the big golden orb in the sky was shining ever so brightly, the vast azure dome above our heads is so vividly clear, the ether we religiously breathe into our bodies is pristine, and the continuous canopies of verdant foliage are green. oh, so lusciously, lusciously green.
and i walk the streets of shanghai.
this is my final day here in this high-powered eastern metropolis. after having completely been rejuvenated from fatigue brought on these past few days from being at the expo, i can honestly say that every inch of me feels revitalised and im all geared up.
today i spend the day marveling at the towering skylines that define the silhouettes of the city. i scrutinize every road i walk on, every component connected to its infrastructure and every garden and park i come across. ive got to make the best of final day here in the city, and there isnt a moment to waste in my hotel any longer.
and i appreciate what comes my way.
endless colonnades of perfectly groomed trees, partially shading clean, unobstructed pedestrian pathways, and a lively musical surprise comes into view. memories are made of these.
now, even though i had planned to take the day easy, and go where the wind blows, literally, there were a couple of places i wanted to visit, specifically the shanghai world financial centre, more humorously knows as the can-opener, the shanghai oriental pearl tower and the areas surrounding this part of the city.and it wasnt hard to decide on which direction i needed to go. they were both easily the most imposing buildings within walking distance and all i needed to do was to muster the strength to keep on walking. and as i walk i began to notice how thoroughly concurrent and western everything around me looks. the urban setting was eerily clean in appearance, strangely and uncomfortably devoid of any perceivable sense of native culture or history.
the relentless onslaught of modernism has completely revamped this part of the city, so much so, i didn't even feel like i was walking in china anymore. i may as well have been walking on the roads of some north american city, being blinded by gleaming towers of glass and steel everywhere i go, and the only thing that really made me feel i was still in the country was of course the presence of the local populace and the occasional reverberations of communicative mandarin in the air.
i sometimes cant help but wonder, when we, as asians, in our mad dash to modernize almost every aspect of our existence, from our lifestyles to our buildings, do we loose part of our soul every time we reach a particular milestone? do we slowly loose the essence of who we are and where we come from every time we bulldoze another significant piece of history to construct another soulless shopping complex? do we not feel a sense of belonging to our motherlands and all she holds dear to us as a people, and find ways to reconcile and hold on to our beloved traditions in the modern, while not having to sacrifice our identity in the pursuit of marching forward?
philosophical ramblings aside, it wasnt long before i arrived at my destination, which of course was the shanghai world financial center.
an elegant super tall tapering tower reaching the sky, completely covered with reflective glass at every inch, with a trapezoidal opening at the top, this was the financial heart of the city. and the equaly impressive buidling next to it was the jin mao tower consisting of high end offices and the world famous grand hyatt hotel.
at about 1pm, i enter the financial heart first.
and as soon as i did, two long lost old friends were waiting for me. unexpected surprises, but pleasant nonetheless.
these two old comrades were part of an exhibition on the ground floor of the tower showcasing anime / manga figures from japan. i admire the workmanship and detailing for a while and proceed to walk about having a look around. my concern here however, was to get to the top, where the observation deck was situated, which was what i had expected for such a towering edifice to house at its summit. i would be able to witness shanghai at unprecedented heights, enjoying a full 360 uninterrupted view of the metropolis from the heavens itself. and let me tell you, getting there itself was quite a challenge, from the moment i booked my ticket to the moment i snapped my first shot.
it took about 45 agonizing minutes to get to the top from the ground floor, after having to pass at least 4 checkpoints, waiting at about 15 - 20 minutes at each stop. eventually though, i do get to the top and all that waiting had suddenly paid off. i step off first into a primary observation tunnel and the firs thing that greets me the hordes of people that are pushing each other all over the place.
this country truly is a sea of humanity. even here and everywhere you go, this was an undeniable facet of its reality.
as soon as i settle in after walking around for a bit, i take out my camera and start shooting away. and this was my first view of the city from the tunnel above ... everything looking so plastic, toy-like and fragile.
my eyes are slowly directed across a circular sweep of the city. again, every element in the landscape below me looks so frail and insignificant, juvenile even.
after about 20 minutes, i then proceeded up to the secondary observation deck to further take in all that i see around me, thankfully here though, for whatever reason, the crowd was considerably less, making the space feel less claustrophobic. the clean lines of the design of the tunnel start becoming noticeable and its modern shape and form lend an air of sophistication to the surroundings.
and more views from where i stood.
and that's my second destination.
after spending some time here, i walked into this hall, a lounge of sorts, where some kind of exhibtion was being held. nothing too interesting i thought, and i walked along, passing by a sky cafe as i took the elevator down.
and once i exited the building, i immediately saw the next point of my journey.
and thankfully it wasn't as far as it looked. and i walked. along the modern networks on roads and paths in front of me, i walked ...
.. with a peculiar piece of public art i'd come across every once in a while. this pair of snails especially seemed curiously out of place in a such a fast moving town like shanghai, but maybe it was meant to be a statement by the artist to serve as a reminder, an sarcastic one even, to the citizens here to take life a little slower and not be in a lunatic rush all the time.
or maybe it was just something fun to look at. who knows.
every time i get closer to the massive citadel, i uncover even more amazing pieces of urban architecture, and this one was the central subway station just around the corner. again, thoroughly modern in its appearance and form.
and having public transportation powered by electricity really did make all the difference in the world where air quality was concerned. the almost complete absence of smoke, black or white, made walking here a splendid, asthmatic free experience, and it was almost hypnagogic to breathe in clean, unpolluted air in a bustling metropolis wherever i walked around.
and finally at about 4pm, i reach my journeys' end. this was the famed shanghai oriental pearl tower, which was the nexus of all electronic broadcasting in the city. this futuristic shimmering red-ringed citadel supported on a think concrete tripod, almost looking like a rocket, ready to blast off at a moments notice, was something i had seen a long time ago in various media, but again, standing here looking at its commanding structure was an experience that left me speechless.
that was the entrance of the tower, and i decided that i wouldn't go up into the building itself, simply because i had already had one full glance of the city from my previous visit to the financial center earlier on.
i had spent time here just gazing up mostly, till my neck was stiff, taking a few more shots and generally just enjoying the present, without a care in the world.
more public art catches my eye in the surrounding areas, and this time the artist paid homage to many a winged messenger of the insect world. ridiculously scaled up and motionless like a corpse, these sculptures nevertheless did attract my attention, albeit for a moment or two.
and as i walked on, a familiar sight greeted me. well, kinda familiar.
i recognized the opposite bank as being the Bund that i had visited my first night here in shanghai, and now i was standing at the opposite end. i was looking at the modern, while standing from the old.
and this kid looked at me just as puzzled as i was looking at him. i wonder what's going on his mind. i do, i really do.
walking along the same riverbank, proceeding to explore as much as i could.
nostalgic reminders of the past seems oddly appropriate here, and its presence reminds us of a simpler time in the past, while we stand in this era, far in the future.
but the present state of time, creeps back into reality pretty quickly, knocking me out of my trip back in time, imagined or otherwise.
i appreciate how cleverly designed and planned everything around me is. greens spaces abound, elevated pathways well maintained and well connected.
walking here was truly a wonderful experience and i wish i could go on for much longer.
my last shot of the evening was at about 6pm. and this last shot succinctly captures how far shanghai has progressed in recent history. a metaphorical visual statement seemed perfectly captured here showing where everything and everyone was reaching for the big, blue sky, without a moment to waste, reaching to greater heights with every step.
i wish you well, china but its clear, you're already there.
and its time for me to head back to my hotel.
a royal dinner awaits, and i shan't be late.
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