Cocktails for 100 SEK, dinner for 5
Shanghai has an incredible tendency for variation, in many aspects. The weather would be one of the best examples of this. Sunny Shanghai often turns into a puddle when the seasonal monsoons swing by. People from all over China and the rest of the world crowd the city and contribute to a hard to beat cosmopolitan atmosphere and a city that has something for everyone. Another thing that is very evident is the variation in prices across the city. Shanghai is without a doubt the most expensive city in China. In some cases it is evan quoted as one of the world’s most expensive. At the same time it feels like you are robbing the taxi driver when you pay him/her 20 kronors for the ride across the city. One thing is certain: it’s not hard to spend money in Shanghai. When Burberry and Versace stores pop up in what feels like every street corner and one scoop of ice cream at the local Häagen-Dazs bar costs 60 kronors you stop to wonder who the Shanghainese really are. With these thoughts in my head I wander off Nanjing East Road and into the smaller streets behind it.
The atmospheres changes completely just after 50 meters. The neon lights and skyscrapers have suddenly vanished and left is a genuinely chinese neighborhood with old wooden houses and small stores. In the same way the prices have made a complete 360. I go to the first street vendor I find and buy myself a bowl of fried rice. I ended up not being able to finish the massive portion. After the rice, which was made with eggs, vegetables and pork/chicken, I bought a selection of kebabs. I had to ask three times before realizing there was nothing wrong with my Chinese when I was asked to pay about 5 kronors for everything.
The bizarre thing is not the price itself, I’ve been told all my life how cheap China is, but rather the incredible variation in prices you find in the city. Shanghai can be incredibly confusing and in the end it’s hard to tell cheap from pricy. Everything becomes relative. A beer for 30 kronors? What about a beer for 10? Or a martini for 90. Whichever beverage you end up choosing you can always have dinner for 5.
