Editor's Note: In a city with a larger population than all of Australia, it can be tough to accomplish something akin to "putting a place on a map." But there are a few expats in Shanghai who have done just that. These stories are hard to find, but when we do, we delight in telling them. CNS has not traditionally been known for long reads. Indeed the media industry is moving away from this form in favor of short-form, or video (each with their own value). However we recognize that there is a place in the world for long-reads, provided they are substantive, interesting, and engrossing. A long article does not have to be boring is our philosophy. So as we venture into these waters, we hope you enjoy one of our inaugural pieces in the art of long-form editorial. This one is inspiring. Grab a cup of tea, or something stronger, and enjoy. Also, a special nod to the author, Elysia Bagley, a prolific writer in her own right, who joins us for the first time.

This is a love story. No, not the kind of love story you pluck from the boundless proverbial shelves of the Kindle library's idealized romance section – and yet one equally complex and satiating. There are memories neat and dirty, foundations shaken and stirred, spirits lost and found; there is commitment and companionship, change and growth, resilience and hope. This is a love story that began with a spark a decade ago, and, often against all odds, has refused to come to an end. This is a tale of love served straight up.

In line with The Union Trading Company's 10-year anniversary, co-founder Lu Yao shares the narrative of building a business – and a vision – that's stood the test of time in Shanghai's ever-evolving, highly-competitive food and beverage scene.

So it began

When Lu Yao arrived in Shanghai in 2011, he didn't know he was coming home. Sure, he was born here – but aside from a short stint in his adolescence, he hadn't lived in China in years, and as a broke bartender at the start of his career, had since only come once or twice to visit grandparents. He essentially arrived as an inquisitive tourist from Texas, driven by curiosity to come to check out the burgeoning bar scene.

Back then he was working at Anvil Bar & Refuge in Houston, a place still known today as a prominent player in the US bar scene. "At the time, I was one of the very few Chinese American craft cocktail bartenders, and I was very fortunate to be a member of the team. Eventually one of my drinks got media coverage, and I started getting emails from people in China. I was 23 or 24 years old and at that point in my career where you're kind of like, you know, you're curious, right?" And so he booked a flight and came over to explore.

Shanghai's bar world was in its complete infancy, primarily dominated by a Japanese-forward approach: a meticulous style focused on ceremony and technique, and rarely seen in the US at the time. Western-style cocktail bars had yet to find much footing. But it was clear a new scene – and a new breed of drinkers – was emerging.

"I made a point to pay attention to how people were spending their money here. For the first time, menus were listing things like where is this beef sourced from, where was that asparagus grown... people were starting to pay more attention to these elements. A bit of storytelling was coming into food and drink." Western restaurants were packed, and people were curious to try new things.

"Basically what I saw was a huge rising middle class that was purposeful about how they spent their money and how they ate. If history is anything to go by, when people start caring about what they eat, the natural progression is that they start caring about what they drink." It was a new and exciting landscape begging for more. He was there for it.

Digging in

What was meant only to be an exploratory trip was now presenting new and unexpected opportunities. "Shanghai was very exciting for me because Chinese food is some of the most complex in the world, and having just this huge arsenal of inspiration that you can draw from in your daily life... the food culture was very appealing to me. In Houston, being Chinese American, I tried with my limited capacity at the time to add a little bit of Asian flair to the cocktails. But I began to think, being here, I can actually live it. I'd always been infatuated with the city – so I said let's dive into the deep end and just move to Shanghai and see what's up."

And so he did.

With it came culture shock on a multitude of levels. "Obviously I am Chinese, I look Chinese, I speak Chinese, I read Chinese – it's kind of a common joke in my life, whether in the US or in China, people always say the same thing to me: you speak really good English. So I guess that kind of summarizes what it's like you know? Being a transplant in both countries."

But despite several job opportunities waiting for him, none worked out – and on a personal level for Lu, making the move came with a lot of pressure to succeed. "I was kind of like man... what now? I even called the guy, to whom I sold my car, to ask if I could take over the lease again. But after this huge going away party at my job and the commotion of my leaving, I didn't want to go back. So I was like, yeah, I'm just going to make this work."

