Shanghai and Beyond

In Shanghai, The Bund riverfront city-scape viewing strip was definately a highlight worth mentioning. An elevated walkway more than 1km long lines the west side of the Huangpu river, with a row of colonial era buildings - grand neoclassical 1930s architecture lining the road beside it to the west, while across the river the towering and multicoloured skyscrapers lined up and reaching over 300m high are presented along with massive flashing neon advertising boards of various global 500 companies. Meanwhile numerous cruise ships of huge size and strange shapes (pirate ships, dragons, turtles etc.), lit up appropriately, drift around the river carrying passengers on dinner cruises and event receptions, complementing the view.
And the China International Travel Mart that i visited was revealing as to the scale of the Tourism industry here in China, and its massive future potential. By the time i arrived with a friend on the last day, it appeared as if a bomb had struck the exhibition halls. Papers lying eveywhere, abandoned stalls- clearly this place had been hit by a brochure hungry mob, abandoned by the staff when their promotional materials ran out and the leftovers raided by subsequent vistors. I joined the stragglers to collect and few brochures from the highly decorated Chinese provincial displays before checking out the offerings of the dozens of International stalls at the exhibition. The US was very prominent (only one given 'official partner' status), while Taiwan was making big efforts to benefit from recent warming relations with the mainland, with vibrantly dressed dancers entertaining the crowds, a proud-looking dancer even approached me and gave me a shirt-pin while saying 'welcome to Taiwan'. The Aussie stall wasnt particularly impressive, and i thought lacked a clearly conveyed, unique product (contrasting to NZ's stall next door which proudly displayed its unique Maori heritage) that would be likely to draw Chinese away from the usual suspect destinations of Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore. While there, i still had a chance to chat with some officials from the Sichuan tourism board and learn more about the industry. Next year 47 million Chinese tourists are expected to travel overseas, and that number is growing by almost 20% a year. And Chinese are not known as stingy travellers. They like to do such things in style and comfort. So you can imagine the frenzy for a piece of the action. But the number of international tourists from china is nothing compared to the swarms of domestic tourists that tour China itself. Naturally the locals wish to sample the wondrous delights of the middle kingdom before thinking to venture further abroad.

Also, i wanted to mention another reason for my affection towards Shanghai. Its a place where it seems women are regarded as unashamedly equal to men. Many local women reinforced this to me, and it was clear in the way the girls carried themselves and dressed- their confidence and education clear enough to the observer. This complemented the sense of openess in the city- a place where women are valued and respected to me seems to imply an air of welcoming and hospitality, tolerance, rational order and peaceful behaviour. Unfortunately this progressive atmosphere has not yet reached rural China, and certainly not in the isolated part of a western province where i live.
Also in Shanghai- Perhaps last blog i didn't quite catch the meaning behind the bar robbery.... It really got me fired up, ready for battle, my heart was thumping for hours. It was good though, coz it burnt some of the lingering naivety out of me. I realised that the old principle i often follow 'be friendly to people and they will be friendly to you' has its limits- especially as a young foreigner fresh to a new big city....and then again, in China clearly friendliness is not as important as in Australia. For example, there's no specific word for friendly in Chinese- the translation commonly used 'you hao' literally means 'have good' - a much vaguer meaning that doesnt imply a kind of behaviour. While the word for friend 'pengyou' literally means 'has money'. Too bad for poor yet noble folk! And they're more flexible on what is viewed as right and wrong. (more on this cultural stuff, with evidence, in next blog) But thats not to mention the kind lady who toiled with me for ages helping me try to contact my friend to let them know i'd arrived in Shanghai. Or, could it have been that she was a prostitute anticipating some kind of job... ahh the endless mysteries of an unfamiliar land!
One of the recurring issues facing any long-term visitor to China is what attitude to take towards the country, people and culture. It comes up everyday in chats with fellow travellers and expats, and the typical attitude that seems to be taken is one of abuse and condescencion- criticising everything from the food and toilets to the dirtyness, smoking habits, ignorance of the people and arrogance of Chinese men. Often such complaints are one of the first things travellers say to each other on meeting. It's like we do this somewhow to comfort each other in the strange surroundings. Or perhaps we say it to balance out the oft-expressed innate pride that Chinese have in their country. The Queen of England's husband, Prince Phillip, is known to have made his unadulterated racism on the subject public, by saying that he was concerned that British students going to study in China would come back with 'slitty eyes'. So this is the background elitist racism that we are up against. But what is the source of this resentment? I try to take a middle path on this. China obviously has a long history and epic cultural achievements, but its worldview and value system also differ greatly from The West. Meanwhile, In the context of the modern, developed world, i'd say it still has a long way to go and retains many of the dark seeds of authoritarianism and repression in its society and culture. Its hard to underestimate the unhealed scars left by the tragic events of the 'great leap forward' and cultural revolution, coupled with stories of ancient Imperial excess, these illustrate the madness of allowing one man to control the destiny of a country. But China's contribution to world affairs is potentially great, so let's keep an open mind, shall we....
More (hopefully revealing) cultural notes next time!
PEACE
cal