Plus, Lezil and I were to embark on our longest bike journey yet – a 18 kilometres round trip from our home to The Wharf right beside Shanghai’s Huangpu River. DAFF (Design Art & Fashion Fair) was holding its spring 2013 event. The bi-annual weekend gathering is where many of Shanghai’s expat creative enterprises set up shop to promote, sell, network and generally have a good time. It was considerably overcast but at the least the temperature was in the high 20s making it the ideal T-shirt wearing day.

Having given our legs a good 35 minute work-out, we secured our bikes by the Cool Docks railings and walked the one block to where we could hear music being pumped out by one of the DAFF DJs. The distinctive fluorescent pink of DAFF’s logo was at eye level everywhere you looked.

Over 80 different brands across a number of industries – fashion, food, hair, interior design, art – all lined the edges of the normally-disused river dock area. The city’s impressive skyscrapers just on the other side in Pudong were deceptively close, including the fast-growing Shanghai Tower. Slated to be finished in 2014, it will be the tallest in China (632 metres) and will be the second tallest in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Meanwhile down at sea level, we went for a wander throughout the entire DAFF grounds. We stopped by a number of unique boutique stalls, many of which had one-of-a-kind designs. One in particular caught my attention and that was of Spaniard Celia Bernardo whose bold use of different cultural prints was eye-catching indeed. Her Celia B range had a number of custom-made items of clothing especially using material designs from different parts of Africa.

Stopping at another table, I read the slogan “Come play with us” alongside the company’s logo Playroom which used hand cuffs for the double “o” in “room”. It took me a split second to register what the angle was which turned out to be products for sexual wellness and pleasure. This caught my curiosity. Playroom co-founder Andrew McGregor wandered over to where Lezil and I were standing. Originally from Australia, he told us he had moved from New York with his Chinese-American girlfriend CiCi to set up shop in Shanghai six months ago. I asked him how did it work, marketing sex-products in a seemingly conservative country like China?

By now we had pretty much passed through all the vendors and had arrived at the fair end of the dock to where the food stands were. Why is it that one moment you are not hungry, but the mere whiff of sizzling outdoor food being cooked suddenly sets off hunger pangs? You could literally country-hop with cuisine from all corners of the globe on offer. We eventually settled for Haya’s Israeli Cuisine where we wolfed down a tasty lamb kebab of which I generously spread some kicking chilli sauce on. Owner Tzachi (from Israel) was manning the stall and he was surprised when I told him that we had never come across his restaurant before which he said he had been running in Shanghai now for seven years. Handing over my Israeli lamb kebab, he gave us a discount voucher to come and visit his eatery located downtown.

Just before leaving DAFF, we dropped by our friends at Studio Ebony who were busy readying their models for a fashion hair walk around the event.

They had a number of hair products and actual hair pieces out on display to promote their services for African/Caribbean community residing in Shanghai. And of course, their invited hair stylist from the US (Ms Mikko) was in her element as she jazzed up various hair dos as she only knows how.

Biking back to our home, we had a quick turn around and we were soon cycling up town to a little complex known as Anken Green.

It’s a converted six-floor building which now houses a number of upstart and established enterprises. Right at the top there’s an endearing rooftop area with a large-sized vegetable garden, outdoor decking and a renovated hall. The latter was the setting for the much-advertised and much-talked about play Black Is The Color Of My Voice.

The one-woman show is performed and written by American Apphia Campbell who has been working on the concept for several years but only really sat down since last September to piece together, what has to be said, something that has become a very hot topic today. An official movie of Nina Simone’s life is in the works with Latina Black actress Zoe Saldaña (Avatar/Pirates of the Caribbean) cast as the lead role. In the US it has caused all sorts of controversy not least because of Zoe’s apparent unlikeness (appearance-wise) to the late great Jazz singer, but also because of the lengths the movie’s producers have gone to adapt her look adding in a reported larger nose.   

No adversity was felt in Shanghai to the staging of Nina’s life story where we sat with our good friend Deji right on the front row of that cosy converted rooftop theatre. We were to witness Nina Simone’s life according to its script creator Apphia Campbell. The story focuses on ‘Mena Bordeaux’, a fictional character created by Apphia and loosely based around Simone’s journey. The first half was an exquisite display of Campbell’s uncanny way of playing several characters where Mena ends up in Liberia (West Africa) as she locks herself in a room, facing her past demons whilst yearning to free her future-self.

