從磁懸浮到小籠包，“無處不優(yōu)越”的上海

Superlatives are everywhere in Shanghai. I forked over my 50 yuan (about $7.90) and boarded the maglev train departing from Pudong International Airport. My understanding was that this was a high-speed train, like the one I’d recently taken from Chengdu to Xian. I didn’t realize that, operating by a giant set of magnets that caused it to levitate over the track (hence the name, maglev), it was the fastest commercially operating train in the world. After leaving precisely on time, our speed began to build. And build. Soon, we were screaming through a blur of new housing developments and farmland at 268 miles per hour as we made our way from the Pacific coast to the heart of Shanghai. The ride, while not exactly smooth — you feel the speed — was exhilarating. I stepped off 19 miles and a few minutes later at Longyang Road, slightly dazed.

上海無處不優(yōu)越。我掏出50元錢，坐上了從浦東國際機場開出的磁懸浮列車。按我的理解，這就是一列高鐵，和我不久前從成都去西安時坐的那列一樣。我沒意識到的是，這列靠一組巨型磁鐵懸浮在鐵軌上運行的列車(因此有了“磁懸浮”的名字)，是世界上最快的商業(yè)列車。在準點開車之后，速度就開始加快。再加快。不一會，我們就在一片新建住宅區(qū)和農(nóng)田的模糊風景之中，以268英里時的速度呼嘯而過，從太平洋海岸線駛向了上海的中心。這段車程雖然不算特別平穩(wěn)——能感受到速度——但令人興奮。幾分鐘后，我在19英里(約合30公里)外的龍陽路下了車，腦子有些發(fā)蒙。

Despite this high-tech arrival system, Shanghai is, in a way, a late bloomer. Cities like Beijing and Xian have been political and commercial powerhouses for centuries. Heading into the 19th century, Shanghai was a modest trading port that exploded after being “opened” to the world by Western imperialism. What became known as the Paris of the East laid the groundwork for what Shanghai is today: an unparalleled economic powerhouse and megacity of 24 million people. Packed with luxury brands and overrun with shiny Bentleys and Audis, it’s also impossibly expensive — kryptonite for a penny-pincher like me. Luckily, I was able to spend a four-day weekend there denting, but not breaking, the bank.

撇去這個高科技的到達系統(tǒng)不說，上海，在某種程度上，是一個后起之秀。如北京和西安這樣的城市，數(shù)個世紀以來都是政治和商業(yè)重鎮(zhèn)。而在邁入19世紀之時，上海還是一個被西方帝國主義“打開”了大門后突然出現(xiàn)的、不算太大的通商口岸。后來，東方巴黎的名聲奠定了今天的上海：無可比擬的經(jīng)濟發(fā)動機，有著2400萬人口的巨型都市。而這個充斥著奢侈品牌、賓利和奧迪橫行的城市，也貴得令人難以置信——對我這樣的吝嗇家伙來說是個致命傷。不過幸好，此次上海周末四日游雖然讓我花費不菲，但還不至于破產(chǎn)。

You can start saving money by staying on the fringes of the city center, where rooms at the Peninsula can run $900 per night. I settled on the Jinjiang Metropolo Hotel Classiq Shanghai, just north of the Huangpu River in Hongkou, and paid 576 yuan per night, about $90, for a perfectly comfortable “Extreme Sassy” double room. (The hotel has since been rebranded as the Golden Tulip Bund New Asia. Things move fast in Shanghai.)

要想省錢，可以從住在城市的外圍開始，市中心半島酒店每晚的房價可以高達900美元。我在虹口的錦江都城經(jīng)典酒店入住，在黃浦江北岸，每晚576元，約合90美元，要了一間特別舒適的“至尊豪華”雙人間。(該酒店后來改名為上海外灘郁錦香新亞酒店。上海的一切都很快。)

After the rush of the maglev train, getting there on the subway felt like a mere crawl. Still, it was relatively efficient and definitely cheap — expect to pay between 3 and 5 yuan for a one-way journey. And the location near Tiantong Road was ideal — I could either hop directly on the subway or take a short walk over the Suzhou River into the Huangpu District, giving me easy access to the Number 2 subway line, one of the two main underground east-west thoroughfares in the city. It’s also just a few minutes’ walk to the Bund, the famous waterfront area where old European banking and trading houses gaze over the river at the new, towering financial centers of Pudong. China is platitudinously described as a compelling mix of ancient and modern — but in Shanghai, there’s ample reason.

