My sister Columbine is studying in Shanghai this summer, and she’s been sending me dispatches about the city and culture. I think a lot about urban life, especially how we can create more liveable cities (a new urban habitat, if you will), so it’s fascinating to hear about life in a city of 24 million.
Columbine has traveled extensively in Europe and Latin America, but this is her first trip to Asia. She’s amazed by how clean and safe Shanghai feels:
I didn’t know what to expect from China and Shanghai. I have never been to a city of this size. I certainly have never lived in a city this size. I think I expected to be a bit disgusted, since most large cities have an element of filth. Walls near the train tracks will be painted with graffiti. Sirens will be heard at all hours of the day. Whiffs of open sewer will find your nose. Trash will be strewn about. Shanghai is nothing like that. It is quite clean. Much cleaner than any American city I’ve visited, including small cities like Denver and Portland, and it is much cleaner than New York. I have not heard one siren. I have not seen any graffiti. And the streets are consistently being swept by people in sage green uniforms. It is also the safest-feeling place I’ve ever been.
Another thing she consistently remarks on is how healthy the elderly residents are:
Every morning the parks are filled to the brim with old people doing calisthenics, tai chi, fan dancing, and walking. It brings tears to my eyes and makes me smile. There are parks every few blocks, as most people here live in shantis or apartments and they don’t have lawns or yards as we do in the States, or even shared gardens as you often see in Europe. There is something magical about seeing all of these old people enjoying one another’s company, all in incredibly good health. I have never been to a country where the old people were in such good health.
Chinese culture melds ancient traditions that go back thousands of years, like tai chi and Traditional Chinese Medicine, with cutting edge technology that far exceeds what we have in the U.S.:
The fastest train in the world connects Pudong Airport to downtown Shanghai. It is an electro-magnetic train which reaches speeds of 270 mph. It was dizzying as the landscape whizzed by. I kept wanting to see what China looked like, but it was flying by so fast that I couldn’t get much more than a quick glance. You go 20 miles in less than 8 minutes. It was absolutely incredible.
Have you visited or lived in Shanghai, or another part of China? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
I’ve never been to China and probably never will. However, during a trip to Germany several years ago, I was impressed with the cleanliness of the city of Frankfurt, its railroads and train stations. There is an apparent civic pride in such places that is sadly missing in many American cities.
Our adopted daughter is from China. My wife and I adopted her in 2004. We were in Hong Kong, then went to Changsha, Hunan Province, to get our daughter, then to Guangzoe (sp) where the US Consulate was located at the time. Changsha was polluted, they were still burning coal, and there were panhandlers, which really surprised us. The city was clean in places, not so in others. Guangzoe, (wish I could remember the correct spelling as my spelling may be an entirely different city) was not as dirty or polluted as Changsha. I think we saw the same type of daily exercise regime that your sister has witnessed. I could not believe being awakened at 6:00AM to the sound of ballroom music and looking out our window to see people 15 floors below in a park dancing. I don’t really know what to say about China. I don’t think it is any different than any other country in that the Chinese are human and have as many problems as the rest of the world. I have found Chinese tourist here and in Taiwan, we were in Taiwan in 2011, to be rude, loud and pushy. I do think that perhaps your sister has not seen all of Shanghai. 24 million people of any ethnicity without litter or the problems that go along with that many people in one place is a bit hard to fathom. We plan on going back to China in three years, and I am looking forward to the trip. We are returning with the six other couples we traveled with when we adopted and want to take the girls back to see China before they don’t want to travel with their parents any longer! I must say that the Chinese countryside is lovely, but then so are most countrysides.
The top photo in this article is incredible, and as always it is a pleasure to hear from you. Hope you sister enjoys China, it is a very beautiful country and culture.
And by the way Abby, you definitely do not want to be caught littering or doing any type of graffiti anywhere in China. The penalties are not pleasant.
Hi Gerry, Thanks so much for sharing your insights. Yes, my sister said the same thing about crime against foreigners, which perhaps explains why she feels safe there.
I did a little research, and it sounds like Shanghai was “spruced up” for the 2010 World Expo. One blogger writes: “We have seen the lightning-speed expansion of the city’s subway system (complete with guards and x-ray machines to maintain ‘public security’), the repaving of just about every potholed street, and a brand-spanking new walkway on the Bund. A media campaign pushing for more ‘civilised’ behaviour and government-led programmes clamping down on wearing pyjamas outside, smoking and spitting in public, all day-to-day fare in the city, have also been set up.”
I agree that my sister, who has only been in China for a few weeks, has not seen much of what goes on there, including the repression and human rights violations we hear so much about here. I find her accounts fascinating, though. She’s made me want to visit there to see the city for myself.
Abby, I feel like any explanation or description of how one feels about China is like being between a rock and a hard place. I would definitely say go, and see for yourself. The only problem with going anywhere nowadays is that you have to fly, which in my opinion is like sticking ones self in the eye with a sharp stick!