By Bryan and Kari Ann

We’ve come a long way in our short relationship with China. When we arrived, we were rudely greeted by the worst of urbanity: choking smog, swindling citizens and soulless concrete sprawling as far as the eye can see. On top of that, we were unprepared for the mind-numbing scale of Beijing — we are used to big cities, so long as they are tall, not wide, and were exhausted from walking miles between places (we walked 10+ miles any given day).

Needless to say, despite being well-seasoned travelers and urbanites, our first few days in China got the best of us.

But things started improving. Bryan’s incompetent Chinese skills became tolerably less incompetent, we started learning our way around Beijing, and we had our worlds rocked by two colossal landmarks: the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. And the food…the food!

When we arrived in Shanghai, our spirits noticeably changed and our pace slowed — by design. All along, our plan was to overload on culture and sightseeing in Beijing and treat Shanghai more like New York, exploring neighborhoods, visiting friends, enjoying food and drink, and generally just being comforted by big city life again.

Our first day, as reported in the last blog, was pure joy: wandering around the French Concession area, discovering the molten delights of Yang’s Fried Dumplings, and watching the world from the Glamour Bar.

Our second day in Shanghai was just as good. We awoke in our historic hotel (it used to be a tycoon’s mansion in the early 1900s) and had breakfast across the street at Wagas, a trendy coffee shop. After spending a relaxing hour there, reading the Shanghai Daily and enjoying our coffees, we went for a leisurely swim at the hotel.

For lunch, we decided to walk to the Old Town district in Shanghai. Unfortunately, this was our one misstep and we ran smack into our most hated nemesis: hoards of tourists. We had been duped into thinking that we’d wander around the old buildings and snack on some more xiaolongbao at its birthplace, Nanxiang. Instead, we pushed our way through touts and tour groups until we found the dumpling place, only to be disappointed that it wasn’t nearly as good as Yangs. We should have known, everything tastes better fried.

But despite that foray into kitschy souvineerville, we enjoyed observing Shanghainese life outside the former French Concession.  Life in Shanghai is constantly under construction.  Locals joke that if you return a year later, you may not recognize your old haunts.  Currently, Shanghai is preparing for the world’s fair – “Shanghai Expo 2010.”  The entire river front, the New Pudong area, and basically every other street within the city are under construction for the Expo.

On Thursday night, we met up with a few of Bryan’s colleagues at W+K Shanghai.  They gave us the grand tour of the W+K office and then took us out for a night on the town.  W+K Shanghai was very cool, the office is full of cutting-edge creative stars in China, harnessing the energy for basketball and soccer in China into beautiful advertising for Nike. They’ve been very busy with the Olympics last year and have been growing leaps and bounds since.

After checking out Wieden, we jumped in a cab and headed toward a cool Shanghainese restaurant called 1931.

1931 was perfect. It captured the golden age of Shanghai in brilliant strokes of art-deco, old photos, and delicious dishes reminiscent of Old Shanghai. You see, this is the China of our dreams and fantasies, where the charms of the Orient met with service and fashions of the West, and it was found in 1931.

Wei Wei, an art director friend from W+K Shanghai and native Shanghainese, chose our entire meal to show us the traditional way to eat. First, we started with prawns in yellow wine sauce, then jellyfish, then spring rolls, then a local version of Peking duck, and those were just the appetizers. For entrees, we had wild mushrooms in a brown sauce, kung pao chicken, and a tofu dish. And for desert, we had several delicious treats, ending with soup — the traditional Chinese way.

While we were enjoying this decadent dinner, a storm rolled in and the temperature dropped 20 degrees.  Due to the sudden inclement weather, our plans for drinks at Yang Foo Elite were foiled.  We ended up at the rooftop bar, laughing and chatting over the noise of the Filipino cover band into the late night hours.

In a matter of days, we’ve fallen completely in love with Shanghai. It’s a beautiful city, progressive and modern, seamlessly blending the best of China and the West, and captivating you with non-stop charm. We’re smitten. And I’m afraid it’s not going to wear off anytime soon.