Tom Olden - Shanghai Cocktales: A Memoir

Shanghai Cocktales :

A Memoir

For the boys

One never asked why someone had come to Shanghai, said Lady Jellicoe, who was brought up in the city, it was always assumed everybody had something to hide. Shanghai 1920s

Cocktale 1:

The White Dove

Touchdown in Shanghai was scheduled for 9:25 a.m., March 8, 1999the year of the Rabbit. As the only white male on a half-full flight, I gratefully enjoyed the extra attention the nubile air hostesses gave me and an almost childish chill of excitement rushed through me. Out here, no one would know what had happened. Except Alex. Ever since I had called to tell him that I was coming.

What? For how long? He had asked, taken by complete surprise. Dont know, I had answered. Im selling everythingfuck it!

Wild , Alex had replied . What about Marie?

She s over and out. Bitch! I had uttered through gritted teeth.

Tom , what happened ? He enquired. And so I told him in short, rushed sentences

That was two weeks ago. Now is now , I sighed in delight; it was like being born again, ready for a clean start in life. It was perfect. Or almost. Twenty minutes or so into the flight, the snazzy Ms. Wang served breakfast. I studied the fare in front of me: a pitiful piece of fish in dark gravy sauce, limp veggies and a stiff lump of rice. It did not look like it had been prepared that morningnor even the night before, for that matter. How the fuck can they eat cold fish for breakfast?

Some say that there is no such thing as a free meal, but when I informed Ms. Wang that I did not wish to sample the local cuisine that morning, my charming neighbor spotted an instant opportunity. He muttered a few unintelligible words andwith an open mouth that revealed a row of half-rotten, brownish, nicotine-stained teethgrabbed the tray from her in midair.

The Chinese guy lowered his face and started shoveling the food in. And as he hawked from deep down and spatnot once, but twiceinto the emptied box in from of him, I seriously contemplated the truth in the depiction of China as one of the cradles of civilization. Could it really be so?

Finally I must have dozed off as, from somewhere far away, I heard the pilot announce in almost comprehensible English that we were beginning our descent. Groggily, I crossed my fingers and prayed for a safe landing. It had been a long journey, but I was finally here, ready to start over and put my past behind me. I was singleagain. Twenty-six years old. Hungry for life. And more than ready for the adventures that awaited me a thousand feet below, in epic Shanghai.

* * *

With a suitcase in each hand, the rucksack on my back, shades up on my forehead, bleary-eyed and with a dank taste in the back of my mouth, I cruised through the crowd, toward the arrival hall, where Alexs waving arms, six-foot-two-inch frame and spiky blond hair easily stood out in the throngs.

Tom! Hey, Tom! Over here .

Welcome, bro. Im really happy to see you, Alex said as soon as I got within earshot, close enough to be heard over the constant and unintelligible proclamations that were blasting out through the wretched speaker system.

Yeah, man. Me too, I excitedly declared. Did you find me a place to crash?

Sure, theyve got a room where Im living. Its central and cheap, so weve booked it for you already.

Just like the old days, huh? I chuckled, gung-ho and reminiscing about a stream of memories from our inebriated university days together.

Alex grinned. Yep. Just like the old days.

W hen we reached the taxi waiting area, Alex lit a cigarette and threw me the pack. I would usually not smoke before breakfast, but there would be none of that this morning, so I took one. What the hell

With a heavy cough, Alex exhaled the bluish smoke and caught my eye. Ive arranged an interview for you tomorrow morning at nine with a British guy named Robert. Hes got his own company here and is looking for someone to help him with a website or something like that.

Website? I dont know shit about the Internet, dude. Hell laugh his face off when I show up, I growled.

Well, its the best I can do with such short notice, man. Its not easy, you know, finding a job in this city. So just go there, have a chat and see what happens. This is Shanghai, dude. Anything can happen. He grinned again. That same old rascal grin.

It didnt take long before we sat squeezed into the backseat of an old rust-red Volkswagen Santana. Never take the front seat , Alex had warned in sinister tones. Traffics horrendous and you can really easily get hurt . The vehicle had seen better days and would never pass a safety inspection in the Western world. But of course, that was not necessary here. After all, we were in Shanghai.

Alex knocked on the protective shield that surrounded the drivers seat. Dao Wuding Lu , Jiaozhou Lu . Xie xie .

Whaddefuck? My jaw dropped as I stared wide-eyed at Alex. You speak Chinese? Fuck me!

He chuckled lightly. Well, its not that much, dude. Just the address of the crossroad near the hotel. Lu means street, so a junction gives you the nearest address to your destination. Youll quickly learn a few phrases. If I get completely lost, I call Laura and then she handles it.

Im super impressed. Ching-chong, ching-chongyoure the man, what can I say? We looked at each other, bursting out loud with laughter, excited to be in each others company again as the cab sped toward the heart of Chinas most cosmopolitan city.

Spellbound, I stared through the tinted windows. The city was so different from anything I had ever experienced before. It felt like a different planet and I swallowed it all raw: the chaotic traffic, bikers with kids on the back carriers, speeding buses and whining tuk-tuks , all amid an endless stream of people. Above us, five stories up, a new highway was under construction, stretching from the airport to downtown. We drove below it for several miles and it was an impressive project, the likes of which I had never seen before. How would I ever be able to find my way around the madhouse maze that seemed to be Shanghai, I wondered.

Alex s girlfriend was waiting for us at the entrance to the White Dove Hotel. From what Alex had explained, her Chinese name was Xue Chen, but like most other young Chinese who socialized or worked with foreigners, she had taken a Western name. This supposedly avoided embarrassing situations for the foreigners when it came to pronunciation, since a simple word like bi could mean both pen and pussy. So she went by Laura.

According to Alex, she was twenty-five. But to me she looked more like a nineteen-year-old, as she came tiptoeing down the short stairs toward us. She had a slim figure, a graceful walk and a contagious smile.

Hello, Tom. It is an honor to finally meet you, Laura said in accented English before briefly bowing her head. Alex has told me so much about you, but he didnt mention that you were so handsome. Ay-yaah! she exclaimed with an exotic giggle. I could not help noticing her obvious good looks as she stood there with long black hair and captivating eyes.

Oh, please call me Tom. I returned the bow. If Id known that Chinese girls were so beautiful, Id definitely have gotten over here much, much earlier. I winked and grinned as I patted Alex on the shoulder. Awesome work, my good man.

Hey, you two, Alex gave Laura a quick kiss. Therere millions of girls out here, literallyso you dont have to pick mine as the first one. Right?

The White Dove Hotel was one of those ubiquitous, nondescript, smaller establishments that exist all over Shanghai. Tucked away on Jiaozhou Lu, with a humble entrance through a discreet, black iron gate, it catered mostly to Chinese businessmen looking for a decent place to stay a night or two. The lighting in the reception area was subdued, but I could clearly make out signs of aging on the faded yellow wallpaper. The ceiling had a couple of cracks extending out from underneath the crown of an old chandelier and the wooden floor was patterned from years of wear. But the place was clean and a bouquet of fresh flowers even adorned the front desk. The atmosphere was, if not cozy, then inviting. There were fourteen floors, ten rooms per storey and a small restaurant in the basement. With a rent of twenty-five hundred renminbi a month and Alex a couple of floors down, I saw no reason to look at any other place. It was perfect.