經(jīng)過了磁懸浮列車的激情，乘坐地鐵去往酒店感覺就像是緩慢爬行。然而這是相對高效并且絕對便宜的——單程票預計花費在3至5元之間。位置接近天潼路，非常理想——我可以直接乘坐地鐵，也可以從蘇州河上走一小段路進入黃浦區(qū)，能很方便地搭乘聯(lián)通城市東西向的兩條主要地鐵線路之一——地鐵2號線。步行到外灘只需幾分鐘，老的歐洲銀行和商貿(mào)建筑在這塊濱江地區(qū)里，眺望著江對面高聳入云的新浦東金融中心。說中國是古老與現(xiàn)代的魅力結合，是一種陳詞濫調(diào)——但在上海，卻理由充足。

Walking in Shanghai, though, can be an adventure. As you might expect from a city of more than 20 million people, it’s constant and not-always-controlled chaos. Still, between the nonstop dodging of cars and motorbikes, it’s fairly doable — and a great way to work up an appetite. And while Shanghai itself is high-priced (a cold brew and pizza slice at the world’s largest Starbucks will set you back $20), true Shanghainese cuisine happens to favor the frugal, in the form of one of my favorite types of food: dumplings.

但走在上海，可能是一種冒險。正如你對這個有著超過2000萬人口的城市所預計的一樣，它有著長期而往往不受控制的混亂。盡管如此，不止歇地穿行于汽車和摩托之間，還算能接受——也是一種改善食欲的絕佳方法。盡管上海標價高昂(在世界上最大的星巴克買一杯冷飲和一片披薩要讓你破費20美元)，但真正的上海菜卻簡單廉價，是我最喜歡的那種食物：包子。

The first dumpling to get to know is the xiao long bao, or soup dumpling, a regional specialty that’s long been popular in the States. The steamed dumplings, usually filled with pork or crab meat, have delicate, nearly translucent skins — but not too thin that they might break, losing the valuable liquid inside.

要說的第一類包子是小籠包，或叫湯包，是上海一直備受歡迎的地方特色。一般用豬肉和蟹肉作餡料的蒸包有著近乎透明的精致外皮——但也不至于薄到破裂，漏出里面寶貴的湯汁。

My first of many great xiao long bao came from Papa Chan’s Shanghai Dumplings, a fairly sizable restaurant on Sichuan Middle Road. Around late morning, I noticed a mob of people forming in the lobby and decided to join them. I was glad I did — while I ended up mistakenly getting four orders of dumplings (10 yuan each) instead of one order of four dumplings (my Chinese is a little rusty), they were perfectly petite and bite-size, and exploding with porky soup flavor. I’d snarfed down a dozen before I’d even gotten wind of the sizzling jian bao — a thicker, doughier fried dumpling — down the street.

我吃了許多美味的小籠包，第一次是在Papa Chan上海小籠包吃的，那是四川中路上挺大的一家店面。在上午晚些時候，我看到大廳里聚集了一群人，便決定加入他們。很滿意自己的這個決定——雖然我不小心點成了四份包子(一份10元)，而不是一份四個(我的中文有些生疏)，但它們十分嬌小，可以一口一個，每一個都會爆出醇厚的豬肉湯的味道。在我聽到街上滋滋作響的生煎之前——一種面皮更厚的煎包，我已經(jīng)吞下了十幾個小籠包。

At Lao Sheng Xing, another quick casual midday hot spot, a man wielding two pairs of industrial pliers poured a steady stream of grease out of a wide, shallow pan. The two dozen or so golden brown dumplings, stuffed with beef and chopped vegetables, bubbled and sputtered. I ordered three big fried dumplings, each about the size of a baseball, for a total of 9 yuan. The drill at most of these places is the same: Order at the counter and hand your receipt to a server or, in this case, the guy making the dumplings. Grab your food, an available seat and enjoy.

