The phenomenon of modern China is unquestionably a lively topic among journalists and writers around the world. There are dozens and dozens of books and countless articles coming out on this subject every year. Having lived in Shanghai off and on for the last 2 years (and with many visits to this country over more than 30 years), I often reflect on how my perceptions of this city, and China at large, have changed over time. Certainly my views have become more nuanced and complex.

I'm afraid that when many people in the West today think of China they conjure negative images from the past that might feature gray, dystopian industrial cities and faceless workers toiling in sweat shops. This simplistic sort of view misses out not only on the reality of the life of most people here, but it also loses sight of the incredible social and economic transformation taking place in China. Shanghai, a wealthy and sophisticated city of 24 million people, may not be typical of much of China, but its varied complexity serves as a microcosm that contains a lot of what modern China is all about.

As is usual in my postings, I write here primarily about the physical characteristics of this city and how it measures up, really, to other cities around the world. It's one way to get a fix on modern China. 

I enter the fray here with caution. Because of its enormity, Shanghai is not a place succinctly described. It's a city of towering skyscrapers, broad, tree-lined avenues, and colossal infrastructure projects, with many areas clearly a part of the wealthy, developed world.  It's also a city still containing dense and often rather untidy older neighborhoods that might be more typical of the China of the past, and of less wealthy cities of central and western China. A unique aspect of Shanghai, and really its incredible treasure, is its extensive areas of European architecture dating from Shanghai’s period as an international trade and finance hub in the first half of the last century. Walking through the streets of the the former French Concession can lead one to nostalgia for cities in France or Germany. Nowhere else in East Asia has anything like it. ​​

For those familiar with East Asia and its development over the last half century, Shanghai  fits rather well into the familiar pattern of stunning growth and transformation of East Asia’s megacities. Following in the footsteps of trailblazer Tokyo (the first Asian capital to join the rich world), and the subsequent  rise of Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul and Taipei, Shanghai is very rapidly approaching the status of wealthy, developed world city. Its income per head is higher than several European Union countries, and life expectancy of its residents is as high as in Switzerland. In fact, no large US city can match Shanghai’s life expectancy. Its public education system is also one of the best in the world and Shanghai students score at the top of international PISA tests. Finally, Shanghai feels like a very safe city. Violent crime is rare. This is not something to be scoffed at in a country that just 30 years ago was deeply impoverished. The Chinese are clearly doing something right. 

Taking off my rose-tinted glasses for a moment, there are certainly challenges here. Pollution levels are too high (although generally much better than in Beijing), housing is very costly, there’s still a roughness around the edges in many parts of the city, and government control over the internet and media is highly frustrating. The air pollution requires checking pollution levels before deciding to go out and get some exercise (today it's not too bad). The high cost of housing diminishes living standards for many people. The great China firewall makes accessing any Google product, Facebook, and some western media (including the New York Times) impossible without a VPN, and even with one, shaky and slow. The positives of life in Shanghai, however, well outweigh the negatives, and I try to stay focused on those.

​I spend the bulk of my time in the older historic center, Here you can find delightful islands of civility, style and elegance – areas that would look at home in Singapore, Hong Kong or even Tokyo.  This is where many expatriates and the wealthiest Chinese live in luxury high rises, surrounded by glamorous retail stores and malls, and always near wonderful old structures from the last century. You find smartly paved sidewalks, cozy cafes and streets filled with imported cars. In fact, I’ve never seen so many Bentleys, Rolls Royces and Maseratis in any other city.

Every evening I take a bike ride to explore new areas of the center, and rarely come away without a new discovery, be it an interesting old building that seems like it's been transplanted from Europe, or a masterfully landscaped park tucked in between tall buildings. I should add here that Shanghai, although very densely populated, has many parks, and the city lavishes a lot of attention on them. They are beautifully maintained and use the highest quality materials. It can be an inspiration to any urban designer. 

The charm and elegance of this area, centered on the former French Concession, has received so much attention that I will limit myself to sharing just a few pictures below, not of famous buildings, but just typical run of the mill buildings so common to the streets here. 

