For the Shanghai Expo 2010 the next year, Shanghai government has tried everything possible to make the city look better. Although most of the efforts are just once in few decades type of thing, like painting the facade of most buildings, it does have some positive impact to this city.
Most of the roads are re-constructed. The tiles on the pedestrian roads are changed, and lift the shoulder of roads – the reason my ankle was broken two months ago. Now, many roads enter into a stage to wrap up the mess with nice bitumen.
Huashan Road, for example, looks very nice from the surface. It looks so dark, and clear on the surface. The construction of metro stations are also to an end. For example, the Huashan Road and Huaihai Road interact is almost ready for traffic today.
Hope when the construction all finishes, the city can calm down and present itself to visitors the next year. The cost? It can be quickly forgotten, just as what I will do to my broken ankle few months from today.
I still think it’s somehow ridiculous for the government to take this so seriously.
The stuff people show off most is the stuff people lack of. It is quite understandable that many people, especially the non-elected officials, want to take the opportunity to show off prosperity and stability of the city during Expo. I would say, it is a natural cause to be a stronger (both economically, and politically, and culturally) country.
I can not think of one city that did not clean up big time before hosting an international event. If it is ridiculous then all cities past and present are ridiculous. I think it is pride. Nothing wrong with that.
But it’s ridiculous that the government wouldn’t even attempt to clean up if there’s no Olympics/Expo coming up. I wouldn’t think the road would ever get fixed just because JS went and complained about how it’s broken his ankle. Face is the only thing that matters for this government. I’m sure there are other worse places in China that need cleaning up much more than Shanghai.
I was on this online forum the other day, one of the posters started a post saying that he actually thought the National Day March was just a waste of money, caused a lot of trouble to the locals and served no real purposes anyway, which I agree, money could be much better spent elsewhere. Then there’s this other guy who agreed the march was a waste of money, but he then asked rather aggressively “then what??? are you trying to say we shouldn’t have the Olympics and the Expo either???”
Ridiculous isn’t it? Although this guy agreed it’s a total waste of money to try to put up spectacular shows that serve no real purpose but he still somehow feels we are obliged to waste all this money.
I believe that the government, rather than pouring all the money to something that’s only going to look good on the face, should invest money in education (etc), especially in the poor and rural areas where little kids still wear rags and have places that can be hardly called “schools” to takes classes. Haven’t there been too many of those “image projects”? Yes, the World Expo is important and it is a good opportunity to showcase the prosperity and culture of our country. But I also consider it as a slap in the face when the most basic needs are still not being met and the vast majority of the citizens are still struggling with the most basic needs. What good does a gigantic exhibit do?
@Molly
After all, looks and image are the most important things in today’s China. Just look at how they replaced the girl who could sing with a good-looking one (who didn’t sing) at the Olympics, the effort and time spent on choosing the most good-looking girls for the Olympic ceremonies and the National Day March (media even boasted about how strict the selection was that the girls even had to be of the same height etc. etc.). What is with this obsession with looks? I didn’t think Chinese culture is known for its obsession with looks?
Don’t even bring that up (the better-looking girl got to lip-sync from someone who’s got the better voice). I was infuriated when I learned about this. I disagree with your statement about the Chinese culture not being known for its obsession with looks. I think it’s always been. However, we are in a modern era now. To give someone the rare opportunity simply because she looks the best is very much backward, absurd and unfair. I still remember when I was in elementary school, it was always the prettiest girls who got to be the class officers. It is perhaps human nature to favor the good-lookings but doing so so balantly just was wrong. There was no excuse for that. Those who were responsible for the decision should feel shame!
Don’t even bring that up (the better-looking girl got to lip-sync from someone who’s got the better voice). I was infuriated when I learned about this. I disagree with your statement about the Chinese culture not being known for its obsession with looks. I think it’s always been. However, we are in a modern era now. To give someone the rare opportunity simply because she looks the best is very much backward, absurd and unfair. I still remember when I was in elementary school, it was always the prettiest girls who got to be the class officers. It is perhaps human nature to favor the good-lookings but doing so so balantly just was wrong. There was no excuse for that. Those who were responsible for the decision should feel shame!