You know, I've lived in a couple of foreign countries in my day. Not a huge amount, mind you - Germany, England, Spain for a bit. You could even say that Montreal somewhat like living in a foreign country (the Quebecois would be ecstatic to hear me say this) due to the heavy French influence (though Montreal was still culturally closer to Vancouver than London was).
I've also visited a fair amount of foreign countries. I think 35 was my last count (if I count tiny countries like Monaco, the Vatican and Lichtenstein). But nothing has prepared me for the sheer amount of differences I would find here.
Let me start by saying that Shanghai, being a very modern city, doesn't feel totally foreign upon arriving. Since virtually everything is written in Chinese, and 99% of the people are chinese, you know you're somewhere different, but the cars are modern and mostly VWs, the buildings look like regular skyscrapers. They have traffic lights with the regular red yellow and green. The trees are green. It's all relatively familiar.
Then night falls, and you see that instead of the skyscrapers simpy being darker versions of themselves, many are garishly lit up with colourful neon lights and spotlights. "Hmmm... that's different" you say to yourself. The Chinese, at least those that are in charge of building things, love lights. The Bund - a historic/touristy riverfront area in Shanghai - is awash with huge lit banners, coloured search lights searching uselessly (but spectacularily) in the sky, buildings with the aformentioned neon decorations and lastly a good kilometer of the waterfront has a thin strip of neon lights that flash, change colours, show pictures - only visible to those on the other side.
The chinese are not particularily interested in saving money on electricity, I guess. But the results sure are colourful. It's the first step in realizing that priorities are a little different over here. Not a huge shock, by any means, it's just a taste of things to come...
Next posts - more musings on Shanghai and how it's different from the rest of the world I thought I knew. :-)
I've also visited a fair amount of foreign countries. I think 35 was my last count (if I count tiny countries like Monaco, the Vatican and Lichtenstein). But nothing has prepared me for the sheer amount of differences I would find here.
Let me start by saying that Shanghai, being a very modern city, doesn't feel totally foreign upon arriving. Since virtually everything is written in Chinese, and 99% of the people are chinese, you know you're somewhere different, but the cars are modern and mostly VWs, the buildings look like regular skyscrapers. They have traffic lights with the regular red yellow and green. The trees are green. It's all relatively familiar.
Then night falls, and you see that instead of the skyscrapers simpy being darker versions of themselves, many are garishly lit up with colourful neon lights and spotlights. "Hmmm... that's different" you say to yourself. The Chinese, at least those that are in charge of building things, love lights. The Bund - a historic/touristy riverfront area in Shanghai - is awash with huge lit banners, coloured search lights searching uselessly (but spectacularily) in the sky, buildings with the aformentioned neon decorations and lastly a good kilometer of the waterfront has a thin strip of neon lights that flash, change colours, show pictures - only visible to those on the other side.
The chinese are not particularily interested in saving money on electricity, I guess. But the results sure are colourful. It's the first step in realizing that priorities are a little different over here. Not a huge shock, by any means, it's just a taste of things to come...
Next posts - more musings on Shanghai and how it's different from the rest of the world I thought I knew. :-)
posted by Falko at 3:42 PM
3 Comments:
This sounds like what the movie Code 46 looked like. Cool near-future movie (in the way that "Until the End of the World" was) while not being candy Sci-Fi. Anyway, the movie showed night scenes of Shanghai that looked like what Blade Runner would have been like if it was not raining in the future.
I should see this movie. You're the 3rd person to tell me about it.
It's strange how it was always raining in Blade Runner. Maybe it takes place in Vancouver? :-)
Yeah, I may count as two. I posted anon last time.
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