Only in China
Had to fly out to Shanghai again today. Barely 72 hours since I left. And it was not good. First, we had to take the bus to the terminal when it was raining. Now tell me apart from 3rd world cities, who has to take a bus anymore in an airport.
Then luck of the draw, got a crappy cab. One of those where you slam the door too hard and it will fall off kind. The el cheapo driver refused to turn on the a/c (or maybe there isn't one), and the whole cab started fogging up.
Final straw. When we got within 1km of the hotel, we found that it was all blocked by cops. They set up a 5x5 block gridlock of Lujiazui, effectively blocking access to the Puxi tunnel along with the roads to Shangri-la and Hyatt. And everyone had to wait while they did some firework rehearsal for the upcoming 6 nation summmit. No vehicular or even walking access. No ins, no outs. The only consolation I had was this kinda nerdy cute tailor working at the Shang who sat next to me and we talked for a while.
Everyone was grumbling till they saw the fireworks. The tailor was all oohs and aahs. Sure it was pretty but I can't help but draw a parallel between that and what's happening in the country today. The economy's booming and it's a pretty picture from outside (if you believe the hype). But at what price? It seems like all resources will be channeled to the objective that has been set as the ultimate goal to achieve. I am not saying if it is good or bad - there's a million ways to achieve goals, but it's just sobering to see how things are run.
Then luck of the draw, got a crappy cab. One of those where you slam the door too hard and it will fall off kind. The el cheapo driver refused to turn on the a/c (or maybe there isn't one), and the whole cab started fogging up.
Final straw. When we got within 1km of the hotel, we found that it was all blocked by cops. They set up a 5x5 block gridlock of Lujiazui, effectively blocking access to the Puxi tunnel along with the roads to Shangri-la and Hyatt. And everyone had to wait while they did some firework rehearsal for the upcoming 6 nation summmit. No vehicular or even walking access. No ins, no outs. The only consolation I had was this kinda nerdy cute tailor working at the Shang who sat next to me and we talked for a while.
Everyone was grumbling till they saw the fireworks. The tailor was all oohs and aahs. Sure it was pretty but I can't help but draw a parallel between that and what's happening in the country today. The economy's booming and it's a pretty picture from outside (if you believe the hype). But at what price? It seems like all resources will be channeled to the objective that has been set as the ultimate goal to achieve. I am not saying if it is good or bad - there's a million ways to achieve goals, but it's just sobering to see how things are run.