May-May's Diary
Entry for October 23th, 1999
Boys and girls! I am in love again. But not so much with a person as with a pair of hands!!! I went to a concert last week given by our very own piano maestro Kong Xiangdong at a new private art gallery in Pudong. The setting was unusual and the braying of mobile phones added a new spice of Brahms and Tchaikovsky which was wholly original and of-the-moment. The way that Kong attacks the piano in the spirited segments, engaging in what amounts to hand-to-hand combat with the instrument, is stirring in a deep way. There was some poetry readings to accompany the music, but I couldn't follow the words given my intnse concentration on the magic fingers waiting to strike out again at the ivories. Oh, Kong!!!
Signs that the economy is turning round? Plans out of Shanghai at the moment all leaving full which suggests things are doing okay. Taxi drivers say they did well during the National Day holiday, but that things have really tailed off since. The official figures indicate bouncy economic exuberence, but ... we wait. Things out in the provinces are certainly far less rosy than in our Shanghai.
I went for a walk along the new Nanjing Lu pedestrian mall which takes up most of the length of the street's older section, leading towards the Bund. I think it's great!! Even the cyclists are banned. The little streetcars puttering up and down are somewhat affected and impractical, but the thought is good, and will no doubt be developed as time goes by.
At one end of the Mall, just behind the Sofitel Hyland Hotel, is the Shanghai Sex Museum. Yes!!! It's run by dashing dapper Professor Liu Dalin, the Docor Ruth of China, the man with the answer to all your sexual questions about China and the Chinese. I have never had the nerve to ask him about his own sex life, but if it is even a fraction as colorful as the contents of his museum, then he's been a very busy boy! All in the cause of research, of course. Entrance to the museum costs 35 kuai, but you get to see a wide variety of unusual items, including 2,000-year-old dildos. I thought of asking him for a loan, but again my nerve failed me! In the inner sanctum, here is a special room of items that are not allowed to be shown in the public areas. Ask Professor Liu to show you and he will be happy to lead you in. But not necessarily on.
Hengshan Lu gets busier and busier, doesn't it? Business is great in most places, although it is said that the restaurants and bars along the Promenade are having trouble making a profit. TGI Friday's business has no doubt improved since it's sister store on Huaihai Lu closed (not surprising. It as always empty and the coffee was disgusting). Most strange to my eyes is Bourbon Street, opposite Real Love. It's a new structure so there's no excuse -- why did they build to look like a bank or prison? It's facing out on to the most colorful street in Shnghai, and yet there are virtually no windows on that side -- it's a plain white facade. Inside is another story of course, although I find it rather large and echo-ey. They serve cider, however, whicyh is a plus.
Question of the week -- how much is a cup of coffee worth?
Byeeeee!!!!
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