She reminisces about her late father and mother, her times at Church and the preacher’s messages. Growing up as a young black girl with an exceptional piano-playing talent soon began to open her eyes towards the prejudice that existed because of the color of her skin. Apphia portrayed each character in such a defined way that you soon forgot it was just her up there. And this wasn’t just a play full of dialogue but, pulling out her secret weapon, Apphia peppered her performance with various musical numbers, again inspired by songs from Nina Simone’s collection.

Her haunting delivery of “I Put A Spell On You” was spine-tingling as she stood in a long purple dress, iconic green head wrap and a single spot-light where you could almost feel Nina Simone’s very spirit in that room. All around me, I could hear nothing but praise for Apphia’s work during the short 10 minute interval as people took time to digest the vibrant story-telling performance of the first half.

Up until then, the play had focused primarily on Mena’s personal and artistic journey. Whereas the second half highlighted more her involvement with the American Civil Rights movement. There was an excellent sound insert of various radio reports featuring speeches from the likes of Dr Martin Luther King and President John F. Kennedy.

Apphia dug deep as she acted out Mena’s despair and anger towards the death of Dr King and the inequality that ostracized African Americans during that time. None one in the audience moved an inch. The realness of the scene was simply sublime.

The play reached its rightful crescendo with the number “Feeling Good” seeing Mena belting out the hit song, arms extended wide towards her adoring fans. The figurative curtain fell. The end. What a ride. I had seen Apphia act in last year’s Blue Lane Productions of No Exit. And clearly, she stepped up what was already then, an impressive performance. There’s one more weekend showing in Shanghai before she takes the whole thing over to the Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York during the summer. All-singing, all-acting, all-writing the question begs, what’s the next story to have Apphia’s magical theatrical touch?

“You are so laid-back, down-to-earth and level-headed,” I commented to Olympic 400 metres champion Kirani James. From where we were seated, there was an impressive view of Shanghai’s athletic stadium. A number of world class athletes were in town for the annual Diamond League competition. The one day track and field event had ended a couple of hours ago and now a small number of us had gathered at the top floor bar of the Regal Shanghai East Asia Hotel (yes, a rather long name) for an evening hosted by the Grenadian Embassy in China.

And of course, being Grenada’s first ever medal-winning Olympian at last year’s London 2012 Olympics Kirani James was guest of honour. It was a small invite-only cocktail reception with Charge D’Affaires Mr. Richard Nixon from the Grenadian Embassy overseeing proceedings.

A number of Caribbean students from various Shanghai university campuses were also present, many of whom we already knew from previous social events. That added to the friendly atmosphere where Kirani sat with our group and happily engaged in our lively conversations.

That impressed me. I have come across other well-known ‘celebrities’ in my previous working life and more often than not, a diva-ish mentality along with touch of snobbery tended to linger around these so-called personalities. Not with Kirani. If anything, he was somewhat timid at first but with Lezil sat right next to him they spent practically the whole evening chatting about his first impressions of Shanghai, his sporting career and life back home on his Caribbean island of Grenada.

Even his management/coaching team were also a reflection of his no-nonsense attitude. Americans Renaldo Nehemiah (manager) and Harvey Glance (coach) come from a glorious sporting background and now they form the core team which has contributed to the rise and success of Kirani’s career to date. Renaldo himself became the first man to run the 110m hurdles in under 13 seconds and pretty much dominated the sport during the late 1970s. Harvey’s discipline was the 100m – at one time equalling the world record (1976) and taking home the gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Upon hearing Lezil’s distinct South African accent, coach Harvey soon broached the subject of recently disgraced paralympian Oscar Pistorius (aka the blade runner). Harvey told us how Kirani and Oscar had trained a few times together and not forgetting the media attention-grabbing shot from the 2012 Olympics when both athletes swapped their name bibs after Kirani bagged the gold in the 400m final. Harvey said that to this day he still can’t believe that Oscar had got caught up in that alleged murder mess. According to Harvey, he was one of the nicest guys on the circuit, always upbeat and smiling. I guess we have a few months still to wait before the whole case (and the media circus that goes along with it) comes to life again.

Having sampled some Grenadian rum, downed a few glasses of Chilean red wine and swayed to the reggae and soca music playing over the bar’s speaker system we bid our farewells to Mr. Nixon thanking him for organising a fun evening. (Also, thanking our lovely friend Nicoleen for the hook up!) Riding the elevator down to the hotel lobby from the top 12th floor, Renaldo and Harvey were also turning in for the night. I noticed Harvey’s huge signet ring which he said he got to commemorate the 2008 Beijing Olympics of which he was Team USA’s assistant coach for. In a few hours’ time they both had return flights back to the States. It was a real delight to have met them all. And yes, Kirani James won the 400m that day with a time of 44.02 seconds. USA’s LaShawn Merrit came second (44.60) and the Dominican Republic’s Luguelín Santos in third (45.11). 

