shanghai: city of cranes
By Heather Shayne Blakeslee
There are images and ideas of China that I have only from visiting Shanghai, and then there are those things that seemed immediately familiar to me when I arrived because I had already read them in Dan’s diaries. What I wasn’t prepared for was how completely those dispatches of everyday life epitomize larger themes about Shanghai: the city’s mad flirtation with capitalism, the back alleys of Chinese tradition that seem to have survived ruthless development, the almost unseemly mix of Eastern and Western culture. If that sounds violent and maybe a little seedy, you’re getting an idea of the character of the city, of its pace and its density. Even after living in New York for many years, I was still unprepared for the cultural and economic extremes I witnessed in the very short time I was there. I was surprised daily by the sheer volume of people that Shanghai holds in its sprawling arms. It is the only city I have ever been in, at home or abroad, that rivals New York in its “city-ness” Shanghai moves with a kind of severe flow, a churning that will either pull you under or throw you into unexpected splendor.
02.18.2003, 10:17 PM · Guest Diaries
