Stuff about Shanghai

Hmm.

As I have probably told you guys previously, I had spent three years of my life living in Shanghai, and I had observed or grown used to some things which are in the Shanghainese environment.

One very major thing is the dust level. In Shanghai, construction is a huge industry and is the main reason for such high domestic migration of people from the villages to the city. As such, due to the high amounts of construction work taking place throughout the city, the dust level is extremely high. Apparently, my dad had just gone out of the hotel entrance, and within an hour or so, he had a fine coating of dust on his leather shoes.

Another major factor which is pure Shanghai is the amount of second-hand smoke. Being a strong anti-smoker myself, it isn't hard to hear me cursing whenever some bloke nearby lights up and starts puffing away. Being in the restaurants can be almost unbearable, as you can hardly see the people from one end of the restaurant to the other in the most severe cases.

Thirdly, is the amount of spit on the streets. I do suppose spitting is common due to the tobacco intake of the majority of males (and minority of females) in Shanghai, but it had almost become second-nature to walk warily as there is the approximate number of five spit per 50 square metres. And that increases as you get into the more denser city areas.

Fourth, is the smell which emanates from the city itself. I would say that the smell of Shanghai which typically hits you when you get out of a building is one which is consisting a mixture of engine exhaust, spit, cigarette smoke, sweat and dust.

It can really be quite foul at times, but surprisingly, it decreases in intensity in the denser areas.


The thing about going back to Shanghai was the fact that I had never anticipated going back there ever again. Least of all going back to see my old friends like Tina, and her brother, Vincent. Taking a small calculation, I realised that I had known Tina for 10 years.

10 years.

That's a decade. That's a very long time. That's one of the reasons which drove me back to Shanghai when the opportunity arrived as I had paused contact with Tina since the middle of this year. Seeing her again sure brought back alot of memories, but majority of them invovled me making a fool of myself, and living in the shadow of my older brother, who constantly received much more attention.

It was also an opportunity to meet up with several old neighbours who used to live nearby, and one particular one, a Thai lady, named Lye, who had married an American. Aunt Joan had remained in constant contact with her due to her son, Jonathan being in teh same school as Vincent. That's when i finally met Lye for the first time in 6 years, and she was immensely surprised, as I shook her hand that I knew her name.

Of course, the fact that I'm much taller than her brought on greater doubt that I was who she remembered to be. In the end, yes, she remembered me as that 'cubby little boy'.

Sigh. Some things just never run away from you.

Some things do. Tina has grown into a much more different person, one who has become much more aware of her identity and image. From neatly tied hair to fluffy handbag, she is one neat gal, but surely, one who is too fancy for some. Also, she has retained some things, like the inability to keep a conversation going, the ability to keep her brother in check whenever he 'misbehaves'. Vincent is only 11 years old. Gosh, I think I'm going off tangent here right now.

However, some things, when they do chnage, it has been for the better: affluence amongst the city's inhabitants has increased, there are better maintained roads and sidewalks, child-selling is almost non-existant, and road-side cooked food sold by the trolly is now almost gone.

I can hardly wait for the next time I visit Shanghai once more. Sure, if Aunt Joan is still residing there, I'll pop in to check on her and Vincent and Mr Qu. I pray that this small circle of friendship amongst us is never broken, regardless of time and distance.

Cheers,

Crawldaddy