在另一家非常著名的休閑快餐廳老盛興，一個男人用兩把鉗子夾著一口淺沿大平底鍋往外倒油。二十多個金黃色的煎包里塞滿了牛肉和切碎的蔬菜，浸在冒泡的熱油中噼啪作響。我點了三個大煎包，每一個都和棒球差不多大，總共九元。在這些地方，大部分步驟都一樣：在柜臺點餐，把小票遞給服務員或者店里做煎包的那個人。拿到美食，然后找個空位坐下來享用。

Other quality dumpling houses abound, and special mention should go to Ling Long Fang for its casual, appealingly dingy atmosphere and excellent xiao long bao (16 yuan a dozen) — which you can see being made while you wait. The real M.V.P. of Shanghai dumplings, though, is the sheng jian bao. At the intersection of steamed bun, fried pot sticker and soup dumpling, you’ll find the sheng jian bao (not to be confused with the regular jian bao mentioned above). They are fried in a shallow pan, then steamed, and finished off with a smattering of scallions and sesame seeds. They also drench the palate with hot juice upon the initial bite.

其他高品質(zhì)的包子鋪也有很多，特別值得一提的是麟籠坊。這家店環(huán)境休閑，看似有些破敗，但卻有味道極好的小籠包(16元12個)。等餐期間，你還能親眼看到小籠包的制作過程。但是上海包子里的至尊還要算是生煎包。它是饅頭、鍋貼和湯包相結合的產(chǎn)物(不要和上面提到的普通煎包混淆)。先在淺平底鍋里用油煎，然后上屜蒸，最后撒上少許青蔥和芝麻。咬第一口時，滾熱的湯汁四溢而出。

You can get your fix at Da Hu Chun, a warm and homey storefront with shared tables and four pork-filled dumplings for 7 yuan. Of nearly as good quality are the ones at Yang’s Dumplings, a popular chain — get the sheng jian bao stuffed with shrimp (four for 18 yuan). The best I had, though, were during a two-hour morning food tour I purchased through Lost Plate, a food tour outfitter (300 yuan, includes food). Our guide, Nick, started us off at Xiahai Miao (Under the Sea), a Buddhist temple with an adjacent vegetarian restaurant (the Eight Treasure Noodles were quite good), then walked us through the former Jewish Ghetto, where 20,000 refugees lived during World War II.

還可以在大壺春滿足你的胃。這是一家溫暖樸實的店，店里餐桌共用，豬肉包四個七元。小楊生煎是一家備受歡迎的連鎖品牌，它的生煎包里包的是蝦，品質(zhì)也差不多(四個18元)。不過，我吃到的最好吃的生煎包，是我在通過美食游供應商Lost Plate購買的晨間美食游(為期兩小時，費用300元，包括用餐費)期間吃到的。導游尼克帶領我們從佛寺下海廟動身，它旁邊有一家素食餐廳，里面的八寶面很好吃。然后他帶我們步行穿過從前的猶太人居住區(qū)。二戰(zhàn)期間，那里生活著20000名難民。

Winding our way through the nongtang (old-fashioned alleyways) passing humble apartment blocks with European-style balconies, we ended up near the intersection of Dongyuhang and Anguo Roads, where I found the sheng jian bao of my dreams in a small storefront. They were fluffy on top, crunchy on the bottom and filled with savory, fatty juice. They were included in the price of the tour, but would have cost just 6 yuan for an order of four.

我們穿過弄堂(老式的巷子)，經(jīng)過帶歐式陽臺的簡陋公寓樓，最后來到東余杭路和安國路交匯的路口。我在這里的一家小店找到了夢寐以求的生煎包，上軟下脆，湯汁肥厚。這家店的生煎包四個只要六元，但我吃的這一頓包含在了我購買的美食游價格內(nèi)。

While I was beguiled by the food of Shanghai (as you might be able to tell), I was equally smitten with the numerous historical, artistic and musical options the city has to offer. After the tour ended, I went to the nearby Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum (20 yuan), which elucidates the history of Jewish refugees in Shanghai, highlighting in particular the lives of Jakob Rosenfeld, an Austrian doctor who fought with the People’s Liberation Army, and Ho Feng Shan, a diplomat sometimes called the Chinese Schindler for issuing visas against orders.

