May's Diary
Entry for March 02, 1999
Boys and girls! I'm back!!! The year of the rabbit has hopped in with a vengence and I can report that Shanghai is much better off in the sunshine department than many parts of southern China where I have been hiding in recent weeks. So you people who decided not to go away for the break made the right decision. But while grey skies dominate there, I can say that it is probably going to be a while before Guiyang's first multi-plex cinema opens. Speaking of which....
The Disney blockbuster Mulan is opening this month across China at cinemas including the new multiplex at the Westgate plaza! I was there other day and Roger whispered to me his plans to open a cool coffee corner on the 10th floor of the Plaza with a cinema movie motif. But back to Mulan. This is a ground-breaking movie in several ways, including the fact that it is the first Hollywood cartoon depicting the Chinese world. Reports from VCD fans indicate that the story is interesting and credible from both Western and Chinese perspectives and deserves to be seen on the big screen. And we have to do what we can to help the struggling mausoleums of video, don't we?
Lava, billed as the naughty sister of Park 97, has opened for business in a soft sort of way in Fuxing Park right next to the cafe. It is much bigger than the fine dining restaurant it replaces and overrall, it feels like a great place for a party. I had a few drinks there the other night with a certain well known foreign journalist and was very impressed. The rice pudding was ... interesting.
A new place to try on a Saturday night, starting March 6th: the X Bar in the Park Hotel on Nanjing Lu, which is featuring a live band. The bar should, in our opinion, change its name to the Sky Terrace, which is the name of the grill room and night club which occupied the 14th floor of the Park Hotel in the 30's and 40's. Back in those days. as the couples danced to the jazz orchestra, the roof opened up to the stars at midnight. This is not possible anymore as the roof has been remodeled and a huge satellite has been plopped on top. But the cool nightclub atmosphere has been recreated on the 2nd floor. Check it out.
Any number of new coffee shops have opened around town, including one close to Henry's on Xinle Lu. But one of the most interesting is still the old Ruijin Jotel's coffee shop, which on a Sunday afternoon gives wonderful entertainment in the form of the brides and bridegrooms tromping across the lawns taking care not to mess up their rented gear. it's just a pity about the lingering smell of stale cigarettes.
Byeeeee!!!
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