That was Saturday night. Sunday and it was time to welcome another newcomer to Shanghai.  Her name – Ms Mikko. As part of Studio Ebony’s month of workshops and specialist consultation sessions, the Shanghai-based Afro hair salon had invited over renowned American cosmetologist and hair professional Ms Mikko who hails from Dudleys – a leading brand in hair care and products in the US.  As big as her reputation is, her personality was even bigger.

Barely walking through the salon’s front doors and within seconds Ms Mikko was cracking all manner of jokes about her Chinese experience thus far. Living in China over an extended period of time, you almost forget the obvious differences to living in the West and it’s not until a fresh outsider steps in, do you realise that actually you have unintentionally become just that little bit more Chinese in your ways.

It was late afternoon and Ms Mikko was on her last client of the day. She was busying herself on a hair-curling job. Sitting under her magical hands was German/Tunisian Sarah. She mentioned that she had been to other very expensive high-profile salons in Shanghai over the year and half she has lived here and none were able to produce the results she was looking for. “They just don’t get my hair,” she said. It was her first time visiting Studio Ebony and she excitedly glanced at the huge wall mirror while Ms Mikko was unfastening her curling tongs and expertly loosening each curl. The result was instantaneous. The curls were defined with plenty of volume and bounce.

“This is what I have always imagined,” tailed off Sarah holding a small mirror with one hand and using the other to gently scrunch the loose curls. Ms Mikko couldn’t have been prouder. There went another extremely happy customer out the door.

Apart from dealing with clients at Studio Ebony, Ms Mikko will be holding a series of workshops to cover a number of topics from examining the hair effects of hard water damage (a big problem in Shanghai) to healthy hair maintenance and understanding hair growth and curls which is all slated for the beginning of June.

Back home she owns two salons, is a beauty industry educator, comes with over 23 years of first-hand experience and holds a number of recognised qualifications in different fields. It’s safe to say that Studio Ebony have pulled out the big guns. As for her impromptu stand-up comedy rants, well that something that just can’t be taught.

I don’t think I have ever been to a city as ‘migrant’ as Shanghai. In the last 12 months we’ve said goodbye to more people than in all our three years residing in China. Now it was the turn of Matt, our German buddy. He was up and leaving to go back home and he was marking the occasion with a charity event in honour of GAT – Global Alpha Training. It’s a worlwide Christian-based organisation helping local churches to set up Alpha courses, which are there to provide a platform for people to be introduced to the faith.

He had hired out the swanky 2nd floor of an art gallery by Shanghai’s Suzhou Creek area. His goodbye party was to be done in 1920s style in honour of one of Shanghai’s earlier boom periods. All proceeds from the ticketed event were to go towards the work that GAT does. OK, so Lezil and I don’t exactly own any vintage gear as such, but half the fun was digging around our closet and get to as close a look as possible to the period.

Lezil had various pre-event costume changes until she finally settled with an above-the-knee black number and matching shawl. I went for a pair of brash purple trousers, white shirt, bow tie and an off-white jacket to complete my transformation (oh, and not forgetting lashings of hair gel to slick my mop back!).

We had arrived over an hour late, but thankfully the first band (a local church based one) was just getting started. They all looked the part with band members in matching hats and the accompanying three lady dancers out front in traditional Chinese Qipaos. Canapés of meat and seafood varieties were regularly served by the waiting staff as people chi-chinged their wine glasses and posed for photos which would no doubt end up on some social media platform later.

The intro band completed their set and Matt was on stage to greet his attendees and formally kick off the evening.

Matt’s background is in the auto-industry but clearly his passion was with the music. Over the years spent in Shanghai, he had become well acquainted with a number of musicians, particularly within the city’s Jazz circuit. Tonight, he had called in the best of the best making it feel almost like an unofficial music festival, but with that exclusivity of only a couple of a hundred of people in the venue to witness such a musical feast.

First up was one of Cotton Club’s diamond performers – Denise. When she speaks, she has this irresistible low raspy edge to her voice. Transfer that one stage and boy, dynamite is the result.

She weaved her way through a couple of more folky/rock numbers before ending up with a good old foot stomping  rendition of “Oh when the saints go marching in…”. She absolutely destroyed that stage (figuratively speaking!).

The evening followed with some stand-up comedy by Drew, from Kung Fu Komedy – mainland China’s first and only full time comedy club. The 15 minutes set touched on marriage (comparing it to playing Nintendo Super Mario) and observations of life in Shanghai (including a reference to various Sesame St characters and who they represent in real life). All in all, pretty funny stuff. 

Matt surprised us all by jumping on the keyboard and singing a couple of songs. He had especially written a multi lingual goodbye song which was touching. The other main part of the evening was the auction which admittedly a lot of us never knew about beforehand. First out the block were a couple of ladies rings both retailing at around RMB 1,200 (£120) and went for pretty much the asking price. Already, these were out of our league. Talk about being unprepared.

And the price range just kept escalating finally reaching its pinnacle, to which I turned to Lezil and asked “How much for that Chanel bag?”. The limited edition accessory was retailed at RMB 80,000 (£8,000) and the starting bid at RMB 20,000 (£2,000). It became a real battle between two lady bidders with one eventually walking away with her prize at RMB 46,000 (£4,600). All I could say was, people in Shanghai still have money!

I jealously looked at all those cyclists zipping past our apartment window and I declared to Lezil that May was the month to finally get our bikes. All around the city there are bike shops. A local friend even suggested we pay a visit to one of a couple of so-called bike markets (translate: stolen bikes for sale). Whilst we could have picked up an incredible deal (according to him, he paid RMB 200 for a bike that really cost near to RMB 1,500) – it just didn’t sit right with me, gaining pleasure out of someone else’s misfortune.

As we weren’t that far from the main shopping mall at Zhongshan Park, I suggested we venture into the huge Carrefour supermarket there. Admittedly, this was not what I had in mind. I romanticised about finding a unique and obscure bike place to pick up a one-of-a-kind model at an unbelievable price. But budget was the leading factor and I had been told that supermarkets arguably offer the best deals (apart from online, of course).

I knew straight where to go to as I had walked past the supermarket’s bike section countless times without a second glance. This time, it had my undivided attention. A dedicated staff member was there to talk you through the various prices and styles.

I was adamant on having something more classic looking and Lezil wanted one that was more compact and easier to manoeuvre. And to my pleasant surprise we found both. And, I might add, at a killer price.

Our two chosen bikes also happen to be a Phillips make – an originally British-made product which was then taken over by the Raleigh Bicycle Company. Nowadays, the brand has been licensed out to different territories and China now produces its own national line. The famed Phillips badge with the motto “renowned the world over” was proudly stuck to the front bars of both bikes. After taking it for a quick spin inside the supermarket (which was interesting to do!) and securing the seat height and bike locks, we were at the payout counter handing our cash over. Total price for two new bikes including front baskets, bike bells and reinforced locks – RMB 900 (£90).

All I could think about was “freedom at last”. Just to be able to jump on our bikes and go, was a liberating feeling. And we wasted no time. A few hours later and we were pedalling our way through the small French Concession streets in our area to meet some friends outside the Hengshan Cinema. Built some 60 odd years ago, the outside had been lovingly restored to its original classic façade. With three screens, the largest holding 896 seats, the wide foyer was packed with people all keen to watch the new Iron Man 3 release.

The 7:30pm screening was a full house as we slowly filtered through the small entrance into the main Screen 1. This third installment of the Iron Man series had unprecedented advertising in China thanks, in part, to Beijing based film production company’s DMG Entertainment involvement in co-producing the project.

Also, like all foreign films official screened in China, it has to pass the government’s ‘OK’ on a number of items on their cultural checklist, often resulting in altered storylines, scenes cut out all together or not being shown at all (like Django).

Thankfully the Chinese version of Iron Man 3 didn’t have any major omissions but rather a somewhat out-of-place 5 minutes addition which featured a rather bland conversation (all in Mandarin) between Dr Wu (played by Chinese veteran actor Wang Xueqi) and his surgery assistant played by immensely popular actress Fan Bingbing.

There were a also a couple of scenes shot with Iron Man entertaining a bunch of Chinese school kids before jetting his way up to the sky. At the very end of the film, after the credits had finished, all we were given as a simple line on-screen with the words “Tony Stark will be back…”- as opposed to the extra ‘Tony Stark therapy session’ skit shown in the West.

Iron Man 3 has already set a record in China for the biggest opening day takings at RMB 130 million ($21 million). This is a sure sign that China’s box office continues to grow at break neck speed. China is now the second biggest film market (after the US) standing at a whopping $2.7billion annually with a reported 10 cinemas a day being built.

Multi-coloured strands of hair lay strewn across the boutique floor. At one end of the shop was a make-up artist readying a model with her final touches. Right opposite, a stylist was busy sculpting a fluorescent pink hair piece with razor-sharp angles followed by lashings of hair spray to keep the new style in place. These were the artistic preparations from Studio Ebony. The one-of-a-kind Afro Hair salon first open its doors in Shanghai last November and today was their first foray into a fashion event.

