Shanghai Son
Rises
Houston Rockets center Yao Ming may lay his head
in Houston, but his heart is still in Shanghai, his
hometown.
A few years back, Houston Rockets center Yao Ming served as an
image ambassador for his hometown of Shanghai by appearing in
promotional films for the city. In these ads - titled "Countless
Yao Ming, a Beautiful Shanghai" - the five-time All Star plays a
policeman, a chef, a gardener, and other professions to honor "the
spirit of Shanghai residents from all walks of life."
The films' director should have added the role of geography teacher
to the shooting list, for 26-year-old Yao not only has put Houston
on the map for every average Zhou in the Middle Kingdom, but he's
also introduced Shanghai to the American masses.
It somehow seems right that the seven-foot-six Yao hails from
Shanghai. This modern metropolis of 16 million is a city of
superlatives, where first, faster, bigger, taller, and newer are
always better. "It doesn't matter how much time you've spent in
Shanghai," says Yao. "Every time you come here, the city will have
a different feeling."
In Shanghai, the possibilities are limitless. Want to see a Wall
Street district rising out of farm fields? Look across the Huangpu
River toward the Pudong District, and you'll see the gleaming
skyscrapers of Lujiazui. Desire a taste of Europe? The renovated
architectural marvels along the Bund in Puxi demonstrate how
Shanghai is, and always has been,
China's most international city.
Hoping to ride on a maglev train? You can catch one at the Pudong
International Airport.
Here, it's even possible to discover an
NBA top center. In the "if
you build it, they will come" atmosphere of modern Shanghai, Yao's
success story doesn't seem far-fetched at all. After all,
basketball is what he was born to do. His father, six-foot-seven
Yao Zhi Yuan, played for the Shanghai city team; his six-foot-three
mother, Fang Feng Di, stood out on the Chinese national basketball
team. At age nine, Yao entered the after-school
basketball program
at Xuhui District Sports School and began the lifelong training
that would lead him to the Shanghai Sharks, the Chinese national
team, the NBA, and superstardom.
Yao hasn't spent very much time in Shanghai the past five years.
After the Rockets chose him as the number-one pick in the 2002 NBA
draft, Yao and his parents moved to the suburbs of Houston. Even
so, Yao looms large in Shanghai. His face appears on every
McDonald's bag; on enormous billboards along Nanjing Road
(Shanghai's equivalent of Fifth Avenue); and, on a nearly daily
basis, in the Shanghai newspapers, which faithfully report on the
Rockets. The city cheered when he was named the Western Conference
Player of the Month last November. And in December, when Yao
fractured his tibia, the collective intake of breath across
Shanghai was sharp enough to cut glass. Although few of the city's
16 million know Yao personally, to all of them, he is Shanghai's
favorite son.
And a dutiful one. Every summer, when the basketball season ends,
Yao returns to Shanghai. When he came home after his rookie year,
in May 2003, Shanghai was in the middle of the SARS crisis. Yao put
together a telethon that raised $300,000 in relief. A year later,
he accepted the position of global ambassador for the 2007 Special
Olympics World Summer Games, which Shanghai will host this October.
And then, of course, there's his role as Shanghai's image
ambassador in the promo films for the city. We'll now add tour
guide to Countless Yao Ming's list of professions as he takes us
through Shanghai.
What do you want people to know about Shanghai
before they get there? Shanghai is a very beautiful
city. It is only 200 years old, which is new, compared with a
city like
Beijing, which is 2,000 years old.
How would you compare Shanghai with
Houston? In Houston, people live outside of downtown and
drive cars to get downtown. In Shanghai, people live downtown and
ride their bikes to work and to school. You get in your 20 minutes
of cardio workout.
When you're in Houston and get homesick for
Shanghai, what do you think about? It's not a specific
thing. I miss the whole atmosphere of Shanghai. In Shanghai, in the
morning time, the people getting up and brushing teeth, washing
their face, and going out to buy the
street food for breakfast. You
can smell the fried shao-bing you-tiao (bread sticks and bun).