Then the right position presented itself: a job taking over as the lead at cocktail bar Alchemist; a spot from Kelly Lee of Boxing Cat Brewery and Liquid Laundry fame (to name a couple) that played a crucial role in Shanghai's bar industry beginnings. "Kelly Lee is the OG of Shanghai food and beverage. She single-handedly changed people's perspectives on casual American- and Western-style dining."

New to Shanghai and running a team here for the first time, the initial six months were a rough transition for Lu, who was used to doing things quite differently in the US – but he soon found his footing under Kelly's leadership. "She's a tough woman, but she's also incredibly empathetic. She understood what it was like for a young expat to come to Shanghai; she understood all of those challenges, and she taught me how things are done here, from finding distributors to negotiating prices. She had a lot of patience and taught me a lot of patience; she gave me the opportunities I needed to grow and learn. I'm forever grateful."

The spark that lit a fire

As it goes in Shanghai, eventually Alchemist shuttered. But where one door closed, what would turn out to be the most prodigious one opened – because another gift from Kelly came in the form of an introduction to one of Shanghai's most beloved chefs, Austin Hu.

"Austin was a phenomenal chef, and we became quick friends. We began realizing that we had a lot of the same training background in terms of American-style food and beverage, and most importantly, hospitality. I remember going to Madison, Austin's restaurant at the time, and one night we had a little too much to drink and just started throwing out ideas – like hey man, we should open a bar."

Once the hangover subsided, the real talks started – and the beginning of something pretty rad.

"We both missed the type of neighborhood bars we would go to back home. It is a place where you can be a little bit noisy, become really quick friends with the bartenders, and be a part of a crowd. A bar that you walk into and you know everyone, where the music's a little bit louder and the jokes aren't always appropriate. We shared a vision of a bar that we would personally want to hang out at all the time."

With Japanese service dominating the scene, they saw a gap in the market for the bar of their shared dreams and went for it. The year is 2014, and enter The Union Trading Company.

The name held literal significance – after all, what's a union? For the duo, it was people from disparate backgrounds and creeds of life coming together with a common goal. "If we want to go super philosophical about this, you know, when you kind of look at why a bar exists in society, the general function of a bar, what it is? Regardless of why someone comes in – whether they're celebrating a birthday, an anniversary, a raise; or the complete opposite, they just got a divorce, they just got laid off – they all come with the same goal: They want to leave happier than when they came in. The unity of that goal is a beautiful thing."

Thus this idea became the heart and soul of what Lu and Austin set out to build, with an ethos that remains the bar's tagline to this day: when you're here, you're family.

Building The Union Trading Company

After finding the right spot for their venue (a difficult task in Shanghai), it was time to turn ideas on paper into tangible plans. They had their location on quaint Fenyang Road, they had their core philosophy, they had their shared vision. Next challenge? Menu, of course – and establishing themselves as a bar that serves food, not a restaurant that serves drinks; the latter being the city's more common setup at the time.

"I always thought that it was important for a bar to have food. First of all, people get hungry after a few drinks, especially at late night. It's also a great way to boost sales. But we had to walk a very fine line between we are a bar that serves food as opposed to a restaurant bar. This is where Austin and his incredible talent came in: he came up with the genius idea to really take a look at typical bar food and make it a little bit more bougie."

Boy did they nail it. Austin took classic bar bites from around the world and elevated them to downright seductive heights. They sourced quality ingredients for snacks like salty fries with truffle fondue, chili con carne-slathered tater tots, crispy Scotch quail eggs, spaghetti & meatballs that deserve a star on the proverbial Shanghai Walk of Fame. Simple in theory, but premium in practice, Austin's eats were approachable-yet-unforgettable.

When it comes to drinks, Union has always been a humble trailblazer in the world of modern craft cocktails. With seasonality always at the center, Lu and his team develop house signatures, barrel-aged concoctions and twists on classics based on available produce, weather-induced drinking habits and of course, a healthy dash of creative flair.

"The main thing I think about when we create a menu is that the drinks should actually be very straightforward. When you're in a busy bar, chatting up with friends, you want a drink that's approachable, and offering a menu diverse enough to cover the majority of things people like is important to us – but then there are also going to be drinks that you know might be come off a little bit weird, using more diverse ingredients like, you know, laoganma (a household chili crisp in China that includes fermented soybeans), mustard, banana peppers."

