Small Talk With ...

Kiss me, I’m Scottish
There are few places in Shanghai that offer the Irish a beacon of (green) light like O'Malley's. In honor of St. Patrick's Day we sat down with Tam Lang, O'Malley's manager.

Do you believe in leprechauns? I think so-yeah. I've at least been looking for their rainbows for years. Are there any in Shanghai? [Laughs] One or two but I wouldn't want to publish who they are. Are you one? I've got over 100 kilos on me, so I don't think I can be. If a leprechaun came to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with you, what would you do? He would drink for free all day. Should we bother asking what he'd be drinking? Only Guinness of course. You know, this means you're going to have lots of "leprechauns" coming to O'Malley's on the 17th looking for some free drinks. We'll have to make them recite limericks or something. Since we're in China, do you know how to say "Happy St. Patrick's Day" in Chinese? [Laughs at us again] I don't speak a word of Chinese. It must end in kuai le though. So what's your favorite part of the celebrations? Everyone pretending to be Irish. Americans are the worst, they all come in here saying their great-great grandfather was Irish. We're all pretty much mutts nowadays anyway though. Have any good stories from the past celebrations? Once there was a Japanese woman who was all bright red and got up and started singing Danny Boy-that was pretty classic. She was almost taking her clothes off by the end. For all those unfamiliar with the tale, who's St. Patrick? He's the Patron Saint of Ireland-a monk or a priest I think. Who did...­ Yeah, I don't know, I'm actually Scottish.

Everyone Is Talking About ..Tear It Up or, Down

Is exchanging bridges for tunnels going to end in exchanging The Bund for Venice?

As many are already aware, Shanghai's "No. 1 Curve" (no, not Gong Li in Miami Vice) is being torn down and the Waibadu Bridge is being dismantled, reinforced and then rebuilt in a form similar to its previous incarnation. We do remember our first "whoa, I've never come this way before" trip on the No. 1 Curve (interpret how you will), but the loss of the Waibadu is a bit more striking-the steel bridge is over 100 years old. The upgrades are intended to help restore the Bund to the stroller haven it was in yesteryear but, like any good restoration, the risks are also great.

With over 30 historic buildings lining the Bund, the plan to redirect traffic through an underwater tunnel has some worried about the side effects. Engineers have reassured the public that they are carefully monitoring land subsisdence around the Bund with five to six monitoring spots situated around each building to ensure that the heritage sites don't, well, sink. Given the city's experience in building tunnels, we have confidence in the abilities of the city's engineers to prevent the Bund from taking a swim in the Huangpu. But, what if it did?

Being termed a sinking city has worked well for Venetian tourism. The "saved" Waibadu Bridge could make a nice artificial reef for Huangpu river fish. The promenade becomes shorefront property and tourists would have a great vantage point of Neo Venice from the Shanghai Center, the newest member of the Triple Compliance, an organization of buildings which follow Shanghai's unofficial credo, "Build me a tower to rule all towers." Doomsday talk aside, you may want to take a gander at the Bund as is before it changes, if you can actually circumvent the traffic bottlenecks on the Zhapu Lu and Wusong Lu bridges to get there, that is.

News You Can Use

Get 'Em While They're Hot
For those camping out with us at the Shanghai International Literary Festival, you'll be pleased to know that there are tickets being sold at the door for most remaining events. And for those perennially low on funds (read: students) student tickets are also now available for ￥10 with a student ID card. City Weekend is live blogging the sessions–check out live updates and podcasts on the Shanghai Book Club blog.

Relaxation Hongqiao-Style
Fans of Banyan Tree Spa may be pleased to hear that a branch of the spa brand, Angsana Spa, has extended to Hongqiao. The fourth of its kind in China, the spa emphasizes natural elements in its treatments such as flowers and fruits. Get pampered at 1/F, House 4, Lane 118 Ziyun Lu.

Pudong, King of Patties
When Pudong Terminal 2 opens at the end of March, a representative from the American fast food kingdom will be among the roughly 10 restaurant outlets to grace its halls. Burger King will be joined by several Chinese-style restaurants as well as Japanese, Korean and Italian outlets.

Unagi Rises
If you're a fan of unagi, you may pay a higher price for it next time you're craving Japanese food. Seems eel is on everyone's menu nowadays, making it a hot commodity for illegal operators, depleting the eel population. This may cause the price of your next unagi role to increase–opt for cucumber instead.