Fireworks Continued and other strange stuff

A note of warning: this post is kind of a mashup of a lot of random things I found interesting or strange, sorry if it seems disjointed.

So as it turns out, the symphony of car alarms and fireworks is more like a seven (or more) day contrasting with the traditional one night stand we get back home in the States. In addition to chasing fireworks we've been doing a lot of shopping, eating, and drinking, two of which I find wonderfully entertaining. Shanghai is a great place to do all three though, many parts of it seem more modern than Manhattan, so getting around to all the hot spots seems really easy, blah, travel guide info, etc. What I found really interesting was how strangely westernized Shanghai is. Not only can you find a Hooters for some desperate tacky flirtation, but you can also find people actually waiting in line for Pizza Hut:

It's like an awkward adaptation of American culture that's a little too jarring. Fortunately, you can still find normalcy outside the towering downtown, where people can carve meat on the street in comfort, without worrying how it might look.

Even China's greatest gift to tourists, fake designer bags and watches, have been pushed underground, while dealers are forced to ply their wares by showing you magazines before ushering you into their mysterious lair (I'm making a big leap here, but there are definitely lots of shady people mumbling about Lolexes and DVDs showing me catalogs).

I also got to finally visit a bathhouse (twice), although neither time I got to experience the full glory of sitting around with naked men in a big bathtub. If you want a more thorough description of that, you can look here, instead. The one I went to did have this sweet movie theater though, where passed out men watched movies and "sexy dance", while their children ran around. It's like the perfect family outing. The sexy dance is of course not a strip show (the central government would never allow such demonstrations of bourgeoisie), but something that seems to be really popular at bars and clubs everywhere. It's odd how poorly our Western culture integrates in with China. One more funny picture of two iconic symbols I never thought I'd see together: