Nanjing Road is the equivalent of Orchard Road in Singapore, Oxford Street in London and Fifth Avenue in New York City. It is much much more and different of course.
These are photos from my trip a month or so earlier.
Has capitalism and consumerism descended in China? Yes. With a vengeance. It's amazing.
There are old majestic European buildings dating back to the 1920s. Relics of the International Settlements of that period.
Multi-storey shopping complexes. One strange thing. I see relatively few internet cafes. I have read of them in China. Strangely enough, I spotted two at Nanjing Street.
This is, of course, not the upscale section where the Prada, Louis Vuitton and Gucci shops are located. It's much further.
6 comments:
A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!! Who needs to go to Las Vegas or New York City when you have Nanjing Road, Shanghai!??!!
man.... I feel like going there now... I wonder if they have halal fd down there? hhmmmm....
Interesting. I guess it depends on what floats your boat. I've always wanted to visit China and would hate to arrive to another country trying to be another America. kinda sad (sorry to be a downer--just a guy's opinion). Fine pics here however.
One must wonder how long the Communist Govt. can keep a lid on things when so much wealth is flowing into private hands. It's amazing how by Govt. getting out of the way and letting people use their creativity to make money, that the economy has exploded. On the down side, I hear pollution is really,really bad there.
Steve, I dislike consumerism. I dislike the consumerist culture I see. The iPod-toting generation. Interested only in the style, the flash, the surface but never the substance. It's sad.
China do need to modernise. The Mao jackets and conformity were bad. The poverty was appalling. I have seen photos of naked peasants tilling the fields. As for trying to be America, I think they will develop their own identity. I think they are even more maverick in terms of merchantilism than Americans as the Chinese have been merchants for Chinese of years.
Tim, the pollution is really bad. Beijing is suffering from sandstorms. They had to spend 6 billion USD on a tree line north of Beijing. While China is an authoritarian state, it can be good and bad. Why? Their dictates will always be obeyed. And they have started imposing harsh laws to protect the environment. This is from Jared Diamond's book 'Collapse'.
Yes, the creativity is amazing. I was staggered to say the least. I have heard things but I wasn't prepared until I saw it.
Pinkys, I doubt if they do. However, I think there are vegetarian restaurants around.
I have some Muslim friends who went to Texas and Florida for work for a few weeks. They did not manage to find halal food either but they did love the food. They consciously avoided pork though which is not difficult.
Shanghai in the 1920s was already a city in stature like NYC, London, Paris but with a distinct identity. The decades of Communist rule did reduced its stature somewhat. Today, it's back.
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