SHANGHAI – PARIS OF THE EAST

SHANGHAI – PARIS OF THE EAST

By

V.K. Singh

Friends who had visited China earlier told us that Beijing and Shanghai are like Delhi and Bombay – one has all the history, architecture and culture, while the other has the industry, finance and night life. After we had seen both cities, we concurred with their views, but only partly, at least in respect of Shanghai. If it has to be compared, New York would be a better candidate. Shanghai by night beats Times Square any day, and if the Americans don’t believe it, they are cordially invited. The erstwhile Paris of the East is fast becoming the New York of the East. Looking at the city today, it is difficult to imagine that just 15 years ago, there were only rice fields where Asia’s tallest structure now stands!

We came to Shanghai after spending four days in Beijing, so we had been acclimatized to China. The guide – she spoke English, thankfully – took us to the Zhong Ya hotel, which turned out to be much better than the Zhong Gong, where we had stayed in Beijing – at least they gave you sugar and milk with your tea. After dumping our bags in the room, we made our way to the People’s Square, which seemed to be thronged with people, doing literally nothing, except for a few couples who were ‘ necking’ – American influence, said our guide. After some time it dawned that everyone was waiting for the fountain to start. No one seemed to know when this would happen, least of all the guide. Finally, we coaxed her to ask the person who was sweeping the floor, who said that the man who turned on the fountain usually came at five pm. Since it was only 4.30, we decided to have a look at the underground shopping centre that lay just below us. It turned out to be an unwise decision – we ended up buying several things we did not need. However, it gave us some idea of what Palika Bazar in Connaught Place might have been.

The fountain came on exactly at 5 pm, followed by a cheer from the crowd. There was a strong breeze and the spray drenched some children who were standing very close to the fountain, leading to shrill shrieks and scampering feet. We spent almost an hour at the People’s Square, soaking in the atmosphere. We then made our way to the Century Park and New World. By now the lights had come on, and the city looked beautiful. The last item on the day’s agenda was dinner at an Indian restaurant, and we were taken to the Delhi Durbar. We were pleasantly surprised to find that unlimited soft drinks and beer, along with snacks, were provided free of cost. Perhaps the Indian restaurants in Beijing also had a similar arrangement, but did not advertise it! My companion, Sukesh, is a teetotaler and a vegetarian, so he contented himself with a Coke, along with samosas and pakoras. I had my beer with chicken tikka that was as good as what one gets on Pandara Road or Nizamuddin. The food that followed was equally good, and so was the ice cream. Not a bad way to round off the day, so far away from home.

We spent the next day visiting the Jade Buddha Monastery, Town God’s temple, Yu Garden, Nanjing Road and the Bund. An unscheduled item was the evening cruise on the Huang Pu River, which turned out to be the highlight of the tour. The Bund – I suspect the Brits took this term from India – is the most visited place in Shanghai. It is an embankment on the west bank of the Huang Pu River, lined with buildings constructed in the colonial era. On the eastern side lie the skyscrapers built during the last 10-15 years, including the famous Pearl TV Tower and the Grand Hyatt Shanghai. An evening stroll on the Bund is an experience not to be missed, especially after the lights come on. All buildings along the mile long stretch on both sides of the river are lighted up, each in a different colour. We were told that all offices have to be closed by 6 pm, so that no lights are on in any of the windows in these building, which would ruin the effect of external lighting. I asked Sukesh, who had just returned after spending a month in New York, if this was not as good as Times Square, which I had seen several years ago. “Why as good, it is in fact better,” he replied.

Shanghai consists of two parts, the Pu Xi (western town) and Pu Dong (eastern town), which lie on opposite sides of the Huang Pu River. Pu Xi symbolizes old Shanghai while Pu Dong denotes new Shanghai. The stately buildings, all beautifully maintained, on the western side offer a striking contrast to the modern architecture on the eastern side. Until 1990, the city of Shanghai consisted only of Pu Xi, while Pu Dong had nothing but farmland. Once China decided to open her economy, Shanghai became a major commercial centre, where the government invested millions of Yuan to build up infrastructure that would attract foreign investors. Pu Dong came up with lightning speed, and is now the financial hub of the city, where most banks and  multi-national companies have their offices and residential housing for their employees. Symbols of Shanghai's prosperity are the Pearl TV Tower and the Maglev, the World’s fastest train that connects the city to the Pu Dong International airport.