The drinks need to be approachable, delicious and fun. Because when it comes down to it, they're for the guest – are they not? And for that reason, Lu and his team check their egos at the door. "If you make something that's like the ultimate level of craft, that's trying to be some kind of legacy, and 8 out of 10 people hate it, we're not going to be like 'well you guys don't understand our craft.' It's like come on man, you're running a bar for your guests, and people are paying for this. We don't want to shove something down their throats."

As far as pushing novel ideas and flavors, that part comes with Union's spectacular service and hospitality. Every ingredient is an opportunity for conversation, and every drink is a lead-in to leap toward something new. "If you come in and you want a Mojito, we're going to make you the best Mojito you've ever had. When it's time for round two, now we know you like Mojitos, and we can recommend something else based on that. These 10-15 second conversations gently nudge guests out of their comfort zones, while also building rapport between them, our bartenders and the establishment."

And so, everybody walks away a little happy, a little tipsy, and a little more intrigued. The bar was a hit from the beginning, and since opening its doors all those years ago, Union has continued to build upon a legacy of joy, community and collaborative creativity.

"Shanghai is home to very open-minded people who love to try new things. When we opened, craft cocktails and different bar concepts were things people had never experienced. Sitting at a loud bar with Wu Tang Clan blasting and the bartender telling dirty jokes to the person next to you – while also making you an excellent Sazerac. The market itself was on the rise, and we just got caught in the perfect storm."

The End of an Era

Skip ahead to 2020, and with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic came another massive hit to the Union family. Austin, who was now not only Lu's business partner, but his best friend, passed away unexpectedly in his sleep. The loss sent shockwaves through the Shanghai F&B community and changed in many forms.

"I've still not fully processed it. I think for me personally, it was the loss of my best friend, and also, he was such a huge figure. Not only to Union but also in Shanghai in general... how do you process and deal with losing a legend, essentially?"

Aside from dealing with a massive personal loss, Lu still had a business to run and a team that relied on him. "We had to pivot with a lot of things. I had to basically make decisions on all aspects of the business from that point on. In terms of how we run the business, I started relying a lot more on my team."

For him, facing the loss of Austin and enduring the trials of the pandemic – marked by a grueling nine-month mandated closure, near-bankruptcy, and cross-country trips with the team to scrape together any bit of revenue – only solidified his resolve to keep the dream alive. "If anything, it made me more determined, right? Because of what this place means to me, what it meant to us. The best way to honor our shared memories is to ensure that Union stays afloat."

Fortunately, when Austin was still here, he trained up an extremely capable kitchen team who still works with Lu to this day, now with more creative control.

"Do I ever consider working with the new chef in the future? Absolutely. I love working with chefs – bouncing ideas off each other, those sparks, the techniques that we learn one from another… I find it super super inspirational. But if I'm going to work with a new chef it will probably be for a different concept. What Austin gave us has worked incredibly well for us. So I don't see the need to change it."

Amidst all of this, the bar was also in need of a new location, and they were struggling to find it. Union was housed in a heritage building built in 1937, and it was starting to show. But as a neighborhood bar, their venue requirements were specific: They wanted to be within 1 kilometer of the original location to maintain their community, but also find a spot that would still fit the established Union vibe. In a much-needed stroke of luck, they found their next spot – the bar's current home of two years, now on Hengshan Road – just before their lease was up. And the move has been nothing but positive.

"There has never been a moment where I thought that maybe we shouldn't do this. You know, I think that I'm flawed at a lot of things in life, however, one thing that I know I'm good at is perseverance. I joke to people that it's a combination of that and desperation."

Impostor Syndrome

Even in hitting the 10-year milestone this year – an incredible feat in for a cocktail bar in Shanghai – The Union Trading Company's indisputable success remains somewhat intangible for Lu. The past decade has seen the bar rank on the lists of the World's 50 Best Bars and Asia's 50 Best Bars (amongst countless other awards from every conceivable institution), now known worldwide as one of the most influential and iconic establishments in not only China but the region as a whole.

