Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

What are our expectations?

Which of the things we desire are within reach?

If not now, when?

And will there be some left for me?

China's younger generation is driving a growth

in consumption.

This is where the real power is.

China.

If you live in Manhattan like

I do and you think you live in

the center of the world, this

place, Shanghai, will confront

you with a very different reality.

Turn down a side street, it's an ancient culture.

Centuries old mix of culinary

traditions, smells, flavors, a block away, this.

An ultramodern ever clanging

cash register, levels of wealth,

luxury, sheer volume of things

and services unimagined by the

greediest, most of capitalist imperialists.

The city is split by the river,

a tributary of the yank sea in

the oldest section which features the newer built up

section.

The one thing I know for sure

about China is I will never know China.

It's too big, too old, too diverse, too deep.

There's simply not enough time.

That's for me, the joy of China.

Facing a learning curve that impossibly steep.

The certain knowledge that even

if I dedicated my life to

learning about China, I'd die mostly ignorant.

That's exciting.

It's too much.

And it's changing.

So fast.

China has a population of around

$1.3 billion people, and the

number of them who are joining

an explosive middle class demanding their share of all

that good stuff, infrastructure,

the clothes, the cars, the gas,

the fuel, is well, it's the

engine that might well drive the whole world.

Very much, yes.

Okay, what do you want?

Order, of course, some good dumplings.

The professor is an economist

and the current Dean of the college of economics and

management that Shanghai university.

Like so many people you meet

here, he's Chinese, but was educated in American

universities and taught at Yale,

Duke, and Arizona state.

Forgive me, economics are not my

area of expertise, I wallow in

ignorance, but China looks

different every time I come.

It's changing so, so, so quickly, how did that happen?

China, enjoyed this long period of peace, no serious

enemy.

No major wars.

Right.

So the manufacturing industry really took off.

Internally, formed an open door policy.

Every country willing to trade with China.

There's certainly no doubt

that at this point, we are, our

destinies are inextricably bound

up, our economies are hope

legislationly interming med, if

one fails, the effect would be disastrous.

Global impact.

We are, to say the least.

It's certainly... beautiful.

This is what I was waiting for.

Literally small steaming basket buns.

But I translate them in my head

to pillows of happiness that

will scald your tongue and

throat if you don't know what you're doing.

Look, there are a lot of reasons

to come to China and Shanghai in

particular, but these babies,

done right, these things alone are worth the trip.

Ground pork and shrimp, folded

exactly and always 20 times

inside freshly made individually rolled out dough.

As their steamed a delicious,

delicious fat renders into the

soup of the gods, which then if

you're not careful, causes unforgettable damage as it

changes your life forever.

So good.

In the China of the future,

places like this will be even

more packed by Chinese, by

expats, by visitors looking for

the deeply satisfying rush of

screamingly hot goodness.

The chewy, deeply savory,

fragrant, perfectly shaped and

folded ballistically designed

vehicles for pure pleasure.

And the allure of Shanghai's

local take on Worcestershire sauce.

It's unbelievable.

I really believe the word is

con verget, and China will again

be privatizing more and more,

but the difficulty, nowadays,

it's just, the technology is so

advanced, we don't really meet

that many people to do things

that many people used to do.

In which the population, seven

billion people, probably doesn't

need that many people working anymore.

Right.

So the question is, what should human beings do?

You know.

How can you let them not doing

anything, and they're still living a good life?

Right.

I don't know.

It's going to be a big issue

that can face the whole world.

What is the future?

I don't know.

But to a very great extent, it

is surely being determined here.

Is there a plan?

Probably not.

Only appetites.

And increasingly, the means to

fulfill those appetites.

Those dreams and aspirations.

Who will drive the car that

takes us to wherever we are going?

They will be young, whoever they are.

And not unlike yow, a 30-year-old Shanghai native

ejtsed in the USA, current lay

feature's reporter for the Shanghai daily.

She may be the picture of modern

China, but this is her favorite restaurant.

China and Shanghai in particular

might be transforming fast, but

this place stays resolutely the same.

She runs the place, serving classic, home style food.

There's no menu, no waiting list.

And you only get a seat if she likes you.

I ordered too much, sorry.

Fantastic.

Very happy.

We're joined by her friend,

Lu an artist, and Matthew, a restauranteur.

How do you eat these?

Whole.

I eat them whole because I really like this.

That works.

Oh, they're good.

I think they cook a few seconds.

They are tiny little shrimp,

deep fried first and quicklies

toed in the wok with garlic, ginger, salt, and soy.

What is classic Shanghai food?

What's distinctive about it?

Well this frinz, it's often...

Friends, it's... for instance,

it's often black, and dark.

It has been for some time a city of immigrants.

The food reflects that genealogy.

A combination of people from the

province known for soy and

vinegar, and others known for

fresh ingredients and attention

to preserving the aliveness of its dishes.

It's the best of both worlds.

Great sauces, great ingredients.

There's braised pork belly in a

deep red glaze of dark and light

soy sauce, cinnamon, sugar, and annise.

A small fish poached first in

rice wine, salt and light soy,

then fried in ginger garlic oil,

more soy and sugar until it's

reduced into a gorgeous sticky sauce.

Duck that's been marinated, blanched, then reheated,

smothered in a sauce made from

the reduced drippings left in

the wok with dark soy, salt, and sugar.

And this to round things out, a

Clay pot soup of bean curd based

stock with salted pork belly,

tofu ribbons, and bamboo chutes.

Oh good flavor.

This is a socialist country, supposedly.

Yep.