Chinese Confession - Growing Pains

I woke up this morning to a completely unexpected but thoroughly welcome sight: blue sky. The bright sunlight illuminated my room and seemed to lighten everyone’s mood, though we are all in quite high spirits to begin with. I ate breakfast from our small balcony at the end of the hall, where, being nine stories up, the view is impressive on a hazy day. Today, however, with the sky being so clear and the smog and haze dispersed, the true depths of Shanghai’s sea of high rises could be fully appreciated. The view was no longer impressive; it was breathtaking. As I savored a meat dumpling, a red bean paste bun, and a kiwi and cucumber flavored yogurt smoothie, I took advantage of the 180 degree view as a priceless opportunity to step back and try to take it all in. There were 24 cranes that I could clearly see in the skyline before me, though this was hardly a complete view of such an enormous city. Some other objects in the distance could have been cranes, but I couldn’t be sure. As impressive as it is, however, this number could also equal a mere rounding error as the urban planning department has plans to add an additional 1,000 high rises by the end of the decade. They already have 4,000.

This city is huge. It’s already big by today’s standards, being one of the ten largest in the world. When you see this place and just how fast it is growing, however, you don’t just see Shanghai for what it is at the moment. You see it for what it will become. It is nearly impossible to separate the two. This is one of the things about Shanghai that is so incredible to experience but no camera can capture. No video can capture it. Words cannot even fully capture it. But it is very much present, alive, and thriving in the air all around you. It is not a question of if Shanghai will reach its potential, but of when. This whisper of things to come is discernable above all of the abundant noises of the city – the rapid poundings of a jack hammer on asphalt, the sound of a shovel as it cuts a muddy crevice, the honking traffic on the elevated highway, the theft alarm of a parked scooter that pierces the morning air, the metro train as it zips overhead, or the welding in the upper level framework of a new apartment building.

When night time falls, the city changes its face but not its pace. Just like your heart keeps beating, nerves keep firing, and body keeps metabolizing as you sleep, Shanghai remains alive, vibrant, and booming through the twilight hours. Even now at 10:00pm as I write this, bright lights shine up from the stadium a few blocks away, drawing bright streaks high up into the night sky. Next door, brilliant neon lights dance on top of a four story building, drawing people in to take a spot on one of the multiple levels of bowling alleys and pool tables. Farther in the distance, I can see the Aurora skyscraper in the Lujiazui financial district lighting up with LED lights all along the face, transforming it from a golden-colored glass and steel building by day into a giant television screen by night. The Shanghai World Financial Center, still under construction, is brightly illuminated as work never ceases. Closer by I can distinguish the flame of welders constructing a new building to house some of the hundreds of thousands of people who come to this city every year, or perhaps some of those who find prosperity and a more comfortable standard of living through their hard work and fortunate circumstances.

Aurora building by night

Shanghai World Financial Center (behind the Jinmao tower)

Shanghai is truly a land of opportunity, as are many other places in China. For some this opportunity will be much easier to capture than for others. The people here do not have the same degree of mobility that we enjoy back in the United States. Some who are born into the countryside will never be able to go to the city, where the vast majority of the nation’s prosperity is taking place. Some will be able to go, but not legally, and once they arrive in the city, making ends meet may be more difficult and painful than they imagined. For some it will be painful and difficult, but not nearly as bad as it was in the country. For some it may be worse. Some of the more fortunately will be born into a well-positioned family, be able to pursue an education, and enjoy the kind of life that their parents dreamed they would have.

I saw a man yesterday who may be one of these people. I followed in his footsteps as he pushed a rusty bicycle laden with stacks of cardboard and numerous, voluminous sacks. I used my camera to record this short scene, if only for a minute. His pace was steady and determined, though slow. We were walking up a narrow that cuts through a scene of massive urban redevelopment – something that can be seen all over the city. He is obviously poor, and he will most likely take this cardboard and the contents of these plastic bags somewhere to be recycled. The money will likely be used to provide food for himself, his family, and perhaps there will be a little bit left over for savings. The whole time I followed him I never really saw his face. He didn’t even know I was behind him. He could be anyone. His story is like that of so many others.

I am going to go ahead and post this short clip here in this blog. It certainly doesn’t have any of the glamour of Shanghai, but it does show life as it truly is here for some of the people. This man, like so many others, works to provide for himself. He doesn’t ride around on the back of a large garbage truck collecting cardboard that has been set out and stacked neatly. His story is much more modest and the truth of his situation is hardly disguised. He collects cardboard and whatever is in his plastic bags. A couple of girls walk in front of him, carrying bags filled with things that they purchased from the large shopping district behind us. People pass by on scooters, bicycles, or on foot, hardly even noticing us and busy going about their own lives. Another person passes by in an Audi – a luxury dreamed of by many but affordable to few in this city. Around us, dilapidated buildings are blocked off for demolition or have already been leveled to make room for new, modern high rises. The road, crumbling in places, may be redone, or it may simply be touched up. Either way, this short scene shows some of the growing pains of this city. The pain doesn’t necessarily mean that things are bad, but it is a necessity for a place and a people with such ambitions and aspirations. After all, the people of Shanghai are all in it together to transform their city into a beacon of prosperity that will awe the world, and each person has a role – even an old man collecting cardboard for recycling.

And with no further ado, here is the short clip.