F.Y.E.S.T.A. (Forever Young Extravaganza of Style and Arts), now in its fourth showing, was set up by French entrepreneur Sylvie Wen who has a desire to provide Shanghai’s emerging artistic community a platform for showcasing a variety of concepts and designs.

Taking place at the pedestrian zone of Jiashan Market, the monthly event recently moved to Café Sambal, a Malaysian bar/restaurant, taking full advantage of the venue’s spacious rooftop terrace.

The place was buzzing as people socialised and meandered between stalls which included unique clothing wear and accessories and a couple of foodie tables - a scrumptious display of Brazilian hand-made chocolate balls (Effa’s Brazilian Treats) and food from the motherland (Eat Ethio).

That was our dinner right there. On our plates was a good helping of Minshet Abish Wot (beef stew) with Tikil Gomen (cabbage, carrot, potato stew) and Misir Wot (lentil stew) – all loving prepared and spiced by Ethiopian native Helina. Helping alongside her was Fatima (Morocco) who, between them, were doing a roaring trade and a couple of hours later had completely sold out.

Walking in between the different groups of moving people, you literally drifted past a different language being spoken each time. And, that international audience was about to feast its eyes on some of the outspoken Afro hair creations courtesy of Studio Ebony.

Founders Bryonie Richards and Camille Lindo (both Jamaican nationals) were frantically looking over the models and tidying up any loose ends just before the show was to begin. Even Lezil got in on the act by assisting with straightening some of the hair designs. We realised the hair used wasn’t 100% human hair so she had to be super careful with the flat iron’s heat setting and how long she tended to the hair strands without risking burning them.

There was certainly a lot of curiosity bouncing about as this was to be a first for an event in Shanghai – displaying African/Caribbean hairstyles by a Caribbean-owned salon. The models, too, were an international affair with countries like Gabon, the US, Antigua and China all represented. Each came with their style-design name which was as colourful as the hair pieces themselves: Rastaman Vibrations, Flower Power, Cleopatra’s Creation, Cocktail Beret, Ebony Dragon. Café Sambal’s main restaurant area was packed wall-to-wall with people who, in turn, created a kind of human catwalk passage for the models to parade through.

Dragging ourselves out of our apartment, we made our way to a downtown meeting point. We were headed to Shanghai’s Qingpu district (a far suburb) where a cluster of farms grew a variety of produce including its famed strawberries. There are a number of public bus routes that can take you there, but knowing that we would have been tired and the fact that going the public transport option would have taken longer, we paid the little extra to join a day tour. RMB 115 (£10) got us a return trip on a private bus, access to the farm for picking, a lunch and an afternoon visit to one of Shanghai’s historic water villages. Not bad.

The trip, in fact, was organised by a small private Chinese language school called SN Mandarin. Geared towards their staff and students, I had dropped them an email a week ago asking if we could tag along which they graciously accepted. We were about thirty people in total on that bus as we set off, west bound towards the outskirts of Shanghai.

Little over an hour later and the roads had become small tarmac country lanes with plenty of land used for growing veggies. One of the farm workers came out to meet us in her bright pink scooter to lead the bus to the right patch. We piled out, thankful to stretch our legs.

The rain had eased to a lingering drizzle which just made everything feel wet-to-the-touch. Walking about 10 minutes through the fields we finally arrived at the strawberry section. To keep them guarded against the cold, they were all sheltered in makeshift plastic greenhouses which did offer a welcome escape from the outside elements.

The farm owners enthusiastically handed us a basket each with a box inside for placing the strawberries in. There was an abundance of fruit everywhere and all pretty big sizes too. Our group leader, Bella, had told us that the farm prides itself on organic growing methods and said that we could literally pick the fruit and eat it straight.

Knowing my stomach sensitivity, I avoided the temptation to do so. This was actually the first time I had seen strawberry growing plants up close and it was fascinating to see the different stages of the fruit from a flower to a tiny little green cone-shape, to its changing white colour and then the eventually blood-red fruit at the end of its evolving process.

We must have spent a good 25 minutes bending over and gently snapping the fruit off its vine using our thumb nail. Once we had our boxes fairly filled up, outside the greenhouse were some scales where you had your fruit weighed.

Between Lezil and I, we harvested about 3.5 kilos of fresh strawberries which came to a bargain RMB 59 (£5.90) in total. With our boxes sealed up, we then followed our group trail past a small river and small houses to the main farmhouse which was to be our lunch venue.