The best way to get a glimpse of modern China (and to see where China is quickly heading as a country) is to move to the new areas of Shanghai that have been built in the last 10 or 15 years, and to those that are being newly built now. It's easy to see that the older, shoddier areas of the city are rapidly being demolished and replaced. I imagine that a visitor to Shanghai in 2030 will be hard pressed to find any of these unattractive places remaining.

This 'new' China is a very different world from both the historical center of Shanghai and the poor and disheveled neighborhoods of the past. Modern urban China, although often rather gray and characterless, is highly organized and generally tidy. The vast scale of development communicates both an urgency to get as many people as possible decently housed and physically connected as well as a phenomenal capacity for construction. Vast banks of tall residential buildings, sprawling centers of offices and governmental and cultural buildings, go on as far as the eye can see.

The very vastness and density of the city, which necessitates massively broad road systems, deprives much of the new city of human scale. This leaves many residential developments as islands unto themselves, with their own stores and restaurants. But whatever they may lack in charm, it is certainly hard to be unimpressed by the obvious rapidity of development and what that must mean to the average Chinese person. China is creating a new, much more livable and comfortable world for a huge portion of its population. In some ways, I think the metaphor of ‘taming the wilderness” is apt. China before the era of reforms and high economic growth was a vast territory of rather bleak poverty and maybe even hopelessness. This ‘wilderness’ is well on the way to being tamed, as first-world infrastructure, including modern housing, is taking over the landscape.  

Some more typical residential areas are pictured below.

​
A cornerstone of quality of life in any city is mobility. If people can't move smoothly and quickly from one part of a city to another, the daily commute becomes a wearying struggle and often the poor can't even reach jobs in business or wealthier areas. This is something I see often in the United States and Latin American countries, such as Mexico. I know of people in Mexico who require two hours each way via a combination of multiple buses to reach their jobs...this adds up to an expensive 4 hour daily commute. In America, the poor generally have to rely on totally substandard public transportation or on older cars that are prone to breakdown and repairs they can't afford. Research has shown that this is one of the key drivers of urban poverty. The toll poor transit options takes on people and families is heavy.

Shanghai is a case study of a city that has prioritized and excelled at world-class public transportation. It continues to expand the longest metro system in the world, and has shiny clean stations. For those off the metro grid, there are very decent and inexpensive buses that link to the metro. It's easy to get most anywhere in Shanghai by public transportation, although to use the buses it's very helpful to be able to read at least some Chinese characters.
 
For those relying on private cars or taxis, Shanghai's wide roads help minimize the worst sorts of traffic jams. As unappealing as these big streets are in terms of the pedestrian experience, they act like highways in the middle of cities and keep traffic moving..

As in every place I live, I tend to get around Shanghai by bicycle whenever the weather (and air quality) allows for this. Like most Chinese cities, Shanghai is well suited to bicyclists. Most major roads have specialized, very wide bicycle lanes, and even smaller streets are so heavily frequented by bicycles that drivers are accustomed to giving them space. That's not to say that bicycling, or driving for that matter, is for the faint of heart. To the uninitiated, Shanghai's streets are rather chaotic and little heed is paid to pedestrian crossing signals. Motorists seem to be willing to run down pedestrians, drive on the wrong side of the road without warning, or to just stop in the middle of the road to take time to think. Bicyclists follow similar rules and routinely run red lights and dart between cars (who rarely slow down for them) in a really crazy race to get somewhere fast. I'm honestly surprised at the very few accidents I see here.  

A pleasant thing about biking (and walking) in Shanghai is that you are almost always covered by a lovely canopy of trees. In the hot summer this makes city life so much more pleasant. The Chinese are tree crazy and I have to commend them on the huge number of trees they are caring for and constantly planting. Despite the incredible population density here, Shanghai is in many ways a green city.  
​
Below are some pictures of bicycle lanes