People greeting each other and neighbors asking, "Have you eaten
breakfast?" The whole atmosphere is what I think about.
When you go back to Shanghai each summer, how long
do you stay? Not too long, probably two to three weeks each
time.
If you were to host friends or visitors for
dinner, where would you take them for an upscale meal? I
like to go to a restaurant called Mei Ling Ge (Merrylin). It is
very nice. The way they cook the Shanghainese food is quite
authentic.
What do you like to eat? Snake. Before
SARS, the restaurant had a famous snake dish, but now it is very
difficult to get.
Which Shanghainese dishes should visitors be sure
to eat? Street food. The breakfast street food is the best.
There are four traditional breakfast foods, called si da jin gang:
shao-bing you-tiao, doug jiang (soybean drink), da bing (large
sesame bread), and ci fan (soupy rice).
Some visitors may be reluctant to try street food. It's a cultural
difference. If you force somebody to try it, maybe it will not be a
nice experience for them. But if you have the chance, you should
definitely try the street food.
Which hotels would you recommend? The
Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai and the Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai
are more traditional hotels that are nice, and they're close to my
house. The Peace Hotel has a long history. It is one of the oldest
hotels in Shanghai and is very famous. Every year, I take my
friends and family there to its restaurant.
Which attractions do you love? The Bund,
for its international architecture. This is a place you must go.
Because on the Puxi side of the Huangpu River, you can see the old
buildings and you can feel how, in old Shanghai, all these
businesses and international banks were coming to the city. On the
Pudong side, you can see the new Shanghai, with all the new
skyscrapers.
There's also the pedestrian area on the eastern section of Nanjing
Road. This is the first shopping street in China. It's the most
crowded and hustling bustling street you can see in Shanghai,
especially the section that's close to the Bund.
Tell us about your old neighborhood. How has it
changed? When I was small, I was living on Kangping Road,
which is very close to Hengshan Road. It's near where the
International Tennis Center is now, in the French Concession area.
The difference between the two roads is that now Hengshan Road is
very busy, but Kangping Road, on the contrary, is very quiet. When
I was small, there were only two attractions on Hengshan Road: the
Hengshan Cinema and, at the end of Hengshan Road, the Xujiahui
shopping area. Xujiahui is also a place you should go.
Why? It is quite intensive shopping
there. You can find a lot of things. Sometimes you can find
some cheap things. But my problem is that lots of people know
how much I earn, so I am not able to bargain with them.
Visitors can get a much better understanding of
Shanghai by walking its streets. Would you recommend any particular
neighborhoods for a nice stroll? Binjiang Da Dao (the
Riverside Promenade in Pudong). You can see across the Huangpu
River to the Bund. There's also Fuxing Park, which has lots of
beautiful trees. And then, if you really want to take a walk, I
would recommend Hengshan Road, especially in the evenings. There
are phoenix trees, which are special trees, all along Hengshan
Road. It will be a nice walk. There are a lot of outdoor bars. You
can find a lot of buildings which are not Shanghainese or Chinese
style.
Do you have a fondness for any specific building
on Hengshan Road? My mother used to work at a place called
Shanghai Sports Science Research Institute. This place is at the
intersection of Hengshan and Wuxing roads. This building, where my
mom worked, is very attractive. When I was small, after school I
always liked going to my mom's workplace to do my homework so I
could spend lots of time in that building. It's still there.
What other fond childhood memories do you
have? When I was young, I used to go to the Children's
Palace; it's in a small alley on Kangping Road. When I was in
school, I would go there for play, for fun. It's not far from where
my mom worked. I don't know if it's still there. I would watch
movies. They had lots of hobby classes for people to learn music
instruments, and you could also play video games.