Because of the recent meat scares, the only carnivorous choice given was stewed pork which we didn’t eat any way. The rest of the dishes brought out were all from the farm which included spring onions, carrots, green peppers, beans, cabbage and potatoes.

There was also a delicious fried bamboo selection, a fresh water seasoned fish, tofu in a garlic sauce and, the Chinese stable, rice. Oh, and a plate of strawberries for dessert! The dwelling was a simple affair with our dining area opening up to a concrete courtyard which had smaller houses and an outdoor kitchen.

The school staff had organised a simple ice-breaker game which involved the popping of a balloon. Inside each balloon was either a prize or a forfeit. I got a slip with a prize on it (a Chinese language book), whereas Lezil drew the short straw and had to do a forfeit. She was told to pull five different faces for the camera. She was a pro as she put her years of stage experience to good use.

Bellies full, we briskly walked back to the bus. It was late afternoon and the temperature was beginning to drop. Once inside the warmth of the bus, it was a 40 minute drive to Zhujajiao – one of Shanghai’s prime tourist spots. Up until now, we hadn’t had the chance (or the time!) to make the trip out to this appealing water village.

It didn’t disappoint. The main north entrance area was deceptively small as once you got past the main canal area, the whole village became an enticing run of tiny alleys and hidden water canals. The bad weather even worked to our advantage as the place was very quiet with visitors.

The village is said to date back more than 1,700 years with its principle stone bridge – Fangsheng – being the longest and the highest giving a 360 degree view of the entire area.

Popularity has it double effect. On the one hand, the village has benefitted from the influx of tourist money. On the other, commercialisation can erode the appeal of an ancient historic site. The winding lanes were pretty much a collection of shops or independent coffee outlets and restaurants. These eateries were a labour of love as each one had its unique décor which many were like walking into someone’s private home. Very cosy and touching small details.

I can imagine in nicer weather, the open deck sections of these places would be where you would while away the time with a nice drink and watch the Chinese water gondolas drift by. There were a few out on the water that day, but we didn’t fancy sitting still in the cold and we had a limited time frame in the village itself.

Before long, it was back to Zhujajiao’s main entrance for a final group photo brandishing the school’s emblem printed on a flag. The bus trip back to the city centre was a silent one as everyone pretty much was out for the count.

Friday, for many, is the day to start unwinding in anticipation for the following two days off. And the Friday just gone also happened to be my birthday, so as you can imagine I was in an exceptionally celebratory mood that day. It was still a work day, but I made sure that one of my final classes of the day (a weekly ‘English Corner’ for around 30 students) would somehow incorporate a ‘marking of the occasion’.

I made it blatantly obvious by writing on the board “Birthdays” and there followed an hour’s theme which included bringing out a pre-bought chocolate birthday cake and inviting other April babies on to the stage with me.

As much as they were students, a number of them had also become good friends (the plus side of teaching adults). 9pm and I wrapped up my final class for the week.

At home, I dumped my teaching gear. Lezil was all glammed up and ready to go. Our night was to be at the recently refurbished Geisha club. Reggie, a close friend and a prominent DJ on the Shanghai scene, had organised a charity night. Clubbers came out in force (I was told over 700 people) spread over two floors. MAD logos were everywhere ensuring that we knew the whole purpose of the evening was about “Making A Difference”.

It’s a non-profit organisation set up by Reggie (also known as DJ Verse@tille) and through his team’s tireless efforts, they have helped a number of charities both in China and back in his native South Africa.

Lezil and I being the early birds, we managed to take advantage of the clubs generous offer of 8 drinks for RMB 100 ($15). Some friends had already arrived and as the place was still warming up (and the music not too loud), it gave us a chance to catch up without losing our voices in the process. Slowly but surely over the next hour, the rest of our friends trickled in by which time the first floor, where we were stationed, had upped the tempo with some banging Hip Hop club beats.

Lezil and I don’t usually do the whole club thing. We opt more for live music venues with a good band. But once in a while it’s fun to get buck wild (all above board!). The top third floor had started to fill up around midnight where DJ Envoy (another friend, Brent) was spicing things further with all the latest and greatest from the islands.

The Caribbean and African massive had come out in force and the atmosphere was pumping. From Bashment to Reggae to Soca and even some UK Funky House – the dancefloor was packed as people booty-shaked to familiar beats. These were my ‘Dancehall Shanghai Shakers’. I was in my total element here. 