盡管上海的美食讓我迷戀(也許你已經(jīng)看出來了)，但這座城市眾多同歷史、藝術和音樂有關的去處同樣讓我傾倒。美食游結束后，我去了附近的上海猶太難民紀念館(門票20元)。紀念館介紹了猶太難民在上海的歷史，尤其突出了雅各布·羅森菲爾德(Jakob Rosenfeld)與何鳳山的生平。羅森菲爾德是一位奧地利醫(yī)生，曾與中國人民解放軍并肩作戰(zhàn)。何鳳山則是一名外交官，因為不顧命令向猶太人發(fā)放簽證，他有時候被稱作中國的辛德勒。

Elsewhere, the M50 Art Industry Park is a huge arts community set in a prewar textile manufacturing complex. Most of the dozens upon dozens of galleries are free to browse — including the Chenglin Art Gallery, home to the playful and colorful paintings of Chenglin Huang — though a handful charge admission. I also stopped in at the gallery of Bu Bai Liao, who happily showed me several of his rock ‘n’ roll-inspired portraits. Mr. Bu said he enjoyed M50, but added that communal gallery life has a downside: “I think artists need the freedom to communicate with other people.”

另一處坐落著M50藝術產(chǎn)業(yè)園，它是一個大型藝術社區(qū)，由二戰(zhàn)前一個紡織廠建筑群改造而來。那里的幾十個畫廊大多是可以免費參觀的，比如承林藝術中心，里面展示黃承林風趣多彩的繪畫，不過也有少量畫廊是收費的。我還去了布白寮(音)的畫廊，他愉快地向我展示了他的幾幅以搖滾樂為靈感來源的肖像畫。他說自己很喜歡M50，但他也表示，社區(qū)畫廊生活有一個缺點：“我認為藝術家需要有同其他人交流的自由。”

One of the most entertaining galleries is island6, home of the Shanghai-based art collective Liu Dao. It draws heavily from technology in its pieces, with plenty of video game references and an inevitable tongue-and-cheek critique of capitalism. A work called “Cheongsam Kingdom” featured a painting of a classic automobile superimposed over a looped video of a young woman in traditional dress behind the wheel, blowing LED smoke through a cigarette.

上海藝術團體“六島”的工作室是最好玩的畫廊之一。它的作品中含有大量科技元素，經(jīng)常借用電子游戲，難免也有對資本主義的隨意批判。有一個作品名為《旗袍王國》，一輛老爺車的繪畫疊映在一段循環(huán)播放的視頻之上，在視頻中，一個身穿旗袍的年輕女子坐在方向盤后面，吸著電子香煙，吞云吐霧。

The M97 Gallery on Changping Road is smaller, more intimate and free — and is easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. I was interested by a macabre, slightly disturbing multimedia installation called “The Theater of Apparitions,” by Roger Ballen, as well as work that involved the beautiful layering of Chinese calligraphy and traditional darkroom techniques by Sun Yanchu.

昌平路的M97畫廊規(guī)模更小，更私密，更自由——如果不留意的話，很容易錯過。我感興趣的作品包括羅杰·巴倫(Roger Ballen)設計的一個恐怖的、有點令人不安的多媒體裝置，名為《幽靈劇場》(The Theater of Apparitions)，以及孫彥初的一個作品，把中國書法的美麗層次和傳統(tǒng)的暗室技術結合起來。

Another worthwhile art destination — in the southeast corner of the city center and marginally harder to get to — is the state-run Power Station of Art, formerly the Nanshi Power Plant. Admission is free, but I paid an additional 50 yuan to see the special exhibition dedicated to the Italian design collective Superstudio(through March 11). The concept of a government-supervised contemporary art museum is intriguing, to say the least, and it’s interesting to see how Chinese artists navigate the boundaries of harsh censorship.

