Shanghai stopover
Chinatown
The new ‘bullet’ train from Beijing was speeding at 308 kmph across the
Chinese countryside. There was nary a soul in sight all through. 
Even the stations we raced through were deserted. Where are the 1.3 billion, I wondered. Shanghai provided a part of the answer. It has 23 million of them, including one taxi driver who, on learning that we were from India, crooned “Abaala hooon.”
We had taken the train with some trepidation because earlier, there had been
reports of breakdowns soon after the inauguration. In the event, the ride was as smooth as any I have had and the 1,300 km were covered in a little over five hours, even with eight scheduled halts.
Shanghai is to Beijing what Mumbai is to Delhi, but both in a different league
altogether. It bids fair to compete with the likes of Chicago and New York, and is
China’s largest and most cosmopolitan city. The capital has more history, but Shanghai is the commercial powerhouse. It has a per capita annual income of over $ 10,000, and it shows. The city started in the BC era as a fishing village. Its location on the coast, in the heart of Yangtze delta, made it a trading town. In the 1930s, it became a financial hub. Economic reforms over the last 30 years have restored its
commercial pre-eminence.
Shanghai is a town of glistening skyscrapers. But the best place to feel its pulse is The Bund. The word means the same as in Hindustani and was brought here, along with opium, by the British. It was built as an embankment on the Huangpu River to prevent floods, but has been developed as a wide promenade, 10 m above the road.
All of Shanghai seems to come here for a stroll. In the summer, it bustles with people in the evenings. Hawkers peddle some of the best imitations money can buy. As the sun sets, the neoclassical buildings — former homes of old financial and trading houses, such as HSBC, Mercantile Bank, Chartered Bank and Bank de Indochine — are lit up, presenting a breathtaking panorama. From this colonial vantage point, one can gaze across the river at Pudong, the new financial hub.
Boat tours on the river give a postcard view of the city and can take you right up to the confluence with the mighty Yangtze, 18 km to the north. Shanghai also has
vibrant night life and was christened many years ago as the ‘Paris of the East’.
The Communist Party of China was born in a small room in old Shanghai 91 years ago, when Mao Zedong and a band of young revolutionaries set out to change the history of China. Along with economic changes, they also banished religion from people’s lives.
Although the state does not encourage religious practices even now, the hostility of the earlier Communist period has gone. One can see this in the Taoist temple near the Yuyuan Garden in the old town. It was reopened in 1994 after being shut down for over three decades. The devout — and most of them quite young — go there to light incense sticks and pray to the deity, quite unmindful of the bustle around them, which may not have been advisable not too long ago.
Yuyuan itself is also one of Shanghai’s star attractions. It was built in 1577. It was originally a private garden. It has had its ups and downs, but the worst was the
period when the British troops occupied it and vandalised it during the opium wars in mid-19th century. It was fully restored and reopened in 1961. Not very large in area, it nevertheless gets streams of visitors because of its exquisite rockeries, cloisters, pavilions and water bodies.
What one misses most in the gardens of China are birds. So, sitting under the trees in Shanghai’s Renmin Gongyuan (People’s Park), I was surprised to hear heavy chirping above me. Still, there were no birds to be seen, neither in the trees nor in the sky. The bird sounds came from concealed speakers. But for the repeated rhythmic pattern, one could not tell the difference.
China’s major cities need more than just the two days we spent in Shanghai. But, they also provide good flight connections to places on the west coast of North America. So, a break in journey either way is worth a glimpse at this burgeoning hub of China’s growth.
