FRIDAY IN SHANGHAI

FRIDAY IN THE CITY is coming to you from Shanghai this week! I arrived after a wonderful 12 hour flight to Shanghai on late Friday afternoon. I am here for 3 weeks to help a company on a leadership development program.

My wonderful longtime friend and colleague Sherry Zhang took me to dinner on the first night. I am staying in the Pudong area, in a location called “green city.” It is also the home to many expats. It was both comforting and alarming that I realized I had a Starbucks and a Coffee Beanery within a 10 minute walk from my apartment.

But you can bet I am sure to try as many local dishes and experiences as possible.

On this type of flight, I choose not to sleep on the plane – and in essence, stay awake for almost 30 hours. By the time the day is done, I am sure to be tired enough to fall asleep.

But before heading to bed, I was invited for my welcome meal by Sherry to a modern Szechuan restaurant. Szechuan is famous for their spice chilis and sauces. Sherry explained that in the Szechuan province, it is warm, damp and often rainy. But loading up on spicy chili’s in most dishes, it insure a stimulation of the stomach and body which is good for health and appetite.

Before leaving for China, I purchased a new Flip Camera. This little camera, not much bigger than a pack of playing cards, will let me film up to two hours of high definition video. It is pretty amazing.

I took the camera with me to dinner, and have uploaded a few videos. I have had to spend a little time to figure out how to publish. Normally, many folks upload to YouTube – but unfortunately the government prohibits that here in China.

Sherry must have ordered at least 10 dishes, including many items she knows I like. We started with boiled peanuts in vinegar to help me brush up on my chopstick skills. That was followed by roasted frog legs, honey pork, duck skin with Japanese plumb sauce, roasted vegetables and a sliced lamb in boiled bread. It was wonderful, and of course we probably didn’t even finish half of it.

HERE ARE LINKS TO THE VIDEOS:
http://flickr.com/gp/29563531@N04/E40845
WELCOME TO CHINA VIDEO



I know I am going to have a wonderful time in these next three weeks. Check back often, and I will try to drop a line and video every now and then!

(Drop a note here and let me know if you were able to see the videos and if you liked!)