Shanghai'd

Jinqiao (Golden Bridge) - a neighborhood in Shanghai

Tim and I live in the Lianyang neighborhood of Pudong (River, East) in Shanghai. Lianyang is within the inner ring of Shanghai. It is north of Huamu and west of Jinqiao. We ride our bikes to Jinqiao all the time - it is on our way to work (which is in Zhangjiang, another neighborhood - this time one of high tech industry). We also go there, like so many other laowai, to feel like we never left home. I used to belong to a gym there, where all the equipment was imported from the US. There is a grass field to play ultimate on. There are restaurants with western food and western prices. There is a newly opened Organic Food store! Jinqiao is a family place, houses with yards and international schools. Starbucks, a B&Q (an English Home Depot) and Decathlon (French Academy). The streets are wide and not crowded. There are DVD vendors, massage places, cheap taxis and ultra-cheap cut flowers. Its like you never left home, plus all the "conveniences" of China.

It never really occurred to me how strange this must seem to the Chinese until recently when it started feeling really really strange to ME. I was talking to a Chinese colleague about where she lived, she said, "Jinqiao, but not YOUR Jinqiao. North of Yanggao Rd." Then yesterday Tim and I were riding our bikes exploring through this state questhouse area, where we had never been before. There were trees, lakes, birds, a fantastic new sports center, upscale dining, and quiet - all next to the path we ride to work, behind a great big wall, you would never know it is there.

There are some people though, know exactly where it is. 15 years ago, Lujiazui, Pudong was all farmland. Now it is the location of the (soon to be) tallest building in Asia. Just five years ago, Jinqiao was all rice paddies and farmers. They have been relocated to make way for the $8,000 USD/mo. villa the American senior director's company is renting for him, his wife, 4 kids and golden retriever. Bad? No. Just strange, I think. It is somewhere I would feel uncomfortable to go if I were Chinese (outside of the new Chinese middle class), just like there are some "chinese" places I would feel uncomfortable in.

Some foreigners, in fact, always feel out of place when not in a Jinqiao-esque location. We look different, cannot speak the language and are often stared at. The Chinese call us "laowai" or "waiguoren", both are a neutral-friendly way of saying "outsider". So, we build America in Jinqiao, and make a place where our kids can play outside without people stroking their curly blond hair or trying to sneak in a picture with them. It is completely understandable.

In that context, Jinqiao is a ghetto, defined: a section of a city, esp. a thickly populated slum area, inhabited predominantly by members of an ethnic or other minority group, often as a result of social or economic restrictions, pressures, or hardships.

Kind of. It is still a pretty weird place to me. :-)