Shanghai boasts a brand-new gleaming airport, which was a nice surprise. But the town itself… a monstrous mass of humanity, 14 million of them. 14 million! The buildings are a wild jumble of old (19th century, very few), a lot of decrepit socialist-style prefabs, and ultra-modern high-rises (none of the latter, apparently, older than 10 years). These are concentrated in Pudong (picture above). For the rest of the city, mad traffic on narrow roads (except an elevated expressway hacked through the town), rush-hour traffic like anywhere else in the world. At least they don't make a sport of aiming at pedestrians, like in the CIS.

It can often be quite misty thus obscuring the view - unfortunately.   The main shopping street is Nanjing Road - a bustling, busy place which might for all means and purposes also be in Hong Kong.

A stroll on the Bund – the famous riverside promenade, where the Europeans used to have their HQs until the 1930s. The street is dotted with classical corporate architecture of the period. Strangely enough, the Chinese left them alone, and are building modern corporate Shanghai on the opposite side of the river in Pudong (cf. picture on top of this page), where the highest building in Asia is in the making, surpassing even the Hyatt with its 88 floors.

The Bund at night

We also had a very interesting experience with a Chinese hospital. Given an emergency, we got ourselves dropped off at the "First People's Hospital" – following the advice of the hotel. The lobby was indistinguishable from a railway platform – hundreds of people milling about (masses of people seems to be a recurring theme here). I kept asking anybody in white whether they spoke a living language, until somebody thought the best way of getting rid of us was to lead us to where such a person might be located. The nurse led us three buildings further (all in the same hospital complex) until we were dealt with in a separate room by a woman doctor plus German- and English speaking nurse. They were very friendly and seemed efficient and competent, even dragging out a massive Chinese-German medical dictionary to explain the diagnosis.

They then proceeded to sell us the appropriate medicines, and after an hour we were dismissed. Total cost: c. $ 15, plus c. $ 1,20 for the taxi to the Bund. Must be said, after our first scepticism we were quite impressed. Remains to be seem if the therapy actually works.

Taking the train to Suzhou was another experience by itself. The waiting room at the Shanghai station for Soft Class is most comfortable – better than most lounges at airports! The place was crowded once again (surprise), this time with tourists… Little severe ladies in smart blue uniforms (station masters?) then called up one group after another, and we were guided to the train – numbered train cars and seats, no less! No undignified scramble for the best seats… Soft Class meant relatively modern double-decker wagons, the comfort comparable to the German ICE. Somehow, the PA announcements in Chinese were lost to us. However, the constant Muzak background music seems pretty international. (Whoever invented the concept of wallpaper music ought to be shot, if he hasn’t been strangled already.) The interior of our train was pure kitsch - cute little flowery seat cover design. One odd thing - train employees kept trying to sell us stuff - from postcards (a big thing here) to silk. State employed street merchants... Also had a glimpse at a “normal” train - those wooden seats did not look like fun.

Suzhou, a short way away from Shanghai, is a “small” town of a mere 5.4m people. Still lots of bicycles still around but we were told that some 250 new cars are being registered daily!
Again, lots and lots of new housing is being put up - at least a lot of it in the “old style” (as opposed to skyscrapers). Suzhou is known for both its gardens and its silk production – and we were enlightened in both arts – we became instant experts, naturally. It seems Marco Polo was here, too – at least the Chinese seem convinced of it. One of the things one must know when it comes to Chinese gardens is that such a garden is supposed to be a juncture between heaven and earth. The Chinese word for landscape actually means “Stone and Water” - which explains why Chinese gardens place heavy emphsis on stone and water. Flowers in bloom is an entirely western concept. Since tourists have been asking about the lack of flowers you may these days find some potted plants in full bloom - but they are there only to satisfy the tourists.
Silk production was one of the secrets the Chinese kept for centuries. Until today, the basic production process hasn’t changed much. Feed the silkworm until it makes a cocoon, boil the cocoon, then find the thread, combine six or so of them (one’s too thin), and spool it. The actual threading is very tough work, though...

Suzhou is also called the “Venice of the East” - a name which may have come from Marco Polo, but which is misleading. Suzhou is nowhere near the coast, bit it IS connected to the Great Canal, which was built from the 13th Century onwards and connects the North of China with the South, at a length of some 1800kms.

Having seen the old town, or rather the appalling standard in which some people here still live, I begin to understand why the locals so proudly speak of the newly built high-rises, and the plans for demolishment of the old houses. Some of the new buildings – in Suzhou at least – must be built "old style", but my guess is that in the future they will miss having gotten rid of all the old stuff. Bit like Hong Kong really, where a building gets torn down as soon as balance-sheet depreciation is over. There are some corners, though, where you feel thrown back in time...

Some old-timers playing Chinese chess Dinner...

 to top