An interesting article on Shanghai

Australian financial journalist Alan Kohler recently travelled to Shanghai and shared his views on the city and the growth of China.

He has made some acute "newcomer" observations. Namely:
- Taxis don't have seatbelts and Shanghai's freeways can be a white-knuckle ride
- At one end of a street you will find touts and beggars. At the other end you will find Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton
- There is a massive domestic internal migration movement happening in China
- "1.3 billion people are getting themselves organised very quickly, making it up as they go along – building cities, setting up rules, making mistakes, and most of all making an awful lot of money."
- "How often do you get to witness the creation of a modern society from the ground up?"


I also found the reader comments to be just as interesting. There were some informed comments from recent residents of Shanghai:


"It is a fascinating and completely contradictory place to live - the divide between the old and new, East and West, Confucianism and Capitalism, and the rural and urban areas means that it is a city in a constant state of growth and flux. And development occurs at an astonishing pace. Near our apartment in downtown Shanghai, I spotted some shops that were being completely gutted. The next day they were being rebuilt and finished and by the end of the week they were open for business. Kohler captured the energy and contradictory nature of Shanghai very well."


"If you have visited Shanghai, you have not visited China. It is like going to LA and declaring you have visited the USA. China has 400 million desparately poor. For those who decide to try their luck in Shanghai, life to tough; really tough. Collecting rubbish to recycle cardboard and plastic bottles is much more common for these internal migrant workers, than providing massages to well-healed tourists. Many resort to crime, the grey economy or return home, penniless and broken. Whilst Shanghai may be thriving, its focus on commerce hides detention without trial and extreme media censorship. Corruption is endemic."

"If you would like to find out what life is like in China, hire a translator and sit down with the guy squirting stuff on your shoes, the pizza delivery boys, or the people cleaning your friends houses."

Mostly I was a little surprised at the level of negativity from some of the commentators - many who've never stepped foot in China. For example:

- "Shanghai is today what it was during colonial and imperialist days: a testament to greed."

- "Shanghai is a polluted city with no rest, little equality and no natural environment."

- "you say "interesting place this china" Well remember the old chinese curse, may you live in interesting times. In this case .... may you live in interesting places. I'm glad i'm in oz and not china."

- "Makes me realise how lucky I am to live in Australia. And that's where I shall stay."

These last comments are disappointing. I am the first to admit that I live in a bit of an "expat bubble". However, it troubles me that so many people jump to conclusions from afar without any experience of visiting, let alone living, in China. It's easy to say, "I'm glad I live in Oz", but it's also rather blinkered. There's a whole world outside our doors.