So one of the advantages of extending a semester as a student was that I could apply for the study trip and actually get selected!!
An essay for my motivation, a list of my contributions and my resume.. and there I got selected!
So a bit on both cities. First Shanghai!
My expectations from Shanghai was that it would be like Mumbai. After all, in Mumbai we always heard that we want to be like Shanghai. But, what I got was nothing like Mumbai. Shanghai was dazzling. Shanghai was impressive. Shanghai was not Asian city. Shanghai was in a different league altogether. Probably, we were downtown and in CBD area all the while and could not go to pockets with the other darker part. Its brilliant infrastructure has put it so much ahead of Mumbai - I doubt we will catch upto it even in next couple of decades considering we are boasting BWSL and see where Shanghai has already reached...
But then an interesting thing happened, I met one of my ex-colleagues (rmbr
Head of Intern) who now works as China economist in Shanghai. We were discussing this that how I cannot dream to Mumbai to cope up to Shanghai even in next two decades. Then, the discussion went to how he should check Mumbai trains on youtube. But wait, you tube and FB both are blocked. He made a very interesting comment - he said, you see, we cannot dream of the political freedom ever.
Oh ya, the second thing - Shanghai Expo. I wonder if Indian govt has any ability to hold a event of 1/10th of this size. It boasted of 200,000 visitors on Saturday alone and 110,000 on Sunday (considering it was raining on Sunday evening). Spread across in an area as big as NUS, we could manage only 4 pavilions in two hours.
Another very quick scan of downtown - the city had so much wealth - the cars were not as fancy as Singapore but it I could spot quite a few of european makes. The most astonishing part was fashion labels - in 2 hours in Nanjing Road, and I saw 3 Gucci stores, 2 LV stores, a row of Chloe, Coach, Dior etc. and a 4 storey M&S building. The buildings and architecture are also impressive and worth watching.
I did not ride Maglev or go to Xian Tian Di or the Oriental Tower but I went to
bund. Overlooking the river, the bund is the place where you can see the wealth in Shanghai. The scene at 11:30 PM was as good as it gets. I could not even believe this was Asia. My peers from Canada were impressed as well - this was a North American City.
At a dinner with alums, one of our alumnus remarked. Shanghai is a perfect case of east meets west. People in west who want to see China, come to Shanghai and people in internal China who want to see West also come to Shanghai. Very remarkable!
How does government manage to contain the pressure on infrastructure? Mumbai has so high influx with lure of wealth that the city is in shambles due to thousands of people coming everyday in hope of making it big in city. But again comes the govt intervention - the government in China has controlled the migration by adopting 'hukou'. What it essentially means is citizenship. The rationale seems to quite clear - no overload if you cant supply enough raw materials and infrastructure to these cities. As a result, there is no free movement available which again is good at a point that farmers do not leave their land and come to commercial capitals for work but also restricts free movement in the country.
Come to Beijing - this is where my expectations were met. Perfectly a capital! A city with strong cultural heritage with a sense of development but at the same time those pockets of narrow lanes and small buildings. Even my Korean friend who had visited Delhi, remarked a sight which he thought was something similar to Nehru Palace! Forbidden City - remarkably preserved. The great wall of China - ahh, the pleasure of seeing it with own eyes cannot be matched. One of the wonders of world, a surreal experience when you see long walls out of no where. And still maintained in same shape. Old houses converted to pubs give that excellent homely feeling. At the same time, expat pubs makes you feel the westerners can no longer avoid China.
Here's one for fashion buffs - Chinese girls are CRAZY about LV bags. One of the alumnus in Shanghai remarked that they save upto 6-8 months salary to buy one small bag. And some media rumours also suggest that they go in prostitution etc to get the luxury they desire. Well, the other day I went to Subway tograb a bite and I see this girl dressed as waitress entering subway, not more than 22-23 - but had this small LV purse. Which again makes me realise that how Mumbai will again take two decades (or more) to catch with fashion scene in China. I am not quite sure what is the reason but I know PPP is one.
A few more remarks
- you cannot survive if you do not speak mandarin
- you can survive as a vegetarian if you know what to order and how to order
- the vegetarian food is sometimes bland but sometimes reallly good even for Indian palate (some adjustments to taste are necessary)
- the non-vegetarians will go mad eating and still not hurt the wallet
- the metro is as good as Singapore
- the traffic is not as bad as Mumbai (both Shanghai and Beijing)
- Energy in Shanghai is comparable to Mumbai, so unlike cold lah-land. Beijing was more relaxed.
Wasnt I supposed to visit companies on study trip? Well we did. But I think the actual learning takes place out there on streets. Thank you NUS for providing me again this great opportunity!
