Acquaintances are tiring of 31-year-old American Jared Dougherty's tendency to launch into boring stories about the old days. "You should have seen this place in '01. We didn't have 'Bar Rouge' or 'Moon River Diner' or any of those creature comforts," he insists to anyone who will listen. "No way, man, it was real back then."

Dougherty started his sojourn in Shanghai as a language instructor but soon moved on to other careers, a history he described in great detail last Wednesday at JZ Club ("a commercialized sell-out hack of a joint") to anyone who would listen. "Back in those days, there was opportunity everywhere. For a while I made a killing selling stuff on eBay. Now THERE'S a story..." he quipped as a number of friends headed to the restroom or went to get another drink.

Although no one doubts that Dougherty has seen quite a few corners of this city, few actually care. "Did you know you can rent a ping-pong table in a corner of Hongkou Stadium?" he mentioned to a friend who may have been listening. "One crazy Tuesday night I played Kong Linghui there - of course, back then he was only 17 and drunk as hell..."

"I respect the fact that he's hung around this long," concedes friend Ann Falcone, who has known Dougherty since early 2006, "but everyone's got a breaking point. If I hear that story about a suitcase full of deodorant and Xbox games one more time, that's it."