Shagadelic Shanghai

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Can Shanghai be but a technological mirage? An economic miracle? This city has to be seen to be believed. From images I have seen before, I though it'd be a city with mostly short, flat buildings and a few tacky mega-skyscrapers and that hideous globe and column tower )Oriental Peal Tower). Boy was I wrong! Shanghai is a skyscraper wonderland, on its way to be as dense as Manhatten but much bigger in scale. And somehow, when I am in Shanghai, those buildings I thought would be tacky turned out to be quite fitting and actually quite awesome. Maybe it's all the summer haze, maybe it's the glimmering light show that the Oriental Pearl Tower. Maybe it's all the Hong-Kong-, Vegas-, and Tokyo-style lighted billboards and buildings that have created an enchanting if not disorienting neon ambience. But somehow, sitting along the Huangpu River and gazing over some of the tallest buildings in the world as the sun sets, everything felt right. This is the China of the future, now. And by 2009 the tallest building in the world, which would be so tall that they put a hole through the top to reduce wind drag, would be completed. I went up the Oriental Peral Tower (tallest in Asia, second only to Toronto's CN Tower, which incidently has an awesome glass floor on the top you should try walking over while looking down...goosebumps), and the view of Shanghai, albeit hazy, was fantastic. Buildings and rivers to no end. I am so in awe with Shanghai. Of all the cities in China I have seen thus far, this is my favorite.

The World Expo will be in Shanghai in 2010. (http://www.expo2010china.com/expo/english/eu/index.html) It's gonna be awesome, from the looks of it. You should definitely visit the Urban Planning Exhibit in Shanghai if you come here (it's an orgasmic experience for a planner like me). The exhibit spans four floors, including a huge model of central Shanghai at buildout. There are exhibits on their environmental programs, transportation systems (including an mega offshore port, go figure), etc. I was blown away. It also include a model of the airport (which is already connected by a mag-lev train) and how the upcoming mega-plane Airbus 380 will be served at the terminal (three boarding shafts).

I spent the day walking around the shops in Shanghai, including those on the main pedestrian shopping arcade on Nanking East Road (whcih also happens to be the name of the road I grew up on in Taiwan, but Shaghai's version is so much more grand) and those at Xintiandi, which has all the top names from all over Japan, Europe, and North America. Amazing. Lots of SUVS and luxury cars ply the streets, competing for your attention with the huge video billboards. At 10pm, most shops were still open. One thing I did notice is that in China, things from Taiwan are considered as premium. And lots Taiwanese food shops around. That's quite a departure of the brand awareness people in the US have towards Taiwanese products (Wal-mart quality).

The next morning I went for a run along the Bund (my attempt to run along the Suzhou Creek was futile, as there is no connected path and all the space is taken up by Tai Chi masters doing their morning routine; all you Shanghai landscape architects, do me a favor and put in a path/stormwater buffer!). I also ran through a park, which again was full of tai chi practioners and Chinese version of jazzercise. Man, there are lots old people here at 6am. I was just thinking that some of these people lived through the Qin dynasty, the 1930s glamour (though probably they were peasants then, since the bougeousie were all killed during the Communism era), Chinese Revolution, World War II, Communism, and the recent super capitalistic redevelopment surge. What a life. They are among the lucky survivors I am sure.

Off to Xiamen...see my description of my train disaster in the next blog.

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