

The multi lane streets that swing along with the Bund are empty. I have limited time here so where to go? Taking a taxi somewhere is easy, on every corner a ricksha stops to ask the tourist with the camera if he needs a ride. Cheapy, cheapy. Thank you, I will take a walk around. Workers clean the street and meticulously reposition plants. Ancient brooms. The contrast with the sky scraping buildings can't be bigger. Everything here is build to expand, a scale beyond imagination. New York must have made a similar impression a century ago. After a long walk and dozens of architecture pictures I decide to take a look what is behind the clean walls of the boulevard.


I am struck by yet an another view on Shanghai. A business man has his Passat hand washed in front of a wrecked house, chicken on the pavement. A photo opportunity for the book. Too close to press the button. I am still trying to find the comfort after a guy started to shout at me after aiming the lens at him earlier this morning. Do I feel safe? Obviously this not a vavela in Rio. This rough part of the city must be one of the many Chinas where things present themselves in a strange mix, a clash of times. Worn out places and lively streets. A social fabric spread out in between concrete blocks. An Audi A5 parked next to a rusty bike.


After a while I am more relaxed. When the streets get narrower the intension rises. The guy in the flash blue ski jacket becomes part of Shanghais street live were everything happens outside. People playing games, carts filled with food, action, shouting and laughing. Guys in business uniform return home to there dusty neighborhood, grabbing some food on their way. The streets filled with endless piles of stuff. Empty cardboard boxes, a family somewhere will enjoy a new television set. Will this "China" still be there in five years time, witnessing the accelerating speed at which things change here?


I return to the hotel and finish my book, a guide to China. I have seen so little, but experienced so much. A point and shoot tour with my camera, trying to find words is not easy. China is hard to grab, no place for quick judgements. A cocktail which ingredients are changing everyday. Happy hour.


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