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Watch out for the city of the future

By Hong Liang (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-05 07:21

Whenever I told someone that I had just moved from Shanghai to Beijing, he or she would, almost by reflex, ask which city I liked better.

Confronted by such a question, I always resort to a tactic I learned from my sources in the bureaucracy: talk a lot of nonsense that would wear out all but offend none. Personally, of course, I have my preferences.

Having grown up in Hong Kong and spent time mostly in big cities, I am naturally biased in favor of Shanghai. Despite its various shortcomings, common to all fast-moving metropolis, Shanghai sets my adrenalin flowing. Like Hong Kong in the not-too-distant past, Shanghai is a paradise for business reporters.

As the mainland economy becomes increasingly market-oriented, Shanghai's future as the country's premier business and financial center seems assured. Not only has Shanghai built a world-class infrastructure fit for its intended role, it is also home to a large pool of managerial and professional talents from around the country who are just as capable and hungry for success as their counterparts in Hong Kong, London or New York.

To be sure, Beijing will continue to hold sway on national economic policy. But the voice of the private-sector businesses will gain greater influence as their combined share of the GDP relative to that of the State-owned sector keeps on expanding.

That voice belongs to Shanghai which services the immense heartland of private-sector enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region that covers a large part of both Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. Wherever you go in Shanghai, you get the feeling that this city is destined for greatness, manifested most obviously in the characteristics of its people in all social strata.

When I was living in Shanghai, I had my share of complaints about indifferent service, chaotic traffic, kamikaze cyclists and rude passengers in the crowded subway. Oh, yes, we also loved to moan about the oppressive heat and humidity in summer or the bitter cold in winter. What seemed to gall expatriates in Shanghai most was the daily fight for taxis not only during rush hours, but almost at any other time of the day.

It has been several months since I left and I am beginning to miss all that. The standard of service, which I thought was sub-par at the time, now seemed to bring back fond memories. The bad traffic was no big deal. It's worse in some other cities.

The summer in Shanghai remains hot and humid. But it no longer seems that oppressive in my memories. Thinking of those winter days in Shanghai spent in an unheated apartment is like reminiscing about the drafty dormitories and cold showers in boarding school.

I can even understand the lack of civility on the streets and in the subway. Hong Kong was like that during the go-go years in the 70s and 80s when I was a young reporter breathlessly chasing fast-breaking news in the hottest economy of the region.

So, to answer your original question, our preference of domicile is largely determined by where the news is and I believe that it is in Shanghai more than anywhere else in China. Just the development of the financial markets there can keep a large team of reporters and editors busy most of the time.

I spent a couple of days in Shanghai on my way to Hong Kong a few weeks ago. Of course, I could not see any material changes in so short a time since I left. But looking at the city again from a visitor's perspective, I get the positive feeling that it will give Hong Kong a run for its money not necessarily as a competing financial center, but rather as one of the most invigorating cities in the region.

E-mail: jamesleung@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/05/2008 page8)