My Travels in Asia: Remembering Shanghai (Part 4 of 5)
December 4, 2008 by dr. lam
One of my favorite cities in all of Asia is Shanghai. Perhaps my feelings emerge from its magical history as the international, polished jewel of China a century ago. Perhaps my cherished view of Shanghai reflects half of my legacy, as my mother and her family hail from Shanghai. In any case, it has more to do with it being a fascinating, almost over-wrought, urban metropolis that bespeaks the decadence, opulence, and gusto of modern China.
I travelled with my mother in 1993 throughout China including the greatest-hits tour of Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, and Xian. By the time I had finished my travels I became intensely appreciative of my home country, the United States, and foreswore a return trip to what I deemed a dusty, impoverished, and barren land. However, by 2002 when I returned to lecture in Shanghai I was floored at the transformation I witnessed. It was as if Sturgis, Michigan (sorry to my in-laws there) had become Chicago, Illinois over night.
I flew into the old airport that is reminiscent of one of the tiny airstrips in the Caribbean islands and flew out of one of the best, if not the best, airport in the entire world, Shanghai Pudong International. The old, dust-caked roads in 1993 gave way to superhighways that arced across the sky and linked every conceivable part of the city to another. The buildings that crowded the skyline were modern and distinct like a major U.S. city with a little less decorum, reflective of the nouveau riche status of China. I remember having a 4-dollar, one-hour foot massage followed by a luxurious French dinner in a restaurant called T8, dining on sweetbreads and foie gras. What a contrast!
After dinner I strolled through the cobblestoned streets that were fabricated to match Europe in a vibrant other worldly area called Xin Tiandi (literally new heaven and earth), partook of some Billie Holliday at a jazz club where the chanteuses sang in English, saw a music video being filmed with interracial couples embracing under a boom crane and was mystified at a McDonald’s version of Starbucks called McCafe. Shanghai is a must see if you are in the Far East even more than Beijing. It will stimulate you, shock you, and offer you a glimpse of the collision of cultures and tastes that is modern China.
Btw, if you haven’t read China Inc. by Ted Fishman, you should. It reveals a lot of the current commercial roots of how China is emerging as a world superpower and how it is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
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