Classic Jacket Potato
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. This year we eschewed the fancy restaurants and opted for a cosy evening at home. We made jacket potatoes, to remind us of a classic meal we made many times during the food-scarce days of the Shanghai lockdown. (And also because Americans find it kinda hilarious that British people call baked potatoes “jacket potatoes”.) 🧥🥔
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A Spontaneous Trip to Qiandaohu
We didn’t plan anything for the Chinese New Year holiday, we figured we would be lazy. But then on Wednesday morning we made the spontaneous decision to head to Qiandaohu for two nights. Within ten minutes the hotel room and high speed train tickets were booked, and we were off later that afternoon.
Qiandaohu was created in 1959 when the completion of the Xin’anjiang Dam formed a reservoir that turned mountaintops into little islands. Around 1,000 islands in fact, hence the name 千岛湖, meaning “Thousand Island Lake”. It’s just a 2-hour train ride from Shanghai, but a very nice change of pace from the city.
For the three years of COVID, we had no choice but to travel within the borders of China, and we’ve been prioritising overseas travel since then. So this was a nice and simple destination to dip our toes back in: our first time traveling within China since July 2022, and our first time on a Chinese high-speed train since July 2021. We’re already on the way back home to Shanghai, where the laziness can resume once again.
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Measuring Life By The Zodiac
新年快乐 • 恭喜发财 • 蛇年大吉
🧧🎊🧧🎊🧧🎊🧧🎊🧧🎊
Happy Lunar New Year from Shanghai!
I was born in the Year of the Snake, so this is my year. But contrary to what you might expect, this is seen as bad luck rather than good. So it’s customary in China that you should wear red underwear (ideally gifted to you by someone else) to ward off the evil spirits during the festival season. We’re hoping that the snake hats make it doubly auspicious… 🐍🐍
Silly costumes aside, there’s something quite useful about measuring life in the twelve-year phases of the zodiac. For me that’s four phases of twelve, and here’s how I now look back at them.
0-11: A Happy Childhood.
A perfect start to life, surrounded by love, culture and privilege. Not much self-realisation, apart from maybe figuring out that I looked babyish and could get my way by acting adorable. Quite a useful skill to take into adulthood, although I must report massively diminishing efficacy in recent years.
12-23: Sleepwalking Through Adolescence.
Supremely awkward and obsessive phase, spent obliviously grieving the loss of my mother while distracting myself with academia and TV. Fortunate to drop out of a career in law and run away to distant distant Japan, from where I could start to make sense of life so far.
24-35: Stumbling into Success.
After a stint back in Europe, returned to Asia and started to cement my identity here. Realising that my slightly weird disposition didn’t gel well with regular employment, was open to new things and discovered the right career at the right time. But despite the (unconvincing) appearance of strength and status, was still emotionally immature and vulnerable, easily abused and manipulated.
36-47: Self-Actualisation.
For the first time since childhood, becoming aware that I have the right to demand happiness for myself. No coincidence that this phase maps directly onto meeting - and marrying - the happiest person I’ve ever known. A phase of living in the moment, and embracing an inherent need for curiosity, connection and challenge. And eating snacks on the couch.
I don’t believe in the zodiac. But I do appreciate rituals like this which make you interrupt your routines and take stock of your place in the world. Or rather, your place in yourself. 👶🏻👦🏻👨🏻👨🏻🦳👴🏻
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My Evolving Thoughts on Gentrification
I thought I would write a post on my evolving feelings about gentrification.
Gentrification is undeniably a good thing. But it will come as no surprise to many people reading this that it’s undeniably a bad thing too. When I moved to this area of Shanghai ten years ago, it was full of “useful” shops: little supermarkets, dry cleaners, hardware suppliers. But now all the practical shops are being priced out, replaced by flashy fashion boutiques, expensive coffee shops, and quirky speciality stores designed to appeal to the browsing Chinese tourist. What used to feel like living in a special community can sometimes feel like living in Times Square. I now need to walk a good few blocks to find my nearest key-cutter or greengrocer, and I just lost another local shop to an upcoming… Pingu store.
I guess it’s better than watching your local high street empty out and fall into disrepair, we all know plenty of neighbourhoods like that. But I’m starting to understand the feelings of the outpriced and the overlooked - the original resident who feels outpaced by the March of the Penguins - opinions I might previously have discounted as retrograde. It’s taken living in one place for a decade for me to realise this.
So let this post be my public apology for being so late to the game with this sentiment. And a public lament for all the lost little cafés, jianbing stalls and boba tea shops. The secret’s out about our cute little neighbourhood in Shanghai.
🐧🐧🐧
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New Year House-Hunting in Bangkok
Bangkok is not only a great city, in a beautiful country, with excellent travel connections to the rest of Asia… It also recently joined the small group of places in the continent where marriage equality has been recognised. So it’s a no-brainer that we should want to research it as a potential base for future retirement. 🤷♂️💡
Thailand is on the one hand deeply conservative and traditional. But on the other hand remarkably open and permissive. So while the world continues to grapple with these sparring ideologies, I hope that Thailand can offer another example of how to thread the needle and keep both sides at peace.
