We had a snack at the Peoples Friendship Hall in Shanghai yesterday. It was just about the most opulent building I’ve ever seen; solid marble, overbuilt everything, and the most expensive restaurant in the city. Sharks fin soup with a few fixens was just over $400 a bowl. For that, I’d expect the whole damn shark, not just his fin! And to think, it was built by Stalin to show friendship and solidarity with the new PRC and Mao in the early 50s. I doubt many of the “people” got into this place back then.
What caught my eye were the symbols used to indicate mens from ladies restrooms. The ladies room had a high-heal shoe, while the mens room had a pipe. I wonder how many Russians or Chinese smoked pipes at that time? Notice the buildings architecture, if any of you have been to Moscow, you’ll recognize the Stalingothic architecture. Note also how it’s being surrounded and dwarfed by the creeping expansion of capitalistic skyscrapers. What would Stalin and Mao think today?
By the way, I did not have sharks fin soup (I’m a teacher eating on teacher's wages), but we had smoked ducks tongues, roasted fungus, raw garlic, and several beers. We got out for only about $12 US each. That evening, all I could think about where those poor, mute, quackless ducks, caused by my gluttony.
Natch
What caught my eye were the symbols used to indicate mens from ladies restrooms. The ladies room had a high-heal shoe, while the mens room had a pipe. I wonder how many Russians or Chinese smoked pipes at that time? Notice the buildings architecture, if any of you have been to Moscow, you’ll recognize the Stalingothic architecture. Note also how it’s being surrounded and dwarfed by the creeping expansion of capitalistic skyscrapers. What would Stalin and Mao think today?
By the way, I did not have sharks fin soup (I’m a teacher eating on teacher's wages), but we had smoked ducks tongues, roasted fungus, raw garlic, and several beers. We got out for only about $12 US each. That evening, all I could think about where those poor, mute, quackless ducks, caused by my gluttony.
Natch