Monday, May 03, 2004
The Shanghai Taxi/Shopping Problem
The thing about Shanghai is that it’s not quite like what you’d expect China to be. Standing on the pedestrian overpass, you see just how much light there is down there in the intersection and you wonder how China got to be this way. Major shopping centers, such as this one, feel like the beating heart of the city. This is where thousands of young people come each day to hang out, watch movies, eat pizza hut and buy new computers. You could buy an iPod here, eat some French-style vegetarian food, and then go shopping for underwear all without breaking a sweat—if you wanted to, of course.
People are everywhere in places like this, and getting a taxi feels a bit like cutthroat competition at best—if you wait in some sort of respectable line, you’ll never get where you want to go. The first time I tried to get a taxi in this intersection, I waited through about 40 minutes of frustration before a kindly Chinese gentleman finally noticed my plight and had pity on me. Later on, I got good enough at it so that I can go to the right place, cut some other people off, and get in my taxi like an old pro.
The only thing is: I still feel guilty about it. A real Shanghai pro would be past that.
This feeling represents the contradiction that Shanghai presents us with: modern China versus traditional China in all the little aspects of life. Somehow the proper Chinese gentlemanly spirit would be to look around you and see if there’s anyone who needs help getting a taxi, especially a foreigner, a mother, or an elderly person, and then assist them to get one. Even in a crowd, a Chinese gentleman would do that. Having to play along with the regular Shanghai big-city-rules feels very much like going against the civilized rules of greater China.
Is China growing to encompass new things, like shopping megacomplexes and busy city ethics, or does embracing such new concepts mean betraying the values that have always made China what it is?
China • Photos • Shanghai • (48) Trackbacks • Permalink
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