The latter are either regular or serviced and
lie, again, in huge high-rise monstrosities
with aesthetics that possess not even a
sliver of architectural flair. Air-conditioning,
of course, comes as standard in all
accommodation.
Some expats choose to live elbow to elbow
with the Chinese and will rent a room off a
Shanghainese family. Family is put above all
else in China; it is more important to have a
large clan under a small roof than their filial
relations spread around several different
apartments. The Chinese do not invest in or
value property as Westerners do. Therefore,
the living space in quintessential Chinese
apartments is often cramped and
claustrophobic.
With 23 million people living in Shanghai,
one might presume that daily life is also
cramped and claustrophobic. In fact,
because Shanghai is sprawled over such a
large geographical area, it gets no more
hectic in its busiest places than Oxford
Street or Victoria train station at rush hour.
Its gigantic size means Shanghai is not a city
for the rambler. Apart from the French
Concession - an area bursting with art decostyle
buildings
lying
behind
leafy
promenades, which was developed by the
French in the 1920s - and the Bund - an
assortment of 1930s neoclassical, New
York-style buildings overlooking the muddy,
trading-boat-infested Huangpu River and
the glitzy, post-modern skyscrapers of
Pudong in south Shanghai - there are no
distinct areas to the city. Shanghai's sprawl
consists predominantly of ugly, residential
skyscrapers, which litter the city's skyline,
and shopping malls, fast food joints, shops
and supermarkets, which line the
pavements. To travel amongst this hotpot of
throwaway consumerism and interminable
development an electric scooter, a taxi or
the metro are the advised modes of
transport.
Travelling by scooter or taxi highlights the
very nonchalant Chinese adherence to the
highway code. Scooters merrily zoom down
pavements, the wrong way down roads, and
jump traffic lights. Taxis, similarly, will
happily drive head first into oncoming traffic
and use their horn more than their brake.
The metro, in contrast, is an ordered and
slick operation. It is tasked with ferrying
millions of Shanghainese around the city
each day and yet it operates a much more
effective and attractive service than the
London Underground. Even with airportstyle security at the barriers it will take less
time to get onto the platform and onto a train
than in London; air-conditioned carriageless trains, LED-coded maps, marblefloored stations, cheap tickets and large,
open-plan platforms make the journey that
much more enjoyable. What is more, rather
than fellow passengers elbowing you in the
face whilst their head is buried in a tabloid,
the Chinese choose to while away the time
on their phones, playing computer games.
CV
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