Dr. Sabrina Segal

Shanghai, China is the Rodeo Drive of the Communist World where the excesses decried by the Party are embraced by the population. Are the Colonel and Ronald McDonald missionaries behind the conversion of Shanghai? Long live the Capitalist Spirit.

Shanghai is NOTHING like that old movie, Shanghai Surprise starring Madonna and her ex Sean Penn. The famous Chinese city is a bustling financial center where nations and mammoth corporations do business.

Did you know that there were Pepsi brand sneakers in China? When I visited last, I passed the store, did a double-take, and then walked in to take a snapshot. I knew no one in U.S. would believe me.

Fast food restaurants are a buzz in this movie capital, where KFC is still called Kentucky Fried Chicken and Ronald McDonald greets you with open buns. No French fries served at McDonalds in Shanghai, just fried blobs of something else, entirely un-American but nevertheless capitalist fare at its finest.

Perhaps the oddest sight in the downtown business district is the BIG RED ad for Coca Cola behind the skyline and smoggy ozone. It’s kind of like a subliminal message hovering over the city and shanghaiing visitors into eating American junk food. A TGI Friday’s had just opened upon my last visit and my Chinese guide and I had the first real hamburger and fries the whole trip. Shortly after, I shanghaied him into having a Capitalist Cappuccino. Has Communism succumbed to the great marketing machine?