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Shanghai: Shockingly Modern

Written by: Lea 4/28/2006 3:13:16 PM
Energy is the most startling quality I noticed in my recent trip to Shanghai, China. And modernity. And growing capitalism. And...

I had been to the Canton area in the early 1980s, only a few years after the country had been opened to the West. I visited kids studying by themselves, quietly and intently. The only modern hotel in the area was a Holiday Inn. Two-lane highways were clogged with bicyclists in drab clothing. Farmers worked the land with oxen and primitive tools, and people swarmed on mountainsides, seemingly breaking them down with hammers and chisels. What were they doing? I thought of the Egyptian pyramids, and realized the incredible potential of a patient and mighty work force.

Fast forward 22 years. The skyline of Shanghai is crammed with skyscrapers, and at night the tops are lighted, creating a futuristic scene worthy of a sci-fi movie. I took a magnetic levitation train from city center to the far-away airport at 431 kilometers an hour. A total of eight minutes. So much for bicycles.

With all the startling and impressive growth going on, I was most shocked by one small but unforgettable scene, a throwback to a more primitive time. In the shadow of the Bund, the famed street of historic houses in Shanghai, young up-and-comers stroll by in their Prada suits with cellphones in their ears. In contrast, here I saw the ultimate in poverty and desperation, and a small example of the government attitude toward its people.

A young man, maybe 13 or 14, was drawing a crowd. I maneuevered my way over to see what people were staring at, and saw a cap filled with coins on the ground in front of him. What was the boy doing? He was choking himself with a rope. It was all he had to make money: his own life. His face became redder and redder as he drew the rope tighter around his thin neck. When he reached his max before passing out, he gasped and let the rope go and people clapped. The boy's voice was raspy as he whispered thanks for the coins.

I walked on in disbelief and sadness. And then I saw something even more shocking. On the next street, another boy, a competitor, doing the same thing.
 




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