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As most people know by now, I don't mind living in Hong Kong, but it is no Vietnam. To the naked eye, it seems that all Chinese culture and traditions have been irreversible squashed in the concrete jungle that is Hong Kong island, and to some extent that is true. For a more authentic Chinese experience you have to travel out into the New Territories to be able to say that you are in fact in a different country. I don't like that. I don't like that you have to travel to find authenticity. I don't like the fact that the mix of East and West is completely unbalanced. So what to think of Shanghai? Named the Paris of the East, with a population of 17 million and an economic development of over 12%, I was expecting to not have much of a rest from the city lights, fumes and noise that I currently put up with.
It was with great relief that one of the first things you notice about Shanghai is how green it is. I mean really, really green. We stumbled across several parks and sanctuaries of peacefulness throughout our Shanghaineese adventure. The openness of the
city also surprised me until I realized that most big cities are like that; only Hong Kong isn’t because it really cannot afford to be open and spacious. Transportation was less developed and more run down than in Hong Kong, which I found endearing. It still is a developing city and I suppose that’s one of the things I appreciated about HCMC and Shanghai - they haven’t made it yet. Hong Kong has and with all its progression and development it lacks in basic human principles. Hong Kongers are so wrapped up in their 12 hour work days that they have no time or energy to smile, breathe, take in life as it zooms past them… they don’t even have time for sex… and let’s face it, that’s sad. And despite all of the major developments and booming business in Shanghai (it is well documented that major companies are now less enthusiastic about investing in Hong Kong, choosing instead to set up shop in Shanghai), people are friendly. They smile and are helpful. They are talkative and are interested in you. They love their city (not saying HKers don’t but they don’t talk about it so how should I know…)
Zhou Zhang
The Paper Cutter - his family is in the paper cutting business. Pieces of red or black paper are cut into intricate designs. They truly are amazing. and are keen to make sure you get the best experience out of it. The very little Mandarin that I know made the Shanghaineese smile from ear to ear. It was like HCMC all over again.
We visited a few places outside Shanghai, Zhou Zhang a rural but already touristy village which was bathed by several canals (the Venice of China as it is referred to) and The Grand View Garden of Shanghai which were both outside the city. Unfortunately it was raining a consistent drizzle all day, however the beauty of both these places was hardly dampened by the weather. The Bund (which means muddy waterfront) is the area overlooking the Huangpu River and where you can witness the dramatic skyline that has changed ferociously over the past 10 years. Strolling, or running, as we were, to catch our 7pm River cruise, along The Bund you see many old colonial buildings such as The Peace Hotel and numerous Chinese flags on top of all of the buildings. The cruise along the river was interesting and a good photo opportunity if you sit by the railings, otherwise you are just constantly taking pictures of people’s heads, which let’s face
it you can do anywhere in the world!
On our last day in Shanghai, I think I must have walked a billion miles if the pain on my arse was anything to go by. My feet bled incessantly (bad choice of shoes and swelling feet) and I cut myself numerous times on my crappy umbrella but nonetheless, we saw a lot of Shanghai. We visited the Shanghai Museum which would have been worth it were it not for the hoards of teenage school children shouting and pushing each other with no teacher in sight to supervise them. We left early and complained on the way out. I can safely say I’m getting old now and quite intolerable! The Yuan Yuan Gardens were beautiful and once again a quiet and peaceful haven amongst the city din and Shanghai Old Street was beautifully charming. We climbed (in a lift of course) up to the 263rd floor in the Orient Pearl TV Tower to experience misty views of Shanghai and we went on the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel which was a pure Chinese/Asian invention -small cubicles with flashing lights everywhere with accompanying bizarre snippets of randomness spoken by a Texan American… indescribable, really.
What really got to me though was not the development of the city so much as the speed at which traditional Chinese culture and tradition is being wiped out in favour of sky scrapers, concrete, concrete and more concrete. All in the name of progress of course!!!! It actually makes me quite ashamed of being a ‘white westerner’ living in Asia. We seem to have a fantastic knack of destroying cultures. And this is nothing new obviously… colonialism did it all those years ago. I mean people go to Shanghai to visit the French Concession and The Bund. People visit Goa to visit the Portuguese architecture. So we haven’t really progressed as a race. We are still going to far flung places and demonstrating how great we are, how we have the answers to all questions and we can pretty much do whatever we want, regardless of where we go and what culture we crush. Look at this for an example. This is from an article on Shanghai’s development. We owe this to an architect called Benajmin Wood who reformed the Xintiandi area of Shanghai to become trendy with clubs and bars. This is what he said about the
beginning of the development: Within six months, some 1,600 families had been relocated to new developments far from their old homes—not always happily, despite having indoor plumbing and their own kitchens for the first time. "We did things like take off their roofs to speed up the process," Wood says.
This frightens me. It really does. Isn’t it great they have indoor plumbing!! I’m sure Wood feels like he’s playing God a little by performing plumbing miracles, but the thing is, it’s not as if they miss having a proper toilet when they’ve never had one anyway! And these people have no say over their life! They don’t want to move so they tear away their roof… nice. And it will be happening to HCMC too which breaks my heart. These Asian cities will become more and more like Hong Kong, which not only will drown cultures but completely alter the way the people are. It’s sad. Yes, progress is inevitable but at what cost? The cost of thousands of years of history? The cost of ways of life? Since I’ve moved to Asia I have been ashamed of being a ‘gweilo’, a white westerner. I’m ashamed at what
we, as a race have done to a lot of places in the world.
Enjoy the photos, I've put quite a few up and resized them so the quality may have been lost.
Shanghai is still quite beautiful.
Rooj xxx
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Tucker
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Hey Marta, looks like a pretty cool place, hopefully some day i'll get the chance to visit. What are you doing for work at the mo? Hope your feet fet better soon