Cafes in Shanghai

I select some old photos here, all taken by me on various phones (Nokia ones I think) and cameras during a visit to Shanghai in 2008. This collection of photos is all about local cafes.

It is believed that the people in northern China usually prefer tea, while Shanghai, which always has great influence on the eastern part of China, is well known for more coffee. You can see the importance of cafes in Ang Lee’s award-winning movie Lust, Caution (2007).

In the old Shanghai, cafe used to be a symbol of social status. Maybe now still?

Shanghai has been never short of good cafes, including many run by expats who often view Shanghai as the “Paris in the Orient”. Those nice coffee shops sometimes make Shanghai suddenly feel more like a small town in Europe and they also become the sources of ideas and connections for many.

In this collection of old photos, unfortunately the Hanyuan Bookstore (which was also a cafe) was closed in 2018 for various reasons.

Hanyuan used to be late Hong Kong celebrity Leslie Cheung’s favourite. Leslie once said he loved to hide himself inside Hanyuan just for a whole afternoon of books and coffee when he had work in Shanghai.

For more photography by me: mrshangkong.com

微博，十年

這週參加一個晚宴，居然同桌偶遇一個微博「粉絲」，話說都已經追蹤我微博十年有餘，還同鄰桌其他朋友介紹說，這就是「滬港小生」，真是令我有些慚愧。自己沒想過有那麼大影響力，也覺得最近幾年因為這樣那樣的原因，微博上的文字分享也不如以往那麼豐富⋯⋯

科技發展真的很快，我確實屬於比較早一批開始玩微博的，也可能是因為自己本來做記者的原因，對社交媒體上手比較快。因為微博，我認識了不少朋友（或者說網友），以前也確實經常有發生在現實生活中以「你就是滬港小生」這樣的緣由做互相問候的開場白。

也因為微博，我也吃過不少苦頭，十年前可能還比較意氣用事，別人說你一句，你忍不住最好回十句。這十年，也因為這樣那樣的原因，期間也考慮過好像其他朋友一樣，不如停了微博，眼不見為淨，也越來越不知道還可以說什麼，越來越不確定什麼不可以說。

人生苦短，特別是不惑之年之後，如果一件事情太折騰，不如不做，浪費大家時間。

這十年上微博，最欣慰莫過於偶爾收到一些不認識的朋友的私訊，比如有一個大學生給我發消息說，因為經常看我微博，最終決定來香港大學讀新聞，她覺得改變了她的人生。那一刻，我真的覺得原來自己的文字和分享確實可以影響到他人，我想這也是很多曾經的同行選擇做新聞的初衷。

不知道十年後我們會在哪裡，也不知道十年後的微博會變成什麼樣子。最近我也在學習研究元宇宙，特別是自己公司的產品，比如附圖是Horizon Workrooms，大家可以在3D環境中工作，回郵件、做電話會議等等，都可以。要想認識工作以外的朋友，還可以在其他的元宇宙社區中找到不同主題活動。

微博也好，元宇宙也好，最終能吸引我們都是因為影響力。一個人的言行可以影響很多人，是好是壞，每個人都有機會，也都有責任。當然，每個人的境界不盡相同，這也是為什麼微博上不必太多爭辯的原因。畢竟，林子大了，什麼樣的鳥都有。

對，我就是那個滬港小生，微博上的那個。

Shanghai-style Pork Mooncake

The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner and that means it’s time to eat some mooncake. My favourite? What about Shanghai-style pork mooncake (上海鮮肉月餅)?

Hand-filled and formed, the Shanghai-style mooncakes offer a departure from traditional versions around town; made from flour, lard and maltose, they’re characterised by a flaky and buttery short-crust pastry and filled by ground pork.

Where to buy perhaps the most authentic Shanghai-style pork mooncake in Hong Kong? You can order at Michelin-famous restaurant Liu Yuan Pavilion (留園雅敘) in Wan Chai, which is well known for its Shanghainese cuisine. Liu Yuan’s super fans include Shanghai-born Hong Kong influencer and food critic Benny Li.

Usually you need to grab those annual limited edition pork mooncake quickly before they are all sold out. Fortunately my colleague got me a box already, and now I just need to brew a pot of green tea to go with the uniquely delicious pork mooncake.

Life is not too bad in Hong Kong!

Shanghai Wonton in Causeway Bay

My friends often ask me where to eat good Shanghainese food. The answer is … the Shanghai Hongkong Noodle Restaurant in Causeway Bay. It’s been here for more than half a century and the first-generation founder/boss is a poor migrant to Hong Kong from Shanghai after the war time.

My favourite here is the Shanghai-style “little wonton”, and I will also order fried dumplings if I’m a bit more hungry. Soy milk is the popular drink here, brewed by the restaurant on its own everyday. Of course, the best takeaway is always the Shanghai-style “rice wrap” (秶飯), which has two flavors, sweet (pork) or salty (vegetables).

This restaurant is one of the unspoken secrets for the local and it’s open for 7/24/365. It was once featured in American newspaper USA Today, which described the hardworking entrepreneurial spirit as the “Spirit of Hong Kong”.

Ice Cream, A US-China Story

This is the most classic ice cream with a very long history in China since the early 1900s, also related to American influence, culture, and technology at that time.

American politicians and businessmen came to Shanghai for their “adventures” in the early days and they had homesick, including missing Western-style ice cream in the summertime. In 1913, an American dairy factory was established in Shanghai and it quickly entered ice cream business to primarily serve the foreign and local elite communities in Shanghai.

At the very beginning, the original brand of its ice cream was called “Beauty” (美女), and the brand was renamed as “Brightness” (光明) in 1950 following the Communist Party’s victory of the Civil War. Make sense? A bright new era just started for China. That’s the new meaning.

The late famous Chinese writer Eileen Chang (張愛玲) was one of many fans for “Beauty” ice cream, quite a luxury for the local in the old era of Shanghai. Today the new “Brightness” brand is already a household name in Shanghai and occupies a dominating share in the domestic ice cream market in China.

Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) was a factory manager for Yiming Foodstuff (益民食品), parent company of “Brightness” dairy and ice cream products before Jiang started his political career and became the Mayor of Shanghai.

You can now order “Brightness” ice cream online, directly shipped from Shanghai to Hong Kong, thanks to highly efficient logistics and e-commerce technology nowadays of course.