nanamoose

Nostalgia Reigns on Gough Street

I have become somewhat of a word junkie of late. In fact, it has been so for quite some time now. Actually, thinking about it, it has been so for as long as I could remember. I used to keep a list of my favourite Chinese words handy just in case a baby pops out of nowhere and I had to name the kid. Amongst some of the words I used to deem favourite were “Qiong Yao” (瓊瑤) -esque words like: 逸, 旖, 涵, 烟…and dozens more I cannot remember.

Have been reading less and less Chinese books these days and even if there were the occasional one or two they certainly do not contain beautiful names. So gradually I developed a mental list for English words. The list is quite extensive but the two words that come immediately to mind are: LURE and NOSTALGIA. Why these two? English words cannot be used to build names so my affection for them stems from the degree with which they resemble the meaning they are to convey. This might be a somewhat a difficult notion for certain people to grasp as the figurative look and sound of the word itself can convey no meaning on its own. However, just as I find the look of some numbers “cunning” (like 4 and 7) and others, “nice” (like 6 and 8), I find the word LURE, especially the sound of it with the combination of U and R (making your lips bulge out in extended “O” shape) very alluring. So much more so than its synonym “tempting” in the very least. Is it easier to see what I mean in comparison?

The word NOSTALGIA however, has no comparison...

The Keanu Reeves in Shanghai Cabbies

Funny thing I noticed about cabbies in Shanghai, perhaps throughout China, is how, despite all their rudeness, crassness, loudness, amazing driving skills and admirable spitting habits (I always wondered, what is the cause of this spitting habit? I have tried oh so hard to cough up the mucus but try as I might I never succeeded in producing them, unless I was sick of course. Nothing comes out! Is this then a result of years of practice since childhood or this is a sad result of air pollution in China? The act of spitting itself is clearly not pleasurable at all so it is hard to imagine that it could be addictive and hence a habit. I then search deep down my memory to think whether people in the supposedly smoke-free environment of Kunming spit – and they do! So what have we got left? Spitting is neither a habit nor a result of air pollution. So what else can it be? Can someone enlighten me here?) , they are in fact remarkably honest. If you give them the benefit of the doubt they might turn out to be quite charming in some cases, and the most important thing is, they are by any standard far more polite than your average Hong Kong cabby.

Your Typical Shanghai Cab Ride

Cabby: Hello, where do you want to go?
Passenger: Junction of Huashan Road and Zhenning Road please.
Cabby: Let me make a U-turn. It is easier this way.
(Cabby makes U-turn and does not start the meter until he has fully completed the turn, is out of the vicinity of the deadlocked traffic and actually on the move)
Cabby: Are you Korean? (rolls down window and “tu!”)
Passenger: No. Do I look Korean?
Cabby: You don’t look Chinese, but your Chinese is very good! Where are you from?
Passenger: Well I was raised in Taiwan and…
Cabby: (Cabby jumped in without waiting for passenger to finish her sentence) Oh, Taiwan, I know Taiwan very well, my grandfather used to work alongside General Jiang Jieshi! Do you know xxx? (Cabby brushes past a biker, the distance between them a mere five centimeter. Both biker and driver continued his way as if nothing happened) He is very famous in Taiwan!
Passenger: (stiff and holding on to handle. She has not heard of xxx, but nods her head ferociously anyway) Yes of course.

Shanghai Finds - Ferguson Lane

Mum called me up few days ago to ask me whether I have been to Ferguson Lane in Shanghai. Apparently it is billed in Hong Kong’s Ming Pao as the new 蒲点“pu dian”, or, unless anyone comes up with a better translation of the term, “place to hang out”. I told mum, of course I have been! Heard about it, read about it, bought flowers there for the apartment and sat at Coffee Tree for a cup of tea.

Ming Pao or my mum may have used the wrong term for it (as the term 蒲点 usually refers to bars or clubs), but Ferguson Lane is quite rightly the upcoming place to hang out. A lifestyle hub with loft-style trendy office spaces, cafes, art galleries and artsy shops, Ferguson Lane is like a smaller Xintiandi without the gaggle of tourists and instead a touch of history. Doing some research on the internet I realized that Ferguson Lane takes its name from the small street it is on. Today's Wukang Lu was formerly named Ferguson Route, in honour of John Calvin Ferguson, a young American missionary sent to China at the turn of last century who was a prominent foreign figure in successive Chinese governments and who founded Nan King University, today's Jiao Tong University.

Once you enter the quite alleyway off leafy pleasant Wukang Road there is a small flower shop selling fresh flowers and indoor plants. You then walk through two newly renovated French concession buildings with exposed brick walls on your left (I love brick walls) right before you reach the main building which is apparently a former hospital. There is a Coffee Tree on your left, Globus Wines right next to it, an interesting looking homeware store further right, then you see Franck, a highly rated French restaurant.

Being on Ferguson Lane is like being back in Europe, with a twist. The clientele is largely foreign, both Coffee Tree and Franck has al fresco tables to transport you back to Paris, and then you bend round to the back of the hospital building and you see the clothing store D.I.S – Dutch In Shanghai – we are in China after all. But this is what makes Ferguson Lane an even more special place.

Ferguson Road is at 376 Wukang Road (junction of Wukang Road and Taian Road)