            The Nan Jing Road is Shanghai’s Fifth Avenue, housing the most fashionable and expensive shops. A stretch of the road on the eastern end has been converted into pedestrian zone where one can walk around enjoying the ambience, especially at night when the road is lit up with neon lights, a la Broadway. Another place worth a visit is the Old French Concession Area, which is characterised by tree-lined streets and beautiful mansions of the taipans of yester years. This also contains Shanghai’s chic shopping street, the Huai Hai Middle Road, which has many haute couture boutiques and shopping centres. During the colonial era the French, English and Americans had their own ‘concessions’, with their own customs, laws and rules of behaviour. Though Shanghai existed from the 16^th Century, its real growth began in 1842, when China, after losing to Britain in the Opium War, surrendered her sovereignty over Hong Kong and declared Shanghai a treaty port, leading to the influx of the Europeans and Americans.

Shanghai has another unique claim – it is the place where the nationalists formed the Communist Party in 1921, under Sun Yat Sen. The city also provided a word to the English language when ‘shanghai’ came to be used to denote forcible conscription of unsuspecting men as sailors by press gangs for merchant ships. In the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai had an unenviable reputation for vice, and was also known as a ‘sin city’, with a large population of gangsters, drug addicts, gamblers and prostitutes. Communist rule brought an end to these unsavoury activities, but Shanghai retained its position as the largest port city of Asia.

            What impressed us the most about Shanghai was its traffic and transport systems. Most of the roads have 8, 10 or 12 lanes, in addition to a cycle track and side walks for pedestrians. A large number of people use bicycles and scooters – there were no motorcycles – in addition to cars, yet there were no traffic jams. At busy intersections, traffic assistants are positioned to help cyclists and pedestrians cross the road. When the numbers of pedestrians is large, they stretch a tape across the zebra crossing, to stop the flow pedestrains when the lights change from green to red. Shanghai has the world's most extensive bus system with nearly one thousand bus lines. The Shanghai Metro is World class, having five lines, part elevated and part underground. By 2010, another eight lines are to be added. Taxis are plentiful, and not very expensive.

There was nothing scheduled for the third day in the city, so we decided to visit Zhujiajiao, a quaint little water town about 45 km from Shanghai. By now we had picked up a little Chinese, and thought we would be able to do it without a guide or interpreter. We caught a city tour bus from the Indoor Stadium, bought a ticket for 12 Yuan, and an hour later were dropped outside the town. Unless one is a resident, one has to pay 10 Yuan to enter the 1700 year old town, which is criss-crossed with small rivers and canals that are spanned by several stone arch bridges. The streets run along the rivers, with thousands of small houses on both sides. Most houses had their doors and windows open, and one could see the inmates going about their household chores. There were several small temples and gardens, most of which were several hundred years old. Since vehicles could not enter the town, the principal means of locomotion was walking. However, boats were also used, especially for moving heavy stores and provisions. One of the famous landmarks of Zhujiajiao is the Fangsheng Bridge. About 70 meters in length and 6 meters in width, it is shaped like rainbow, and is also called the Rainbow Bridge. Another name given to it is the ‘Freeing Fish’ bridge. One could buy live fish in a plastic bag full of water, and throw them in the river, where they were probably caught again and sold to another tourist.

After spending a couple of hours in Zhujiajiao, we returned to Shanghai by bus. Since we still had a couple of hours to kill, we decided to have another look at the Bund. During our journey back to the hotel, Sukesh and I got separated in the Metro. It was the evening rush hour, and I had just entered the coach, when the doors closed, leaving Sukesh outside, except his foot, which came between the doors. He tried to force open the doors with his foot, but to no avail. He pulled back his foot, the doors closed and the train moved. I knew that the next train would come in two minutes, so I was not unduly perturbed. However, when he did not turn up at the destination station for ten minutes, I though it would be better to go to the hotel and wait for him there. One never knew, he might have decided to take a taxi. He turned up after twenty minutes. By this time our car and the guide had arrived, and we were anxiously looking at our watches. Sukesh said that he missed the next three trains in a row, since the trains were already jam- packed. The guide laughed and said that this was a common occurrence in Shanghai.

The best part of our tour had been saved for the last. We had decided to use the Maglev to go to the airport, leaving the suitcases in the car, with instructions to the driver to meet us at the airport.  The pride of Shanghai is definitely the Maglev, which literally runs on air, using magnetic levitation. It was constructed in 2002 with German help, to connect the city to the aiprort. It runs from Shanghai's Longyang Road Metro station to Pudong International Airport, performing the 50 km journey in 7 minutes and 21 seconds and reaches a maximum speed of 431 kmph. Passengers having a valid air ticket pay 40 Yuan for the trip, while those having a joy ride pay 50 Yuan. One can carry his baggage on the train, for which racks are provided near the entrance of every coach. At night, the speed is reduced to about 300 kmph. Since our flight to Delhi left late at night, we had to travel at the reduced speed, to our eternal regret. 

9 Dec 2007