Clara Chow, a fan of Chinese TV dramas, put on the eponymous theme song of the 1980 hit drama "The Bund" (starring Chow Yun-fat) on her first walk down the Bund along the Huangpu River.
"You don't have to do this in order to appreciate Shanghai," she explained. "But for me, it's a plus. The skyline of the Bund is so famous, but you really need to be there to experience it fully and to see the skyline in person.
She added, "I will probably do it again before we leave."
The bilingual writer in English and Chinese also hopes to visit Hengdian World Studios, a film studio about four and a half hours' drive from Shanghai, where many of her favorite Chinese fantasy dramas were filmed.
"For me, there is always a fantasy China that exists only in pop culture, myths and legends, and China in reality," she said. "I hoped to reconcile the imaginary with the real and modern during my visit here."
Instead, it got "split into more parts, because living here for a while goes beyond the superficial understanding and presents how real Shanghai people live, their dreams, hopes, and struggles."
One aspect of Shanghai's dual identity is its surprising familiarity with Singapore in the commercial sense. Chow describes it as a "hyper, ultra, super, big version of Singapore," which made her feel at home right away.
"It is strange that it doesn't feel strange," she said.
（Interviewed by Yao Minji, Shanghai Daily）