We spent the week viewing apartments during the day, and sampling the F&B scene at night. No conclusive favourites so far, but we had a damn good time stuffing both our brains and our stomachs with all the evidence we need to make an educated decision in the future. Let’s see what happens!
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Shameless in Seattle
It’s been seven years since we were last in Seattle together with our families. So it’s been great to be back again to spend Christmas with our adoptive family, as well as a bunch of other new PNW pals. And a quick detour through San Diego beforehand made the trip complete.
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The Merest of Mickeys
Mickey Mouse pays our bills, but he doesn’t live in our house. Until now.
Christmas came early in Shanghai, in the shape of this limited edition bronze sculpture by the artist 徐震 (Xú Zhèn). A mere hint of Mickey to blend into the background… 🫥🐭
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Cultural Correlation and Conflation
If you look beyond religion, and approach being Jewish also as a cultural and racial identity (which most do), then there’s a correlation between being Jewish and being Chinese. If you see a Han Chinese person on the street, all you see is their race. You don’t necessarily know if that person is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China. And even if they are, you cannot equate them with the actions of Xi Jinping and the Chinese ruling classes. Likewise being Jewish is not the same as being Israeli, which is also not the same as being Bibi Netanyahu. Yet in both cases it’s extremely common for people to conflate race, nationality and government into one amorphous blob.
Where the analogy ends of course is that you don’t see people calling for the annihilation of all Han Chinese people based on the actions of a government that corresponds to their race. So yeah howzabout we don’t call for the annihilation of anyone as an appropriate response to any government’s treatment of a minority or neighbour. Let’s debate the opposing acts of aggression which led us to this point; the actions of governments or militia purporting to act in our name; and the ways in which we’re all individually complicit or not. But can we at least all agree on the bit about annihilation?
It’s uneasy times for all of us. But for just one day, I forgot these thoughts as I celebrated the Jewish new year with a lovely group of close friends in Shanghai. And with one of their 9-year-old daughters having hand-made challah like this, how could we not have a little hope in our hearts? 🌈 Here’s wishing everyone שָׁנָה טוֹבָה (Shanah Tovah), and I hope we can all find something to celebrate this year. 🙏
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World-Class New York
As holiday destinations go, you can’t get more mainstream than New York. But it’s mainstream for a reason. It has an energy that comes close to our home city of Shanghai: the pace, the scale, the over-commercialism, the overstimulation, the glitz/grime, the impatience, and the surprise encounters with people you pass on the street. But more than that, New York has the kind of diversity that other places simply cannot match. The locals complain that it’s changing too fast, becoming too homogenised. They’re probably right. But it’s still got way more going for it than most other places that impudently call themselves world-class global cities.
New York is THE global city, so it’s only natural that so many of my global community are either based here, or have recently gravitated here from Asia. I only realised exactly how many this was when they all agreed to drop in to a small bar in Hell’s Kitchen. The evening was a timely reminder that those reports of New York’s demise are wildly overblown. And that those of New York’s high cost of living… are not. 💸😬
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Eight Shows in Eight Days
As part of Denny’s job, he really should be keeping abreast of what’s happening on Broadway. So after eight years away from New York, it was only fair that he got to fill his birthday week with eight (yes, EIGHT) Broadway shows. We did four plays, and four musicals. My only request in return was that he did eight ridiculous videos, one outside of each venue. You’re welcome.
Also, here are my ill-informed reviews of each show, listed from my least to most favourite. You’re also welcome.
LEAST FAVOURITE
8 - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Play)
Some mesmerising stagecraft, but otherwise just a cynical money-grab with a tiresome storyline and all the spiritual edification of a wet Big Mac. And DO NOT get me started on the excruciating British accents of literally every cast member, I will punch a wall.
GOOD
7 - Hold on to me Darling (Play)
My first time seeing a preview show, so it was interesting seeing the actors still a little shaky with their lines, especially when one of them was Adam Driver. But it was a good play about a man with an over-inflated sense of self-importance who makes a string of questionable life decisions. RELATABLE. Plus we got to see Adam Driver practically naked in his panties.
6 - Oh, Mary! (Play)
Farcical, deranged and silly, this play was the perfect antidote to all the lavish high-production musicals on this list. Personally, I found the general gist of high-status-people-saying-low-status-things a little predictable. But there’s no denying that it was an absolute joy to watch the comedy timing of Cole Escola and the rest of the cast.
5 - Water for Elephants (Musical)
Because it’s not enough for Broadway actors to just act, sing and dance, this show has acrobatics and puppetry too. Can’t help but be enchanted by the whole thing. It’s not higher on my list because while the music and lyrics were OK, they weren’t as inventive or memorable as other musicals.
4 - Suffs (Musical)
If you’re going to put on a conventional musical without too many flashy gimmicks, it had better be pretty much perfect. And this was. Great music, simple yet vibrant scenery, and a story based on women’s suffragists which could be applied to any multi-generational liberal movement.
