御·影像·北辰·重新开张

Expats: I played rugby last weekend, on the sports ground of Dulwich college, which they share with the Shanghai football club. It was the best day since I was here, rugby, a pool, cheap beer and rugby on a big screen. There also weren't a lot of Chinese, apart from a Chinese Touch team that used the lawn but then left as a group when they were down practising. That's the impression I've got so far, there are lots of foreigners, but they don't mix. The young ones more, but the ones with kids live in their own suburb, close to the German- British or whatever school, and on Saturdays they go to do sports with other non-Chinese. Or to have a drink at O'Malley's Irish pub which is priced so ridiculously that most Chinese are kept out because they probably just can't afford the pub. Luckily I only bought an Orange juice (4€), not a beer (I don't want to think about it). I watched a World Cup match there in front of a group of German kids, maybe 15, absolutely drunk, annoying, racist towards the Chinese in front of them, but unable to say more in Chinese than 'get out of the way'.

Inequality: Well, lots of it. People making a living collecting scrap plastic and the rich kids in front of clubs taking 20€ charge on a Tuesday night. On television, only the extra-long version of the Audi A6 and A8 is advertised, the Cayenne stops in front of the delicatessen shop, where a scoop of Haegen-Dasz costs around as much as 8 meals in a normal street restaurant. And it's not inequality between those that have good jobs and those unemployed. The people I've been interviewing for management positions at work (already having made a career) earn as much as I do, not that that's bad, but it certainly doesn't get you the big fridges, or the big cars, or the nice luxury apartments.

People: I have my problems communicating with people (see communication), but that's my fault. Most people are amazingly friendly, smile, want to help, carry my suitcases. When the hotel manager in my last hotel asked how I'd liked the hotel, and I said something positive, his eyes lit up with the most genuine and warm smile and I was totally struck. Because of the language barrier I find it hard to really get to know people, though, and I don't think language is the only barrier there is. Smiles can be distant, and I can feel that while I'm a guest, I can't be much more than that. Oh yes, and the staring takes a while to get used to. When I came down to the hotel reception in my jogging shorts, people stared at me, even if I stared back, laughed and whispered, and I was deadly embarrassed. I'm getting used to it now and try not to acknowledge it, but it's still weird and I can't say I like it.

Pollution: The smog is unbelievable. It's impossible to see for more than a few blocks before buildings disappear in the dust. Even if it's sunny, the sun never gets out fully (see picture). After going for a run, I cough and I can smell the dirt I have breathed in. Stuff (if it's not recyclable) is just thrown away wherever and hygiene is a foreign concept.

Traffic: Interesting, very interesting. Because I had to switch hotels I got ample opportunity to look at the art of driving in Shanghai for an hour every day last week, and I'm happy to have survived. At first I thought everything is just chaos, bikes driving on both sides of the roads in both directions, crossing a red light, no problem, turning right at full speed into a tight flow of traffic, no problem. Nearly running over the pedestrians, even if they have a green light, totally normal. But there are rules to the chaos, and if I hadn't seen my first two serious accidents yesterday, I would probably find it quite amusing. The most important rules in Chinese traffic is: 'I don't see you, I don't hear you.' This sounds weird, because I would have assumed if no-one sticks to any of the official traffic rules it would make sense to pay attention. But no. If you cross a street as a pedestrian, and a taxi driver comes running up to you, don't look at him. If you do, be sure he accelerates and runs you over if you don't jump out of the way. But if you don't pay any attention to what's going on around you, people will stop. The best example of this was on my first day at work. After beeping his horn and making groups of pedestrians and bikers hurry out of the way, a woman crosses a 8 lane road on the wrong side of the street through 4 lanes of turning traffic. But she ignored everyone. No-one beeped his horn, no-one got annoyed; my taxi driver looked at her with all the patience in the world. That is how it's done. Oh yes, and indicators aren't there to indicate. After doing the most erratic three-lane back and forth changes, nearly getting stuck under a bus, nearly running into the back of the car; indicators are used to show that the manoeuvre is finished. In the way of: 'Yes, of course I do have a working indicator, I just choose not to use it.' Two more rules: 1) Stay out of the way of busses, they do not stop. 2) Taxi drivers can smell fear, and fear only makes their driving worse.

如果有什么比以上还要可悲的是，上海，已经是全国最好的城市之一了。