"When you just start off bartending, you know, you read these magazines and you read these lists, and you think 'man, it would be so cool if I can, like, just go drink at one of these bars.' And the next thing you know, you're on this list with all these legendary bars that you used to dream about visiting. It's a very surreal moment. It's a huge honor and a good feeling that something that we love is also loved by other people."

Accolades aside, Union just celebrated its most financially successful year to date. The bar is doing better than ever. Nonetheless, Lu's voice is one of resounding humility – impostor syndrome, friends, is very real.

"I don't think you ever feel that you're successful. You never believe that you're doing well. You're so focused on the bar, on everybody else. It's just the nature of the job itself: to provide positivity and empathy toward everyone except yourself. There's also a huge sense of responsibility that comes with it. You have staff to take care of, you have investors – nothing says trust more than people literally giving you their money."

Ultimately, the biggest win for him is building an incredible team and seeing them fly high. One of his best memories is when a big crew came in, and they weren't there for him. "They said hi to everybody on my team except me, because they had no clue who I was. That was when the moment I was like, I made it."

His goal, ultimately, is the same for his staff as it is for the guests: that they leave happier than then they arrived. "I want to make sure that they are set up for success; learned from both my mistakes and the things we do well, then take that knowledge and really establish themselves outside of Union. Understanding that the team is made-up of individuals who have their own dreams and inspirations and issues is so important. Trying to be as empathetic as possible, trying to help them out. My boss at Anvil, Bobby Heugel, used to say, 'You can never expect your staff to treat your guests better than how you treat them'."

"These kids put their own blood, sweat and tears into this place. They have so many opportunities and they choose to work with you, you know, it's a blessing. When they leave for a higher salary or to open their own place, I love that. I guess it's reassuring for myself – it's like, okay, maybe we didn't suck."

(Re)defining success

As a shining example of what it means to make it in Shanghai, it's natural that people will ask Union's keeper the age-old bar industry question: what defines a good bar?

"For me, the goal has always revolved around three questions: number one, are your guests having fun? Number two, is your team growing and thriving? Number three, are we making money? After all, it's a business at the end of the day and so for me, professionally those are always the three goals that I strive toward."

Has that changed? No. But the approach has – toward both the business and himself. With a solid team in place and a staff whose dedication takes some of the load off of him, Lu's been able to take a step back to work on something that often goes ignored in this industry: valuing his own well-being. Burnout is real.

He takes days off, he goes to therapy, he turns off his phone, he takes a nap when he's tired… and really encourages others in the business to do the same. "With the experience has come a bit more wisdom – work smarter, not harder; be purposeful and enjoy the ride. It's okay to take a day off to really just take care of yourself. I mean, I still get burned out from time to time – but I don't feel guilty anymore."

Legacy and advice

Whatever the future holds for The Union Trading Company (Lu's hinted at new concepts), it's already left a legacy worth celebrating – on the city, its patrons, and the entire food and beverage community. Once essentially a dewy-eyed laowai in an unfamiliar and often unforgiving F&B landscape, Lu is an inspiring example of what Shanghai can offer to those willing to rise and fall with the tides; always at the mercy of the surging surf while attempting to ride those wild waves to the shore.

The Union Trading Company is what things can look like when you put everything you've got, and then some, into the pursuit of something that may seem like a distant dream.

There's a joke amongst F&B proprietors in Shanghai when people ask "What's your advice for those thinking of opening their own venue?" The answer: don't do it. And yet, that slightly jaded response always comes from the mouths of people who consistently refuse to leave it all behind, and usually come out on top.

Jest aside, for those considering taking the plunge, Lu has genuine advice. First, come with an open mind: you're entering a completely different culture and there's a very specific way of how things are done here. Second, check your ego at the door. Third, be specific and purposeful with your goals and how you plan on achieving them.

Taking the leap

This is a city where so many things are possible – but it often requires a huge leap of faith. If you give it your all, you may just land like The Union Trading Company. That seems like something worth jumping off a ledge for.

For Lu, despite the uphill, often grueling climb that is making it in Shanghai, it's been worth the ride. "Would I do it all over again? Absolutely. The past 10 years of my career have been incredible in ways that I could only dream about when I was a kid, even with all the ups and downs. Shanghai is my home – I can't imagine myself being anywhere else."