BEST
3 - Stereophonic (Play, with music)
Yes, it’s a freakishly immersive portrayal of a band trying to record an album in the 70s. But what it’s really about is the frustration, claustrophobia, perfectionism, insanity, tension, euphoria, jealousy, futility and all-round relentlessness of any small-group endeavour. I know that’s too many words, but it was a three-hour play with all those things. And I HARD RELATE.
2 - The Outsiders (Musical)
Visceral and violent, with stunning lighting effects. Then poignant and heartbreakingly beautiful. Transported me straight back to the confused and slightly tormented 13 year-old boy who studied the book in Mr Cliff-Hodges’ English class. Stay gold, Ponyboy…
1 - Hadestown (Musical)
Intimate, so so intimate. Also clever, sexy, funny, the whole spectrum of human emotion that you would expect from a 2,000-year old classical Greek tragedy brought to life. And performed with the kind of talent that can touch your soul with the raise of an eyebrow. Just wow.
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Unassuming Amsterdam
If you’re in need of a little burst of positivity, I can recommend a trip to Amsterdam. It rains here pretty much every day, but no-one complains. (Well, unless they’re British of course…) The national cuisine is delightfully stodgy, but people still manage to keep in shape. (Bitterballen, anyone?) And contrary to its modest nature, Amsterdam has had a massive influence on the world, arguably birthing the very notions of global capitalism, modern liberalism, and personal privacy. Indrukwekkend.
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Mala and Me
These days it’s not so common for a Global Head of HR to still make time to see me when they pass through Shanghai. So when it happens, I feel the need to celebrate it, especially when they happen to be the fabulous Mala Singh.
We covered a hundred topics over breakfast, and exchanged survival tips on managing the everyday complexities of this multifarious multi-polar world. The only teeny tiny difference between us being that she also manages the worldwide people strategy for Electronic Arts (EA) and the co-parenting of 3 kids, whereas I can barely manage myself.
Thank you so much Mala. And let this also be a guilt-trip to all the other CHROs reading this right now. Do not come through Shanghai without becoming breakfast buddies. ☕️
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Two Observations about Dubai
Two quick observations from two days in Dubai.
It was my first time back to Dubai in many years, but luckily I still know some great people here. And it was fascinating to take the temperature on how things have been changing. Sure, everywhere has its downsides, and Dubai is no exception. But in a world where openness and diversity seem to be in retreat, Dubai has clearly been steadily moving in a progressive direction. Perhaps until now I’ve been guilty of only noticing all the glitz and the silliness of Dubai, and overlooking the fact that maybe its heart is in the right place…
While I enjoy taking the temperature figuratively, I’m not quite so keen on the literal version when the answer is 45°C. You might think that July is a crazy time to visit Dubai, and you’d be absolutely correct. But at the same time there are fewer people here in the summer, so crowds are thinner, queues are shorter, and traffic is lighter. Having largely stuck to indoor activities, I feel better off coming now rather than contending with the masses in February. So I’ve been one happy traveler, and especially grateful to everyone who went out of their way to say hello in person.
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What Next?
It’s nearly impossible to define a period while you’re sat right in it. But for us international folks in China, I would say that we’re all in a state of Chronic Contingency Planning.
When I first moved to Shanghai almost 10 years ago, the chapter in the book would read “The World Meets In China”. Why spend your life on a plane meeting clients at their Global Headquarters? Just sit in Shanghai and wait for them to inevitably come to you. That was a large part of the business case for me to be here in the first place. And now I find myself approaching a decade here, the longest I’ve spent in one place since I was a child.
Reflecting on the last six months, the chapter for today would read “What Happens Next?” My conversations with other foreigners are no longer repeatedly and concentratedly about how to manage China growth, China speed, China adaptation, China innovation. These days they are much more likely to veer onto the topics of overseas vacations, overseas promotion goals, overseas family and friendships, overseas retirement plans. We all continue to value our lives in China, and we’ve all chosen to stay here when many of our peers have left. But the razor sharp focus on China has gone. And I leave every conversation with the strong sense that all of us have one eye on the “What Next”.
On a personal note, I’ve been better than most in keeping up with the outside world, even as international platforms continue to be difficult to access from China. The Mosaic of China podcast has been an integral part of that, and I will continue to expand upon this project. But I’ve recently hit a mental block in releasing new episodes, and I attribute it to this state of Chronic Contingency Planning. Editing podcasts has become a joy in my life, I recommend it to anyone who needs to quieten their busy brains with hours of isolation and distraction. But these days I find myself needing to distract myself less, and spend more time crafting my own “What Next”. And it comes at a stage in my life when I’m also taking stock of a career spent making international connections, and re-engaging with the many people who have helped me reach this point.
It’s most likely that the answer to my own “What Next?” will be to continue as is for now. I still enjoy my life in Shanghai, both the rough and the smooth. But I’ve needed to take the time to make sure this is an actual choice, rather than just standing on the conveyor belt of the status quo. It’s taken weeks of self-examination to reach this point, but the words I’ve written today suddenly came to me fully formed when I woke up this morning. So I’m sharing them here in the hope that they resonate with you, whether you’re reading them in China or not.
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