Mentioning this to a friend in passing, his response was “I’ll take you to my uncle friend’s store. They will look after you…”. That’s what I love about life in China in general. If someone is remotely connected to a business or industry, and they know you, chances are you’ll not only getting the pick of the bunch, but at a good price too. Call it a type of ‘guanxi’ – a connection or relationship. It’s an almost unspoken rule where by two parties look to do favours for each other, mostly seen when doing business in China.

Well, this particular vague-type-of guanxi (cue my friend Jening) took us to a nondescript apartment block in downtown Shanghai. Pressing for the 8th floor, the elevator silently ascended and I curiously asked Jening where exactly we were heading as, minutes before, we had passed a small shopping complex en route to the building we were now in. “To the glasses store,” he responded. Not at all what I was expecting.

Sure enough at the end of the short corridor on the 8th floor was a glass door entrance still with its residential door bell for entering.

Once buzzed in, the once-before-apartment had been converted to a well-lit frames-and-shades store with practically every luxury brand on show. Gulp. I was worried that Jening had mistaken us as uber-rich folk by bringing us to a high-end store, with the inevitable high-end prices. I picked up the nearest pair of Dior sun glasses. Price tag: RMB 3,000 ($ 480). Already my mind was coming up with all sorts of excuses to put off any purchase that day (and to eventually prevent a future re-visit).

Trying to sound as casual as possible I posed the question “Where are the lower priced glasses?” I was shown to the far wall. Armani, Gucci, Chanel all adorned any number of differently styled frames. For those brands, the word ‘budget’ is a blatant swear word.

Remembering Jening’s initial comment about “being looked after” – I bit the bullet and called him over. “Um, these frames are all wonderful but they are a bit more expensive than we were expecting to spend.” (I went for a more tactful open statement instead of a direct “How exactly will we be looked after?”) “Don’t worry, I get you a good price, this is my uncle’s good friend,” he said with a massive grin. Not wanting to be over bearing, but needing a concrete starting figure, I grabbed a pair of nearby Burberry’s which had RMB 2,000 ($320) marked on them. “OK, but how about these? How much?” I said handing him over the glasses.

He disappeared into the office next door. A bit of cost-bartering followed and he re-emerged. “You can pay around RMB 600 ($95),” he told me. And that, he continued, would include the eye test and the manufacturing of the lenses.

Now that I knew that some of these beautiful people brands were within our financial grasp I was going to make sure we tried on as many pairs to find that exact fit for her.

In the end, it was a toss-up between two strong contenders – a bold white Armani with slick lines versus a jet black Marc Jacobs with soft rimmed edges. Although I was trying to convince my wife to go with an outspoken fashion statement (namely the Armani), she opted for the latter MJs as these were more adaptable (as she put it). The optician on duty looked barely over twelve years old, but despite his deceiving youthful looks, he showed in depth knowledge ensuring that Lezil’s eyes were tested thoroughly. An hour later and her new pair of Marc Jacobs were ready to be taken home.

Final cost: RMB 450 ($70), down from the original price of RMB 1,700 ($270). And yes, before some of you sceptics get your claws out, these were the real deal imported in from Europe.

I texted my boss that morning telling her that I was too poorly to come into teach as I had a high fever,  a runny nose and was feeling nauseous. She immediately responded, “…go to the hospital. You know in Shanghai we have bird flu now…”. I wave of panic came over me. Sure enough, looking up the symptoms online I ticked all the boxes.

It’s not been a good year so far in terms of food safety in China. First things kicked off with the catastrophe of Biblical proportions where thousands of dead pig carcasses were being hauled out of Shanghai’s Huang Pu river (a source of drinking water of the city).

I decided to put positive thinking into practise by telling myself that in a few hours I would be fine. On the contrary, despite having slept the whole afternoon, drank loads of warm lemon water with  honey, I was feeling progressively worse. From our bed, I feebly called out to Lezil asking her if we could go to the hospital to get to the bottom of this sickness. It was a short 10 minute taxi ride to Ruijin Hospital – widely seen as Shanghai’s best. They do have a foreign section but at an overly priced premium. We had already registered as patients before, so it was pretty straight forward using the local facilities.

Unfortunately my Chinese vocab doesn’t quite extend to explaining specific medical symptoms.

Upon entering the emergency reception area, the place wasn’t overly busy. All around were warning signs for the H7N9 virus and how best to prevent catching it. The old lady on the desk spoke zero English and all I could say in the Chinese was that I was sick and then I pointed at the Bird Flu poster.

