Shanghai Part 3

When people in China hear that I studied and Shanghai and now live in Beijing, their first question is typically which city do you like better…which I quickly reply, Shanghai. I have come to love Beijing, but there is just no comparison to Shanghai. The response to this is typically some analysis of how Beijing is more traditional and historical, while Shanghai is more modern and business oriented. While true, I would not necessarily say that Beijing is all that much more traditional. The overall feeling of the city may skew slightly towards the traditional, but this is still a pretty modern city, especially in comparison to the villages that lay all over the city. Beijing is in the process of rapid modernization, or revitalization, or renovation…whichever you want to call it in preparation for next year’s Olympics. I was unfortunately greeted with a major reminder of these projects while going through the Forbidden City this weekend. I was disappointed to find that two of the main halls were completely covered with scaffolding. While this will improve the experience for visitors next year, it makes for an eyesore right now. I suppose that this is the cost of progress.

Shanghai is a city that changes constantly. There is likely no city in the history of the world that has experience the level of growth and modernization that Shanghai has in the last 20 years. As one piece of Shanghai lore states, during the 1990’s 1/3rd of the world’s tower cranes were located within the city limits of Shanghai. In 1984 the tallest building in the city was 24 stories tall…today, there are thousands that tower over this height. Shanghai has one of the most unique and impressive skylines in the world.

Visiting Shanghai was like catching up with an old friend. I was thrilled to find many of my favorite places still in tact, though not surprised to see that some have moved on. In a city that is developing as quickly as Shanghai is, the road to development means that history is sometimes ignored and forgotten. Beijing is the more historical city, but Shanghai has also had an illustrious (by Western standards) past. Shanghai is the city, with the exception of Hong Kong, that has had the most interaction with the west in China. There are pockets of the city that were controlled by British, French, American and Russian foreign contingents, remnants of China’s checkered history of interaction with the west. Today the reminders of this colonial period still are present in western architecture, tree lined streets and even an occasional name. Three of these colonial relics are among my favorite places in the city. The Bund, the riverfront area is among the most famous sights in Shanghai and a phenomenal place to spend a few hours wandering around, regardless of what time of day you are there. It is filled with activity throughout the day, from older people practicing tai chi, fan dancing and martial arts in the morning, to tourists in the afternoon and young couples enjoying a warm evening. The French Concession, the portion of the city controlled by the French is my favorite neighborhood in Shanghai. The tree lined streets, colonial architecture and fantastic shopping make for a great place to spend an afternoon. For a city that loves to “renovate” as much as Shanghai, it is amazing that so much of the French Concession has been preserved. Finally, the Shanghai Art Museum is the former member’s only club of the Shanghai Race Track. This used to be firmly in the British section of the city and the building was one of the most exclusive clubs in the city. Today it houses a great, though small, collection of art that showcases both traditional Chinese art as well as examples from the quickly growing modern art scene in China.

Shanghai was also the site where many European Jews made their way during the early years of the Holocaust. During this period the Japanese controlled Shanghai and because of this, there was no visa required to live in Shanghai. At the time, the United States (among many others) were refusing to grant visa’s to Jews in part because of a lack of understanding of what exactly was beginning to happen in Europe. Many Jews had no where but Shanghai to go. The story of Shanghai’s Jews is told in a wonderful documentary, Shanghai Jews, but is, for the most part a story that is not known in China. In the Shanghai City History Museum there was a brief mention of this period, but no real commemoration of the important role that Shanghai played in the preservation of the Jewish race. It was due, in part, to q quirk in history, but China and Shanghai stepped up to take in a threatened people when no one else would. This should be commemorated much more than it is.

Shanghai is, at least in my mind, a nearly perfect city. There is a mix of new and old, gaudy and understated, frantic and calm. There is so much to do regardless of what interests you, food of any culture to eat, art to see, architecture to marvel at and shopping to spend your hard earned dollars. I have no doubt that at some point in my life I will call Shanghai home. The weekend that I spent there reminded me of the charms of this city.