Thursday, November 02, 2006
The Shanghai Skyline
I had heard from lots of friends about the Shanghai skyline, but even so, I wasn't prepared for the grandeur of what I saw. There are only two skylines that can compete with Shanghai IMHO: New York and Hong Kong (and perhaps Tokyo, but I've never been). I guess what is unique about Shanghai is not just the skyline but the elevated road system silhouetted by the amazing skyline, which really does give the city a Bladerunner-like look, which I love. If I remember right, the movie sets were inspired by Tokyo, but I think Shanghai is even closer to that vision than Tokyo. Though no picture can do justice to the elevated road system, I am gonna try.
The thing is these elevated roads just go on for ever and if I remember right, there are entire ring roads that are elevated. These roads also go on to show what a determined government can do in terms of improving the lives of its citizens, even in extremely crowded cities. The other truly impressive thing about Shanghai is that instead of abandoing the inner city and going for a suburban sprawl ala most of America, the city has decided to go vertical instead. And anyone who thinks vertical building is ugly should visit Shanghai (and New York). Here's a couple more pics of old Shanghai and Pudong across the Huang Pu at the Bund to illustrate my point.
This whole vertical building vs sprawl is of particular interest to me because it seems like Hyderabad and Bangalore, for example, seem to be going in for the urban sprawl model. As someone who currently lives in the sprawl of Hyderabad (Gachibowli feels like something lifted straight out of Silicon Valley, right down to the cookie cutter homes), I can tell you it's boring as hell, with millions of miles between you and civilization. So, why anyone would advocate sprawl when you can build an incredibly impressive skyline like Shanghai completely beats me.
Before I go, there's just one last update about the night life of Shanghai. It's fab. I was planning to go to the Rojam, the location of Paul Oakenfold's amazing two-hour set for Radio One from Shanghai, I never made it there. Instead, I was checking out the clubs in the Maoming area. In particular, I spent a terrific Halloween night at "Judy's", a wonderfully decadent club which had a super crowd with the right mix of expats and local Chinese. The DJ played excellent electro-house music, had some truly insane expats, some totally random dancers on the bar-counter, a hooker or two who seemed to have completely run out of luck, and just a very nice and friendly bunch of people that seemed in no mood to stop the party even at 3 am (no, China does not seem to have a moral police, unlike India). I will recommend that entire strip on Maoming to anyone who's look for some non-pretentious partying in the city.
Well, that's it for now. The Beijing dispatch will follow, especially about a lovely trek up the Great Wall and watching the moon rise over the wall.
The thing is these elevated roads just go on for ever and if I remember right, there are entire ring roads that are elevated. These roads also go on to show what a determined government can do in terms of improving the lives of its citizens, even in extremely crowded cities. The other truly impressive thing about Shanghai is that instead of abandoing the inner city and going for a suburban sprawl ala most of America, the city has decided to go vertical instead. And anyone who thinks vertical building is ugly should visit Shanghai (and New York). Here's a couple more pics of old Shanghai and Pudong across the Huang Pu at the Bund to illustrate my point.
This whole vertical building vs sprawl is of particular interest to me because it seems like Hyderabad and Bangalore, for example, seem to be going in for the urban sprawl model. As someone who currently lives in the sprawl of Hyderabad (Gachibowli feels like something lifted straight out of Silicon Valley, right down to the cookie cutter homes), I can tell you it's boring as hell, with millions of miles between you and civilization. So, why anyone would advocate sprawl when you can build an incredibly impressive skyline like Shanghai completely beats me.
Before I go, there's just one last update about the night life of Shanghai. It's fab. I was planning to go to the Rojam, the location of Paul Oakenfold's amazing two-hour set for Radio One from Shanghai, I never made it there. Instead, I was checking out the clubs in the Maoming area. In particular, I spent a terrific Halloween night at "Judy's", a wonderfully decadent club which had a super crowd with the right mix of expats and local Chinese. The DJ played excellent electro-house music, had some truly insane expats, some totally random dancers on the bar-counter, a hooker or two who seemed to have completely run out of luck, and just a very nice and friendly bunch of people that seemed in no mood to stop the party even at 3 am (no, China does not seem to have a moral police, unlike India). I will recommend that entire strip on Maoming to anyone who's look for some non-pretentious partying in the city.
Well, that's it for now. The Beijing dispatch will follow, especially about a lovely trek up the Great Wall and watching the moon rise over the wall.