She must have thought I was mad. I called up my boss (who kindly offered to help translated if I needed it). Handing the phone over, the masked-receptionist chatted for a few moments ending her conversation with “Wo ming bai le…” (Oh, I see….). I got handed a thermometer and was told to keep it in my mouth for 3 minutes. My boss was still on the other end as I got the low down on what would happen next.

Hanging up I returned to the reception desk and handed back the thermometer. It read 37C – normal. So far, so good. But I still felt very weak and had the sensation of wanting to throw up.

She booked me in with the doctor for a closer look. Unlike some previous experiences in emergency section of British hospitals, here I was seen to very quickly.

A brief check of my breathing with a stethoscope the doctor on duty asked that I go for a blood test.

Again, it was a speedy process and I literally waited no more than 20 minutes to get the results back. Various components showed that I had a very high cell count which, the doctor, later told me that I did indeed have a virus but that thankfully it was not of the H7N9 variety.

Phew! I came away with a couple of packets of antibiotics to take over the next few days. Job done.

Yes, this may come across as being overly cautious, but when you are in close proximity with people who tend to not cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze (especially not nice in a packed metro train) – it’s definitely better to be safe than sorry. Shanghai’s municipalities have shut down the trade of all live poultry until the virus is contained. Over 110,000 chickens so far have been culled and the streets around where we live – the giant bird cages are uncharacteristically empty.

According to a local newspaper, Shanghai gets through around 130 million birds a year (that’s just ONE city). Times that by the countless other mega-to-medium sized Chinese urban sprawls and  you do wonder how the demand for meat is being kept up in a safe and sanitary way fit for human consumption.

It’s that time of year to renew our visas once more. This will herald the start of my fourth year in China and Lezil’s fifth. Rewind a few years back and had you asked me where I’d be in 2013, China certainly wouldn’t have figured in the equation. My perception, as with most foreigners who have never stepped foot in the country, was shaped by the western media’s obsession of packaging this humongous and extremely diverse culture into one neat little box.

But China has proven itself so much more than a communist-led government whose economy continues to forge ahead despite the global difficulties elsewhere. Most outsiders I know living here have those days where you could never imagine living anywhere else. And then come the down times when just as you think you have got to grips with all the kinks and quirks of being in a Chinese city – you long for something a bit more familiar to your pre-Asian existence.

The scary moment is when you realise your love affair is slowly coming to an end and it’s time to pack up your bags and leave. Thankfully, we haven’t arrived at that point yet. As many of you know, I have spent my time living in two cities. First was Hohhot, Inner Mongolia’s capital – a very remote part of north China with an expanse of empty grassland just north of the city telling a completely different tale to the often-portrayed crowded China.  Then followed a move further south to Shanghai – China’s so-called sparkling mainland jewel.

Here, you jostle with over 7 million people who use the city’s metro system daily. There’s a skyline endlessly punctuated with the tops of sky scrapers and a frantic pace-of-life where everyone’s out to carve a living someway somehow. Those at the top end of the income scale are spectacularly rich with more than 90 billionaires and over 370,000 millionaires quoted as residing in the city (US Dollars). The sense of entrepreneurship freely flows, within strict government boundaries of course, and the cost of living is low compared to other major hubs like London or New York.

Points against include the every-increasing air pollution, health and safety issues, employment practises (that took a while to get used to), the tightening control of the internet (no facebook, no youtube, google gets blocked regularly, VPNs are going down) and, yes, there’s the spitting. My walk to work is guaranteed to come across at least four displays of healthy throat hocking following by a grand finale of phlegm-spewing right in the middle of the sidewalk. As with anything you are exposed to continually, surprisingly I’ve become somewhat immune to it now. And so it’s on that note that I tip my glass up and say “here’s to another year in Shanghai!”

Many of you who haven’t yet to come and visit us (you know who you are!), there’s another 12 months to try and catch us while were still in this amazing country. In the meantime, feast your eyes on our very unique accommodation – known as a ‘Shanghai lane house’ which in recent years has become a hot spot for foreigners looking to embrace a bit of Chinese history in a city known more for its modernity than anything else. According to our landlady, this particular property we are living in is around 90 years old and has been in her family for about 80 of those years.

It’s got charm, its rough around the edges but for the last two years, it has become our little love nest where our neighbours have become like familiar room mates. We are the only completely inclusive apartment in the building. The rest of it is divided up into actual rooms (one family to a room) where there are two very rustic-looking kitchens and a toilet which is shared by all the tenants. As with the rest of the four-floored block, we have access to the communal garden. But to honest, it’s really only used for clothes-drying and slaughtering chickens and pigeons (our 1st floor neighbour likes his meat fresh!). We are the only foreigners there, giving us a great immersion into local living.