Striving in Shanghai

Striving

May 23rd, 2013

Chartres, France
Song of the Day: Clubbed to Death (from Matrix) by Rob Dougan

Mood: Low energy

Cityscape

After our day in the Venice of Shanghai, DJ Busy Bee and I went to the top of the Vue bar at the Hyatt hotel. The bar was fun and I really enjoyed seeing the city at night.

The city is separated by the Yangtze river

 

The modern section contains the tallest buildings in the city including
the Shanghai World Financial Tower and the Oriental Pearl Tower (middle)

The Bund was home to the International Settlement where the major world powers (Britain, the US, and France for a while) based their trading operations before World War II. It was ruled by a Council (mostly controlled by the British) and Chinese nationals weren't even allowed to be on the Council until the 1920s.

 

When the foreigners left, China replaced all the flags with Chinese flags to show their dominance.

You can barely make out the red flags



Expert tip: On the boardwalk, rolling vendors sell light up roller-wheels that look super cool.
However, if you are Dan-sized/heavier than a typical Chinese child/skinny adult,
your weight will cause the wheels to bend and not work properly,
and your dream to a cool kid will be eternally crushed

I hear the night cruises are lovely, although I didn't go on one.

 

A lack of authenticity

While we sat at the outside patio of the bar, many local Chinese citizens would come, redeem their cover for a glass of wine and then proceed to have a smartphone photo shoot. They wanted to add pictures to social media of how luxurious their lives were, even if all they could really do was afford the cover fee. They never stayed to buy a second drink or even enjoy a conversation.

Think of pictures like this, but with wine glasses and far off expressions

It rubbed me the wrong way because it felt so inauthentic. I'm sensitive because I just left my job as a management consultant. Part of being a management consultant is always projecting an aura of intelligence, competence, and being in complete control, regardless of the underlying situation. Most of the time, we worked hard in order to have all the right answers and so it came naturally. Yet, there were also times where there was little to no data and we boldly proclaimed the solutions on dubious assumptions. (To be fair, we always chose the answer that made the most sense, but that doesn't mean it was as well supported as I would have liked.)

That was difficult for me because it is so different than how I try to live my personal life. As a Protestant Christian, I don't think I can earn my salvation by doing good deeds or faking it until I make it. I realize that I need Jesus' sacrifice to reconcile with God. I admit my sin and my brokenness so that I can ask God for healing and fully appreciate the magnitude of what Jesus did for me.

Even if weakness existed, admitting weakness of any kind was definitely not valued at my job. Pretending to be perfect with all the right answers even when I didn't feel confident internally dragged on me. As a result, when I saw the majority of people at the bar pretending like they were rich and living the high life, it brought back the negative feelings from my job.

The economic miracle of China

Looking at the city, it is easy to be impressed at what China has accomplished. The country has grown from millions of people dying from starvation to the second largest economy in the world over the last 50 years. It is clear that China who will increasingly become a major actor in the international political scene.

However, I sense a growing threat to the stability of society, which I'll talk about in my next post… *Cue foreboding music*