另一個值得一去的藝術景觀是政府資助的上海當代藝術博物館，它位于上海市中心的東南角，略微偏遠，是由南市發(fā)電廠改造而來。門票是免費的，但我額外花了50元，觀看意大利設計團體超級工作室(Superstudio)的特別展(截至3月11日)。政府監(jiān)管的當代藝術博物館這個概念至少很有趣?？纯粗袊乃囆g家們?nèi)绾卧趪栏竦膶彶橹贫冗吘売巫咭埠苡腥ぁ?/p>

The music in Shanghai is as compelling as its art, and I saw a number of live music shows over the course of my stay. Jazz is one popular import, and I headed out one night to watch the smoking-hot Ulysses Owens Jr. Quartet at Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai — yes, that Lincoln Center. The club was swank and intimate, and the music as good as any you’ll see in New York City. A highlight was the vocalist Alicia Olatuja joining for a sultry rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.” Tickets (180 yuan) were reasonable, though the servers didn’t care much for the fact that I passed on ordering dinner and had only a Qingdao beer (55 yuan).

上海的音樂和它的藝術一樣引人注目，我在逗留期間觀看了很多現(xiàn)場音樂表演。爵士樂在中國是一種很流行的舶來品。一天晚上，我去林肯爵士樂上海中心觀看了炙手可熱的小尤利西斯·歐文四重奏樂團(Ulysses Owens Jr. Quartet)的表演——是的，這個俱樂部跟紐約的林肯中心有關系。它又時髦又親切，音樂和你在紐約能聽到的一樣棒。一個亮點是歌手艾麗西婭·奧拉圖賈(Alicia Olatuja)加入樂隊，以分外撩人的方式演唱了邁克爾·杰克遜(Michael Jackson)的《人性》(Human Nature)。門票(180元)價格合理，不過侍者沒怎么招待我，因為我沒點正餐，只點了一瓶青島啤酒(55元)。

On a different end of the spectrum was a Leonard Bernstein retrospective I attended at the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1879 as the Shanghai Public Band and billed as Asia’s oldest orchestra. The conductor, Zhang Jiemin, exhibited masterful control, and she led the orchestra through a program that included the overture to “Candide” (one of my favorites), as well as Bernstein’s “Jeremiah” symphony. The 80-yuan tickets were sold out when I went to the box office, so I took the next best at 180 yuan. (Upon arriving at the symphony hall, for what it’s worth, I noticed plenty of scalpers looking to unload tickets.)

另一方面，我觀看了上海交響樂團帶來的萊昂納德·伯恩斯坦(Leonard Bernstein)的回顧演出。該樂團成立于1879年，原名上海公共樂隊，被譽為亞洲最古老的管弦樂隊。指揮張杰敏表現(xiàn)出高超的控制力，帶領樂團演奏了一組曲目，其中包括《贛第德》(Candide)序曲(我最喜歡的樂曲之一)，以及伯恩斯坦的《耶利米交響曲》(Jeremiah)。我趕到售票處時，80元的票已經(jīng)賣光了，所以我買了第二佳選擇：180元的票(到達音樂廳時，我注意到很多黃牛在兜售演出票)。

On my last day, I indulged a touristic whim and headed to the observation deck at the top of the Shanghai Tower (180 yuan). There are a number of interesting things about the building itself — an innovative rain-collecting system reduces water consumption by 25 percent, for example — which helped make up for the hazy, less-than-stellar view at the top. At 2,073 feet tall, it’s the second-tallest building in the world, behind the Burj Khalifa.

在上海的最后一天，我聽任自己突發(fā)奇想，去了上海中心大廈頂端的觀景臺(180元)。置身塔頂，只能看到一片模模糊糊、不甚迷人的景觀，不過這棟建筑本身有許多有趣之處——比如說，創(chuàng)新的雨水收集系統(tǒng)可以減少該樓25%的用水量——這多少彌補了一點遺憾。這棟大廈高達2073英尺(約合632米)，是世界第二高建筑，僅次于哈里發(fā)塔(Burj Khalifa)。

As if sensing impending disappointment, our elevator operator proudly pointed out that the elevator we were riding, at 45 m.p.h., was in fact the fastest in the world. In Shanghai, the competitive fire always burns.

電梯操作員仿佛感覺到我們的失望情緒，于是驕傲地指出，我們乘坐的電梯時速高達每小時45英里(約合72公里)，是世界上最快的電梯。在上海，競爭之火永遠在燃燒。