Been here coming to 2.5 days.

Saw a bit of things but have yet taken out my friend’s camera to go take any photos. Maybe later tonight I’ll head off to the Bund [外滩 aka 上海滩], about 20 minute walk from my hotel, and take some pictures. But meantime, here’s an update for the past few days…

Transport

I got the shock of my life when I took a cab from Pudong International Airport into Puxi (Shanghai Proper). If anyone thinks Singaporean cab drivers are bad, they really need to try the Shanghai ones. They would accelerate and close the distance with the vehicle in front even when it’s just 30 – 40 meters, and veer suddenly to either side when it is clear the vehicle in front is stopping. On several occasions, I held tightly onto the door, speechless, concerned and worried that the next minute would be my last or that we might crash into the back of some truck. And in my personal opinion, I doubt any Singaporean driver would survive a day here in Shanghai.

The drivers – not just the cab drivers alone – uses the horn so frequently that it’s a constant background noise. It is pretty amazing just how impatient the drivers are. They honk when the light turns green and the driver ahead was too slow to move. They honk, when another driver cuts into their lane. They honk, if the driver ahead let someone into the lane. The scooter-cyclist honks, the bus driver honks, the tram driver honks, and the pedestrians obviously don’t give a damn at the traffic lights. You can see people mill around while motor vehicles of all sizes zoom past on their merry way and yet surprisingly, no one gets killed. They even honk when there’s a jam, as if that’s any good at all because the traffic has come to a dead stop!

Cabs in Shanghai is cheap (in S$ terms). The flag down fare is RMB $11 [approx. S$2] and I believe that for the first 3km. There are also lots of cab and you will never have a problem flagging one down. I must say, maybe it’s really time they abolish the call charges in Singapore. In other words, if you don’t like the metro, take a cab. Now I understand why my friend’s Chinese ex-girlfriend was so perplexed by the fact that we refused to take a cab and claims she does that in China all the time.

The metro – in the Singaporean context, the MRT – uses a contactless fare card which is much thinner than Singapore’s. It’s somewhat like the old magnetic strip card we used previously. If the Chinese can do it, it makes one wonder just why we implemented a crazy system with such a thick card in which you need to pay a deposit and then return the card at the fare machine when you should just return it when you exit and walk off right away. So much for our million dollar mini$ter$.

Above which, I found a station in a state of upgrading and yet in use. They were putting in sliding doors on the platform, and you can see them in various state of completion. I must say it’s high time SMRT considers doing the same for their above ground stations to stop those inconsiderate people from getting themselves splattered all over the track like strawberry jam.

The food

The food here comes in huge portions. My personal opinion is that if you aren’t a big eater, avoid ordering a set meal. On two occasions I ordered a set meal I walked away so full I get a little stomach ache. The set meals are not really cheap if you convert to S$ terms, but still, the portion makes them value for money, and some of these meals are served in restaurants, not your run of the mill food courts. You probably can’t get the same amount of food for the same value in Singapore.

There’s a lot of other foods everywhere. You just need to walk in and join the queue and you get the real authentic Shanghainese food – or food claimed to be a famous one in other parts of China – on the fly.

A City of Paradox

Shanghai’s building density is definitely heavier than Singapore. There are just far more buildings and far less open spaces. There are also lots of people, way way more than Singapore when I went to the more popular places like 徐家汇 [Xujiahui], and the immediate area around 南京路步行街 [The Nanjing Road walking street].

Shanghai’s is really just another modern, cosmopolitan city where it is not difficult for you to see a foreigner on the streets. Starbucks, Coffee Bean, MacDonald’s, Kentucky and Pizza Hut is everywhere.

Yet, I have also seen someone standing by the side of a building to pee in bright daylight at the suburbs on my way into Puxi, and several beggars in Puxi itself. And yes, the beggars here – along with the peddlers peddling their wares – are very persistent, they might trail you for some way before they give up. The same goes for the pimps offering sex services and ‘dirty massages’. There are also sections of Shanghai, which my friend told me, has no modern sanitation.

As I stood looking at the sign that says 创新是一个民族进步的灵魂 [Innovation is the soul of progress of the people], when I looked at the diligent Chinese people milling around in the bookstores around technological books, and when I looked at the desolated try to etch a living in this prosperous city, it makes me wonder, am I witnessing history and the birth of a new superpower? Even though ethnically Chinese, I can’t help but feel a little concern for our next generation which will compete against the Chinese people.

Is Shanghai the future of all China? Or is this just a short burst of glory for this once great and glorious civilisation?