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Thread: Learn on Shanghai In Depth

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[quote=COOLSPRINGS,290681]Scratch the surface, however, and a slightly more complex picture emerges. The knock on Shanghai has always been that it is a city of appearances, a perception carried over from the early days when what seemed like a European city was in fact built on the backs of millions of Chinese, when its heyday prosperity and wealth masked a much crueler and more dire poverty for millions of Chinese. Today's detractors, often led by Shanghai's greatest competitor to the south, Hong Kong, like to claim that for all of Shanghai's glamorous exterior, there is no substance behind the flash. And indeed, a closer look beyond appearances shows that many of Shanghai's new handsome buildings remain empty, that your bathroom in the latest brand-new five-star hotel is already showing cracks, and that many more people are in fact window-shopping than plunking down cold cash.

The rosy numbers also mask the fact that while Shanghai has more than its share of overnight millionaires, ordinary Shanghainese must still be counted as residents of a developing rather than a developed nation. Even taking into account the highly inflated government figures, the city's average disposable income for 2005 was ¥16,683 ($2,085) per capita, one of the highest in the country, but still not high enough to keep up with Shanghai's soaring house prices (in 2005, the city's average housing price was over ¥9,140 ($1,142) per sq. m, more than double the nation's average, and 55 times the average disposable income), which have skyrocketed as a result of the large population influx, wealthy Chinese from around the country purchasing these units as investment properties, and speculation. Little wonder, then, that living space is slim (under 140 sq. ft. per person); that many ordinary Shanghainese (laobaixing), forcibly relocated to the outskirts of town because of mega-developments and downtown building projects, cannot afford even the smallest of homes; and that many others (including two million pensioners) must scrimp by on less than the official minimum wage (set at just above US$1 per day). At the same time, beggars can still be seen congregating at tourist sites, temples, and avenues where visitors are likely to appear. The unemployed, most arriving illegally without residence permits in Shanghai, can be sighted sleeping under bridges, awaiting work. The economic boom has brought other woes as well. Crime is on the rise, prostitution is back in the bars and on the streets (after its complete eradication in the 1950s), and pollution is a major problem.

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