Worth the Burn

The President has Camp David, Nero had his fiddle and I have Mandarin City. I have found the only my first, and as of yet only, peaceful retreat in Shanghai. Located miles from any subway stop in the western part of the city, this expat haven is as close to heaven as I've seen in Shanghai. For a few yuan I can spend a day relaxing book in hand and sunglasses on at the side of a large crystal clear pool.

The western part of Shanghai is where all the 'wealthy' foreigners live with their nannies and business-paid housing and private drivers. This is a foreigners' Shanghai I'll never see, aside from beautiful Monday afternoons at their pool, which is open to the public. The apartment buildings are lined with faux-Greek statues and assorted Cherubs with baroque styling growing like vines up the sides. There are restaurants and hotels, security and gates - for all purposes it feels like someone picked up a gated community in Arizona, moved it halfway around the world and dropped it there just the same as it had been. Normally I live in mortal fear of the synthetic worlds of these gated communities, but after 7 months of anything but calculated ease and aesthetics it's more than a welcome diversion.

A large rounded pool, not designed for laps but big enough to do so, surrounded by sun umbrellas and lounge chairs on a sunny day makes you forget all the noise and dirt located just a few miles away. The pool bar serves cheap fried food and drinks all day, so there is no need to leave. Every time I think about why the place seems so wonderful I arrive at nothing earth shattering that we don't have back home, but maybe that's just it... there is nothing we don't have back home there! My trip there this weekend was one of the few times I entered a place where I could forget I was in China. In a country so crowded, so noisy, so constantly in flux, it's rare to find a peaceful place without boarding a plane. I even got a sunburn. It's my first in China and I don't even mind, it's just another reminder of home.