​Probably the most surprising discovery for me in Shanghai is the leafy suburban neighborhoods that seem to have come straight out of Los Angeles or Atlanta (or even Beverly Hills).  Here you will find winding, tree-lined streets, well-manicured, grassy lawns, quiet cul-de-sacs, and community centers with swimming pools. My business partner and her family live in a development like this, next to the Shanghai American School. When you enter this place, Rancho Santa Fe, it’s hard to imagine you’re still in urban China. Children play on green lawns, ride their bicycles along very quiet and shaded streets, and the smell of neighborhood barbecues fill the air. One such development, a short walk from Rancho Santa Fe, is Forest Manor, a kind of Chinese Beverly Hills from what I can tell. Forest Manor was built to impress. There are imposing gates at the entrances, huge mansions lining broad, tree-lined streets, swimming pools, and tennis courts.  It’s an ostentatious show of wealth. This is something I haven't seen in other Asian capitals. It certainly doesn’t exist in Tokyo to the best of my knowledge.

​There is always a mystery to life in a radically foreign society where so much is so easy to misunderstand – and in the case of China, where the written language is generally incomprehensible to foreigners. Sometimes I like to think about how my perceptions of this country would change if suddenly all the signs were in German, English or Japanese. It would certainly make things more familiar and easier to understand - and it would probably shift my perceptions in a positive direction, as I associate those languages with high levels of development. Inundation in Chinese script and even the spoken language colors perceptions of strangeness and inaccessibility. This can be a major barrier to a full and independent life for foreigners here.

This barrier is a shame because it masks so many magical things just waiting for discovery. This includes the countless tasty dishes on menus of restaurants, the signs advertising services like acupuncture (what a difference that has made to me), and of course all the animated conversations taking place in this very talkative country. But being hidden also brings a sense of adventure in trying to understand and get below the surface. This makes for an exciting urban experience if you are open to it. 

I've got my biases. One of them is that urban greening and infrastructure design is way ahead in the rich world, particularly in northern Europe and countries like Singapore and Australia. 

Travel, however, melts away prejudices.  My recent three-week stay in China certainly altered my elitist views associating beautiful city infrastructure and urban greening with the so-called rich world.

China is on many peoples' minds.  I believe it's a generally poorly understood country that, due to its growing economic and political power, tends to give rise to fears in other countries.  In this sense, China is a bigger version of the demonized Japan of the 1970s and 80s.  While I think fears of China are misplaced - China's rise offers more benefits than disadvantages to the rest of the world - I can see how its rapid move into the future could be unnerving to some.  Some of the nasty side effects of its massive industrialization are alarming, particularly the air and water pollution.  But on the whole, I would say its advances are positively breathtaking.  Based on decades of living and traveling in East Asia, I believe China's future is quite bright and shows clear parallels to the rapid economic rise of countries such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, albeit on an enormous scale. 

In my recent three-week stay in China, I visited Hangzhou and Shanghai.  It would be odd to classify either of these two cities as 'poor' and typical of the developing world.  Although China is ranked at the same per capita income level as countries such as Colombia and Thailand, in terms of physical infrastructure Chinese cities have more in common with those in far wealthier countries.  As a matter of fact, I believe statistics on China (at least regarding the coastal areas) are misleading.  This country is far ahead of where most people think it is. 

In this posting I will focus in particular on Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province in eastern China.  It's a city I knew little about and which I had never before visited.   Hangzhou came as a surprise. It enchanted me with its beauty, exuberance of green and sense of order and well-being. 

Hangzhou is a mid-sized Chinese city of 6 million people but, according to the Chinese government, it has a metropolitan area population of 21 million.  Yes, 21 million. Population numbers in China are mind-boggling.  Nearby Shanghai (only an hour away) has a metro population of 23 million.  Ningbo, Suzhou and Nanjing, also within roughly an hour of Hangzhou, each has a metro area population at or near 10 million.  These cities, like Hangzhou, have populations in the range of a Paris or London, but remain virtually unknown to much of the outside world.  They deserve (and will get) more attention.

The history of Hangzhou stretches back over 2000 years of Chinese history.  Marco Polo claimed to have visited Hangzhou when it was the capital of China, saying that it was 'greater than any city in the world'. It lies at the southern end of the famous "Grand Canal" (see map above), the largest artificial waterway in the world (built in the 6th and 7th centuries A.D.), which wends its way over 1700 kilometers from Hangzhou to Beijing. 

