Panoramas from a Bamboo City

What a difference a day, a new city and a new tour guide makes. I woke up in Shanghai this morning with all the energy and excitement of our first morning in Hong Kong. As we travelled from the hotel to the centre of Shanghai our candid guide suggested that whilst we in the West look at the lack of democracy as a limiting factor in China’s development you can sure get things done if you don’t have to debate about it for 10 years before acting. I can see his point.

They say that Bamboo can grow up to one foot per day. This means that with patience if you watch a stem of bamboo for a few hours you should be able to see it change and move. Shanghai is the man made version of a forest of bamboo – only you don’t need much patience to see the vertical stems of sky scrapers soar up through the undergrowth of the old town as you watch.

Shanghai is a thrusting testosterone driven city – load and proud about its intensions to take on Beijing as Chinas premier city and equally challenging Hong Kong for height. Shanghai also wears its western history comfortably and with pride – preserving much of the ‘Concessions’ architecture of the once European controlled parts of the city. But, as we took the river cruise the tasteful mock classical grand colonial buildings on the east bank were dwarfed by the garish multi coloured sky scrapers on the western bank. The message was clear although the compass is reversed. Europe is the past, Asia is the future.