Shanghai is an amazing city. The key word to describe the overall vibe is Culture. It is all its own. It is the most exciting and most dynamic city I've visited. People here have their own way of doing things. There are many outside influences that melt those perspectives into their world, but they do their own thing. The city has character, personality, and it pioneers.
Shanghai doesn't fuck around either. The rich here are flamboyantly rich and the poor here are mortally destitute. It is very Darwinian and cut throat and it shows in the way people do things here. It is still backwards in a sense but progress here is swift and noticeable. It is completely different from Hong Kong in the way that it is not as sterile. Shanghai doesn't feel like a big shopping mall/bank/restaurant. It is completely different from Vancouver, because Shanghai is a metropolis and a true world class city. The good old 604 is a countryside next to the mega 21. Honestly, it is way cooler city than both.
Shanghai has something for everyone. An artist, a photographer, a bartender, a singer, a businessmen, a congressman, a pimp, a John. The city is so big now, everybody wants to come and have a piece of it. Only 1/3 of the approximate 30 million people are true Shanghainese locals. 30 million total. That's a Canada. The rest of the people are foreigners and Chinese from other provinces trying to get rich in the largest city in the world. It is a place everyone needs to visit once in their lifetime, not to experience what was China, but what China will become.
Even though I was not born in Shanghai nor have I ever lived here long enough to call it a home, it is most definitely my second one. And each time I come back, I take away something different and something new. It is like a reflection of myself, over the years. My perspectives on the city and on my life. I doubt I'll ever want to give up living in beautiful Canada, but I think I will always need to visit Shanghai.
I will keep on updating after I get back to Vancouver. It seems resources on Shanghai gets outdated pretty quickly because the city is in such flux and development. I will try my best to give you my local experience. Best thing to do is, to invite me on your next trip to Shanghai so we can explore the city together. :)
-Edward
P.S. In case you were wondering, the photo above is of my grandma and grandpa shortly after they got married. She was 25 and he was 27.
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