This ancient city must be one of the most pleasant in China.  I arrived from steamy Hong Kong in an ideal season.  The autumn weather was not too warm and the blooming sweet osmanthus filled the air with a captivating scent - so good I wanted to taste it (and in fact there are sweets based on osmanthus flowers here).  It was a magical experience.  

I quickly came to the conclusion that Hangzhou is, in many respects, a nicer place to live than very rich Hong Kong.  There is a sense of open space here and an incredible proliferation of green wherever you look. 

Hangzhou has also protected many  historical areas and structures, especially around the beautiful West Lake.  Further away from the lake, however, it's less likely to find much of anything old.  Rapid growth has meant the redevelopment of much of the city.  The upwardly mobile Chinese prefer new, modern streets that are as clean as those you would find in Japan.  And I must say these streetscapes are well-designed and well-built (see picture above). But the loss of the older neighborhoods is sad in that the streets and alleyways in these areas are especially vibrant.  They are abuzz with life and activity, and there seems to be more leeway in these places to stretch out and relax, whether it be people sitting on a curbside or restaurants extending their tables and chairs out onto the pavement.  Somehow these older streets are the 'authentic' China to me. 

Below you can see a couple of scenes from back streets and alleys, the places I would typically go to find a fresh bowl of steaming noodles or dumplings.  Although these are really remnants of the past in Hangzhou, they are alive with energy.  And it's interesting to note that like all streets in Hangzhou, they are tree-lined.  The Chinese have been at the street-tree planting thing for a long while.

City planners in Hangzhou  are the most determined group of tree enthusiasts I've ever come across.  The evidence surrounds you.  Rarely have I visited a city, anywhere in the world, that has lavished so much attention and care on the planting and maintenance of trees, both in parks and along streets and roads. 

Tree planting is not done haphazardly.  Instead planting areas for trees are large and well-designed.  The Chinese seem to be well-versed in the latest research on urban tree planting and landscape architecture.  Trees here won't suffer from lack of space as they grow.  The landscaping along the edges of streets was also impressive, and brought back memories of super-organized Singapore. 

You would be hard pressed to find a large American city that lavishes as much care on its trees and landscaping,  and universally uses such a high quality of materials in the construction of its streetscapes.

Below are some pictures of tree-lined streets in Hangzhou.

As I mention above, the city of Hangzhou pays close attention to the choice of materials it uses on new sidewalks and pedestrian streets.  Instead of poured concrete or asphalt, sidewalks and other pedestrian surfaces tend to be paved with carefully laid, high-quality paving stones.  The streets and landscaped areas are also edged with stone curbs.  It gives the city a classy feeling and a sense that it is being built for the long term.  Things may move fast in China, but that does not necessarily mean that things are done shoddily.  See some paving examples below. 

I noticed many urban greening innovations while in Hangzhou.  The city is doing its best to green areas that normally are barren and lifeless. 

At the right is an example of planters placed on top of the barrier along the edge of a highway bridge.  These planters are filled with flowering bushes, and include an irrigation system. 

Another typical eyesore that the Chinese manage to green are multi-level parking garages.  I saw planters placed along the edge of all levels of parking garages, where the cascade of plants and bushes camouflages the structure.  These parking garages were transformed from urban blight to vertical gardens that can be green centerpieces of their neighborhoods.  For years I've wondered why unsightly parking garages have to mar our cities.  There is a solution. 

When considering urban quality of life, it's impossible to leave out ease of mobility in and between cities.  China provides an excellent example of how good transport is planned and developed.  This country is investing heavily in public transportation, ranging from new subways to high-speed intercity trains.  It is arguably developing one of the world's most sophisticated transport systems, on par with countries such as Japan and Germany.   

Shanghai already has a very extensive (and still growing) modern subway system.  Hangzhou has built its first hyper-modern subway line, and has 6 more lines under construction or planned.  You can see an entrance to the metro and a shiny subway station platform in the two pictures below.     