Shanghai has changed a lot since your
childhood. Where would you send visitors to see the new
Shanghai? For young people, I think they'd like to go
to a place called Xintiandi, "New Heaven on Earth." The style
of the buildings is Shikumen, the oldest traditional style of
buildings in Shanghai. But inside the buildings, it's very
fashionable, with restaurants, bars, and entertainment.
And to see the old Shanghai? If you really
want to see the local Shanghai style, go to Yu Garden, which locals
also call Cheng Huang Miao. In Cheng Huang Miao, the original old
buildings are Chinese-style. Lots of people go there. You can see
these little shops and vendors. It gives the feeling of the market
and people getting together.
Tell us about your role as a global ambassador for
the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games. What message do you
want to share about Shanghai and the Special Olympics? It is
a huge honor for me to be an ambassador. I believe Shanghai is well
prepared to successfully host this event. I heard that during the
Special Olympics, some of the athletes will stay in common people's
homes. It is very good, because it can increase mutual
understanding from each side: The athletes can have a good
understanding of the culture of Shanghai, and the people of
Shanghai can have a better understanding of the spirit of the
Special Olympics.
He Said ...
Yao Ming thinks these Shanghai spots are a slam
dunk
Lodging
Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai, very
expensive, 011-86-21-6256-8888,
www.fourseasons.com/shanghai
Peace Hotel, moderate, 011-86-21-6321-6888,
www.shanghaipeacehotel.com
The Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai,
moderate,
011-86-21-6279-8888, www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Shanghai
Dining
Mei Ling Ge (Merrylin), Shanghainese,
moderate, 011-86-21-6446-6666
Shopping
East Nanjing Road pedestrian street
Xujiahui shopping district
Attractions
Binjiang Da Dao (Riverside Promenade)
The Bund
Fuxing Park
Hengshan Road
Xintiandi, www.xintiandi.com
Yu Garden (Cheng Huang Miao)
We Said ...
We think these Shanghai spots are a slam
dunk
Lodging
Anting Villa Hotel, inexpensive to
moderate, 011-86-21-6433-1188. Mere blocks from Yao's
childhood home, this boutique hotel is a great base for those
planning to explore the French Concession area on foot. It
has its shortcomings; the staff's English and the facilities
are both limited. But it's a surprisingly quiet and
inexpensive retreat, considering that it's only two blocks
from the subway, Hengshan Road restaurant, and the bar
district.
The Pudong Shangri-La, expensive to very
expensive, 011-86-21-6882-8888, www.shangri-la.com. The "Shang" is
an ideal sanctuary, with unparalleled Bund views as well as the
Riverside Promenade out its back door; oversized, thoughtfully
designed rooms; the sybaritic Chi Spa; and restaurants that
reinvent the hotel buffet (Yi Café) and hip drinks (Jade on 36
Bar).
Dining
Bao Luo, inexpensive, 011-86-21-5403-7239.
If street food scares you, go to Bao Luo. It's smoky and loud and
packed with locals until two a.m. - but those are all reassuring
signs that you've found the right spot for authentic Shanghai
cuisine. Try the stewed pork knuckle and the sautéed eggplant
served with pancakes.
Simply Thai, inexpensive,
011-86-21-6445-9551, www.simplylife-sh.com/simplythai. Yao's old
neighborhood in the French Concession is now packed with
restaurants. Simply Thai is among the district's, and the city's,
best. Get a table on the patio, sip a glass of chilled Australian
Riesling, and feast away on yellow curry, savory beef masaman, and
fried prawns in spicy sauce.
Attractions
Jing An Park. You’ll miss China, too, once you’ve witnessed the wonderful morning festivities at Jing An Park. Locals assemble daily — and early — for group
tai chi, ballroom dancing, and calisthenics. Keep an eye out for the people walking backward; they’re trying to reverse the clock.
Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, 011-86-21-6372-2077. You’ll gain an instant appreciation for Shanghai’s obsession with grand scale when you visit this vast (6,400 square feet) model of Shanghai as city planners envision it in 2020.