As promised, some images of the recent trip to Shanghai. There will be a more extensive collection in a few weeks, but in the meantime, some random impressions.
Even as Shanghai becomes more and more motorized, cycling is still popular in the city:
But take a closer look at the elevated freeway ramps behind.
Yes, flowerboxes. Incongruous and charming.
Reminds me of Arthur Erickson’s suggestion during the freeway debate of the late ’60s and early ’70s that a freeway in Chinatown could have Chinese-styled elements designed into the concrete to make it more neighbourhood appropriate. Somehow, lipstick doesn’t improve pigs all that much.
The street below the elevated freeway looks clean, green, pleasant and devoid of traffic (carried on the freeway).
My wife and I have visited during the last few years Nanning in the south eastern part of China twice as an adjunct to more extensive tours of Vietnam. On out first trip we expected some backward provincial town far away from Shanghai and Beijing. But were swept away by the “generosity” of the layout of the arterial thoroughfares in that city.
There were four car/truck lanes in our direction. To the right of that a 15 to 20 feet wide beautifully landscaped median followed by a driving lane for 2 wheelers, also about 20 feet wide and a treed sidewalk in front of modern glass towers.
To our left was a 25’ wide median, again beautifully landscaped, followed by a mirror image of what I have just described with the traffic pointing in the opposite direction.
That was all very impressive, until you consider the social misery caused to achieve all this. Wide swats of communities were torn down and neighbourhoods torn apart.
Hehe, misleading pictures indeed. Better city, better life, better believe it. How long did you stay? At the moment the city is full with tourists and all expats have left, therefore June was the better choice for your travel I guess.