Observations About Shanghai

China Review #1: Pudong Airport, Shanghai, 10:00 a.m., March 31.

I’m sitting in the airport café waiting for my flight back to the United States. I’ve just completed my first trip (hopefully, of many) to China and I want to write down my observations before they fade.

One of the great things about traveling somewhere for the first time is that it takes you out of your comfort zone. Everything is new, different, confusing, intense, and surprising.  If you go back to the same place, you are generally more comfortable because you know what to expect.

So, here are some of my random observations of Shanghai. Some are silly and others are thoughtful. I’ll let you decide which is which.

Observation #1:
Holy cow! There are a lot of people in Shanghai! For world travelers and big city dwellers, my first observation is probably a yawner… “So, tell us something we don’t know.” Okay, well, it’s not just that the streets are crowded… heading into the subway system (which is fabulous, modern, and clean) during the morning rush hour is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. We were 20 to 30 people abreast all marching lockstep down the stairwell into the tunnel and around the curve into the open terminal with arrows and signs pointing to the different tracks.  On the staircase going down all I could see in front of me were hundreds, maybe thousands of people with blue-black hair charging forward. I felt like I was in the middle of an ant colony on the move toward a fried chicken picnic.

Observation #2:
What China really needs are…napkins! In the local eateries, napkins are rarely handed out. You have to ask for them and Chinese napkins are the size of American cocktail napkins, so they are not much help unless you get a wad of them.

Observation #3:
Shanghai is a study in contrasts. To say that this is where the old meets the new is to totally underestimate the experience. Perhaps, a better way to describe Shanghai is to say it is the city where the ancient and future collide.   Shanghai is undoubtedly one of the most modern cities in the world with a stunning skyline, a well-planned urban transit system and a strategic plan for growth, courtesy of the Central Government. It is also a city in which millions of people eek out a living on the sidewalks making dumplings, selling freshly plucked pigeons, and offering live eels for dinner—the way they have for hundreds of years. Walk a few blocks from the über-modern, sophisticated area of E. Nanjing Road and you feel as if you have been transported back to early 20^th century China.

Observation #4:
China’s got the rich, educated capitalist thing figured out and it is working on improving the lives of the millions of poor and uneducated, but the Central Government (whoever they may be) knows that it is the growth of the newly empowered middle class that will make China a truly great country for a long time to come. To this end, the Central Government is backing and sponsoring conferences, workshops, and seminars all over the country on entrepreneurship. Everywhere I went, everybody was talking about entrepreneurship. It’s the big buzzword in China because the Central Government knows that for the Chinese economy to continue to grow at a rate of 9% a year (which is what it did during the worst recession in recent memory) it will need new businesses. Where will those businesses come from? Most likely the technology sector. Since 2006, the central government has stealthily changed requirements for foreign multinationals. If you want to do business in China now you have to share your proprietary technology information and agree to joint ventures with Chinese state-owned enterprises. The more the Chinese can piggy back on a multinational corporation’s proprietary information, the faster it can grow its own entrepreneurs using someone else’s technology.

Observation #5:
In the United States when we talk politics, we name names (“Today, President Obama said this about that”).  But in China, when the news anchor reports the news, she simply ascribes attribution to the “Central Government” or to the “Central Authorities.” Who are these people that make up the “Central Government?” How do they get elected? Or do they get elected? How do they get appointed?  Is anyone allowed to challenge the Central Government’s decisions?

Observation #6:
Chinese students are hungry to know more about the rest of the world. Wherever I went on campus at Shanghai University, students wanted to talk and hear about America, and to practice their English.

Observation #7:
A tall blonde woman who is smiling and strolling along one of Shanghai’s broad avenues is a prime target for aggressive street vendors hawking watches, pens, and scarves.

Observation #8:
Chinese people are the most intense negotiators I have ever met—and the women are a lot tougher than the men. They are constantly haggling,  negotiating, horse trading, and arguing—about everything.

Observation #9:
The Central Government seems to have a master plan for everything in Shanghai except the traffic. Scooters, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, cars, and buses go in any direction whenever they can move. Crossing the street as a pedestrian is a lot like being a matador in a ring with a very angry bull. On more than one occasion, the drape of my raincoat brushed against a car that cut me off while I was in the crosswalk and had the green light.

Observation #10:
Look out world. Here comes China.

1. Eddie Hahn says:

   June 26, 2011 at 11:43 pm

   Though I never have, I now feel like I’ve been there! Thanks.

   reply