Culture Agenda

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CULTURE AGENDA

So, back in 上海 after sixteen months away was never going to be an easy adjustment. The incomprehensible language; the bizarre eating habits; the materialistic society; the fighting to get on and off the trains; the extravagant winter festival marking the change of year; the barely pronounceable names of people. Living in the Netherlands had prepared me well for life in an alien culture.

But not the temperature. Or the humidity. The combination of those were oppressive and would take some getting used to. Fortunately when God created hot, humid weather he also created air conditioning. If only I could figure out how to use the one in my apartment. It dawned on me that achieving some mundane things were going to be, well, just a little bit more awkward here than at home.

So where had work chosen to locate me? 上海 is divided into two parts divided by the Huangpu river. The thriving cultural and gastronomical heart of the city lies to the West in Puxi; the sterile offices, mass apartment buildings, and industrial estates lie East in Pudong. Pudong it was, then. But not in the glamourous Liujiazui area, with its dazzling array of multi-shaped skyscrapers, even more dazzling when illuminated at night. Rather, a twenty-minute walk away on a busy main road (admittedly also on 上海's circle line) and in a red light district. Yes, those handy bars across the street which by day seemed so innocent, turned out by night to be neon-plastered establishments with names like "Sticky Fingers", "Temptation" and " Sexy Girl Bar" and oh-so-friendly girls on the pavements enticing customers in.

Anyway, back to the apartment: as promised a river view could be had from my fifteenth floor balcony. The Bund, it isn't but it's nice to see the Yangpu bridge in the background, and the huge amounts of freight travelling up and down the river. Luigipedia facts: Shanghai is the busiest container port in the world. Also, it has the largest population of a city proper in the world: eighteen million. You can meet most of them in person at Century Avenue metro station in a weekday rush hour.

Having found the local convenience store (rather conveniently there are three of them and even more conveniently, one is conveniently located between the metro station and my apartment), I learnt of the high price of milk and the low price of chickens' feet. Then it was off to watch the Liujiazui skyline from a rooftop terrace on the Bund with some genuine expats. Sunset (at 17.30!) was the perfect time, as any watcher of city skylines knows, as it allows you to see buildings in the daylight, and illuminated at night. If you're sitting in a rooftop bar, it also forces you to drink quite a few beers. Since my preparations for this sojourn to the Paris of the East included no less than five farewell events the previous week, I felt I was keeping up a good average.

Here, there are so many lights, even the river cruise boats are illuminated, so that they fit in. One of them is built like a galleon of yore, and looks ridiculous decked in neon. However, it did highlight the sometimes uncomfortable old-meets-new feel of the city. And it did add to the whole colonial feel of the evening. I think I could get used to this...

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Photos

Remote
OK. Up and down I can see, but how about "on" and "off"?

Riverview
Not quite the Bund

High density housing
I wish the weather were always this sunny

Liujiazui by night
I don't live either here, or where I can see here