In terms of intercity mobility, China has built the world's most extensive, and most heavily traveled, high-speed train network.  This has all come in only the last seven years.  There are now over 12,000 kilometers of these elevated train lines, and the network is expected to grow 50% by 2015.  I took a high-speed train from Hangzhou to Shanghai, leaving from the shiny, new Hangzhou East Train Station, pictured above.  The experience was not very different from taking a shinkansen (bullet train) in Japan, although the Chinese have still not cultivated polite queuing behavior.  This is one of the interesting contrasts you find in China - strikingly modern infrastructure but a civic culture still catching up. 

An unpleasant reality of life in Chinese cities, Hangzhou being no exception, is very bad air quality.  Heavy industry and coal-fired power plants make the air hazy and unhealthy to breathe.  I didn't really notice the bad air in Hangzhou or Shanghai, but I was aghast at the haze I saw when I left Hangzhou by train.  A heavy smog hangs over the countryside.  Some of this may have simply been water vapor evaporating from rice paddies, but it's obvious that the country has an air-quality crisis on its hands. 

The rapidly growing numbers of automobiles on Chinese roads (more cars are sold in China than in any other country) is exacerbating this air pollution problem.  Some cities are trying to limit car ownership through license plate lotteries, and Hangzhou is considering this, as well.  But as the city is a center for auto manufacturing, strong limits are unlikely. 

A bright spot is the universal system of bike lanes on all major roads in Hangzhou.  Biking in this city is a pleasure as you are totally separated from automobile traffic on wide, well-paved bicycle lanes surrounded by lush green landscaping.  These lanes are at least double if not triple the width you would find in a city like Amsterdam.  There are separate traffic lights for bicycles and even covered shelters at intersections for bicyclists waiting in the rain or strong sun. 

Hangzhou also has the world's largest bicycle sharing system, with (as of January of last year) over 66,000 bicycles available at 2,700 stations.  The Citi Bike system in New York, by contrast, has about 6,000 bicycles. Hangzhou plans to extend the system to 175,000 bicycles by 2020.  You can see a bike-sharing station in the picture above. 

The most famous tourist attraction in Hangzhou is West Lake.  It's been a source of inspiration to Chinese artists and writers throughout China's history and historically an inspiration to gardeners even in Japan and Korea.  It's now a UNESCO World Heritage Site,

The temples, pagodas and gardens around West Lake make up a rare, ethereally enchanting place.  For me, the closest parallel to the otherworldly beauty of this area is the fringe of temples along the edges of Kyoto in Japan.

The rather vast area of picturesque landscape and mountains surrounding the lake (more than 8,000 acres) give Hangzhou a green heart and I think may be the inspiration for the well-tended greenery throughout the city. 

A special characteristic of Hangzhou, and a showcase of its horticultural genius, is the well-tended parks along its many canals.  These canal-hugging parks run all over the city and go on for kilometer after kilometer, offering a very quiet refuge from the noise and commotion of the city. 

I was amazed at how carefully designed and constructed these parks are. One day I rode my rented bicycle for hours following canal after canal.  I filmed a video of my ride along one canal, and you can see this below. 

Please note a few things about the video before taking the plunge.  It was taken while riding a bicycle and is rather shaky.  This can make for a nausea-inducing experience (maybe best not to watch it in full-screen mode).  The bicycle I rented had extremely squeaky brakes, and you can hear these throughout the recording.  Finally, I was suffering from a nasty sore throat and am clearing my throat often while I speak.  In its defense, the video gives you a great picture of a part of Hangzhou that most tourists never see.

As usual, I end with a glimpse of a few of the tasty meals I had in Hangzhou.  China is a country with a serious food culture.  Hangzhou is filled with restaurants of all kinds and levels and I must say the food is absolutely delicious.  Somehow I hadn't expected the food here to be so good.  But it was mouthwateringly tasty.

On the left, a local restaurant with scrumptuous food and a convivial atmosphere.  The men at the left really wanted to talk, although they could speak very little English.  We enjoyed a few beers together.  My friend Ting, who guided me through the culinary scene in Hangzhou, is a bit camera shy but joined me for many of my most memorable meals.  I want to extend my thanks here to Ting and the many other Chinese people who welcomed me and spoke with me about urban greening in Hangzhou.


Below are pictures of a few simple dishes, all very inexpensive, but very delicious.