“Beautiful chaos,” said the musician in the old French Club as he raised his vodka soda to toast my first evening in Shanghai. “That’s why I have to be in Shanghai right now.” I could not but agree. Give me Shanghai over Beijing any day. The following afternoon, as the Trumps had tea in the Forbidden City in the cosseting embrace of the Communist party, I was hurtling through the old French Concession on a swanky yellow and very capitalist bicycle. Ahead of me on a rival orange bike was the FT’s Asia Editor swishing through the rush hour — often taking it head on.
“一场美丽的混乱。”在我抵达上海的接风晚宴上，老上海French Club的乐手端起伏特加苏打水敬我时这样说道，“这就是我必须此时来上海的原因。”对于这种说法我勉强同意，但上海啥时候都要比北京强，我必须眼见为实。第二天下午，当特朗普夫妇(the Trumps)在故宫(the Forbidden City)享受中共超高接待规格的下午茶时，我则骑着时髦小黄车ofo（完全是资本主义国家的舶来品）穿梭于下班高峰时的昔日法租界(French Concession)，前面带路的则是骑着橙色摩拜单车（ofo竞争对手）的《金融时报》亚洲版主编——他总是一马当先。