Living in Shanghai

I expected to see a different way of life, but I never imagined this. There are high-rise apartment buildings absolutely everywhere. No one lives in a house near downtown. The houses are reserved for the farmers outside of the city. There is a stark difference between the newly constructed buildings and buildings that are so dilapidated they would be condemned in America, but here, they are filled. There are buildings without windows, buildings without walls. Pretty much no one has a clothes dryer so there are bamboo or metal bars protruding far from each apartment with clothes hanging from them, in some instances 40 stories above the ground!

The use of bamboo was a complete shock. Bamboo is used as scaffolding around buildings. I saw numerous people standing on bamboo 100 feet above the ground. I was told bamboo is a very strong product. I was thinking how it would NEVER make code at home!

Every piece of land that does not have a building on it is being cultivated by the citizens. There are gardens everywhere. It was a tremendous site to see beautiful gardens next to the most depressing housing. People here care about the land in ways I never thought possible. It sustains them with both food and money as the streets turn into fresh food markets at night all in an attempt to avoid the taxes they would have to pay if they sold their goods during the day.

Chinese people hate the sun. Well, not quite. It is probably more appropriate to say they avoid being in the sun. I was walking on Nanjing Road today, a well-known shopping area in downtown. Ninety percent of the people were walking single file in the 20 feet of shade that was on the south side of the road. I asked my guide, Apple, why that was the case? She said women are viewed in higher regard the whiter they are. When the sun burns or tans someone, it takes away the beauty women have. It helped explain why I saw more umbrellas in the sun today than I see in the rain at home.

Chinese people love the water. That is true. In fact, many developers have built complete rivers next to their developments. The water brings good fortune to the Chinese people.