The Unspeakable Stress in Shanghai

I have never had a sound impression of the city of Shanghai, from my leisure 3-day get-away, or from a busy week of work-related schedules.

To me, this place always have an interesting blend with communism and capitalism; traditional and modern; classical and quirky. These stark contrasts, have constantly proved to be too much for me to handle. I was told the art of searching the right balance in these, holds the key to living there, or else one could end up having "Unspeakable Stress" and at the end, fail to survive in the metropolis.

I hereby site some examples of my own experience in my recent visit.

Unspeakable Cultural Stress
It was not difficult to find KFC, Starbucks and McDonalds throughout corners of the major streets, however, I still can't find rear seat belts in taxi or a civilized or safe pedestrian crossing anywhere.

Unspeakable Heritage Stress
Even though hundred year-old buildings have been swallowed up by multi-billion dollar architectural icons, you can still witness human powered bicycle carts carrying loads and loads of goods to market - in a city that runs a magnetic levitation train traveling at speeds that exceed 400 km/h.

Unspeakable Geographical Stress
Shanghai is growing so rapidly that each time I went, a part of the older sections of the city would be completely demolished, making way for modernization. In order to get around, my advice is not to rely on your old map used 6-months ago.

I fully support my sis's career move to Shanghai how ever much I dislike the city. I really hope it is the journey that enriches her life experience, more so than the destination itself.