A Pair of Panties and Boxers

Photo from Dragonroy

In Shanghai, I wasn’t Chinese. I was dollar bills. And sure enough, I acted like it. Dining at ritzy restaurants, dancing in decadent clubs, partying away pompously. I wasn’t the only one. But that’s no excuse. Those with Euros and dollars fling it like toilet paper. Like paying 100 kuai to get in the door of the hottest clubs tossing bills for drinks as if money really does grow on trees. Because in our minds that’s about $14 USD or 9 Euros. Unlike the man who lives on 10 kuai a day – that’s less than $2 – or the 10-year-old boy hustling to feed his family and the L-shaped granny begging for money. And what about that toddler who rattles his paper cup at you?

There’s the Western influence of fine dining, glamorous nightlife and a flamboyant wallet for the deep pockets. But down the street, it’s a hard hustle at birth for those with no pockets. That’s Shanghai in a nutshell. The haves and the have-nots live in juxtaposition. It’s a dog eat dog world. Pun intended. Shanghai is known as the New York City of the West. But wait – why do we need a cheap imitation when we have the original? Where is the authenticity? First fake goods and now fake cities. Tomorrow fake Chinese?

There’s something about Shanghai that is very nostalgic for me. Perhaps it’s because it was the door for all my China travels. But there is a part of Shanghai that doesn’t sit right with me. It’s the vast divide between the have and the have nots and how easily the Chinese turn a blind eye to their own people. I would assume the vast contrast would shed light to many, but it doesn’t.

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Tags: China, Poverty, Shanghai