One week pasted after I moved to Pudong, with a car. Here are some observations.
Pudong is Big AND Small
Pudong is much bigger than Puxi. It has wider and higher-standard of road system. There are not many cars on the road and only red lights at some major cross roads will stop your car. I didn’t experienced traffic jam in Pudong so far. (This is based on my current observation, since I never drove around during business hours – at that time, I parked my car in the underground garage in Puxi)
Because of the good road system, Pudong becomes very small – you can easily get to any place on the map by car. In contrast, you will find driving in Puxi very depressive. You get jammed everywhere. :-( One night, I drove to the OBI Building Materials in Jinqiao (the north-most places in Pudong area), and get back – it all happened in 1 hour. So the life in Pudong is pretty similar with that in west coast of U.S.
Pudong is Quiet
There is not many people in Pudong yet. High buildings rise every day, but the population does not grow as fast as the buildings. From my observation, the newly built apartments are almost empty. There are only less than 10% of the windows are lighted.
Pudong Sleeps Early
At around 9 PM, Pudong goes go bed. Lights go off and the supermarket at the gate of my residential area closes. There are even less cars on the roads. At the same time, the life in Puxi just started. Many people should just step out of their office after OT (over time work) and head to theaters. That is the difference.
No Restaurants, no entertainment
This may not be true since I am not familiar with the area yet, so they may hide inside the small streets. But generally, there is not much place to go at night, and at dinner time. Fortunately, I still have the base in Xujiahui so delicious food is not too far away.
Fresh and Natural Life
After I moved to Pudong, I can see the sun set again. I can see the redish clouds on the west before the sunset. There is a long preriod of time from sunset to completely dark. This recalls the life in my home town in Luoyang. This is so common in most places in the world, but not in downtown in Puxi. It seemed to me that in Puxi, the Sun sets and it becomes dark very soon. There is no colorful clouds after the sunset. I suspect it may because of the high buildings that blocked the view and the reflection of the remaining sunlight after sunset.
At night, stars shine on the sky. I am so moved when I see the stars in the sky again. I clearly remember, when I studied in the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which is located in the central part of the city, the sky is always light (redish light) even in deep night. Everbright is the best world to describe what I see from my window.
More Reports to Come
It is just the first week and I need some time to get familar with the new life, and see Pudong more clearly after the intial excitement goes off. I am still in the rented house – a very old and misarable place. All the belongs are packed into about 60 big paper boxes. I don’t want to unpackage them yet. The worst thing is, there is no telephone in the house, so after I get home, there is no way for me to update my site. I am researching two options: 1) To find a Internet bar nearby. This seems not working since you know – it is Pudong. :-) 2) To find out wireless Internet solution with my GPRS mobile. I hope it works soon.
Nicely written blog entry. Where were you when you posted it (11:07pm on a Sat)? :)
Enjoy your new life in Pudong!
sounds like Shangdi IT plant in Beijing. :)
When I lived in Pudong, I always enjoyed some small restaurants near my apartment. They were cheap and tasted good.
It is certainly not true! I think your writing is sort of misleading, like Pudong people sleep early at 9pm, etc. Even when I was living in Pudong three years ago, it was quite a vigorous town already. What you wrote made me believe that you are still living in the OLD Shanghai. I think you definitely need time to discover what is underneath the quiteness of Pudong.
Yes sounds very similar to parts of California. Isn’t it nice to know you can always go home to some peace and quiet after a hard day at work? The nice thing is that the nightlife of Puxi is only a short drive away. It may take you a while to scope out the good places to eat or order out around Pudong. Here where I live one of the things that is nice for my wife and I to do on the weekend is to relax in our own backyard and bar-b-que. Or stay in for a rainy evening, rent a couple of movies, hop into some comfortable clothes and order out for dinner.
Hi,
I will be moving to Pudong from Singapore in 3 week’s time and are actively looking for a new apartment with good river view, accessible by public transport to the CBD, shopping and eating places, especially important at night and weekend since I will be staying alone. Any great recommendations?