impressions of shanghai

I would have left soon after my work trip if not for E’s reception and the trip he planned to Jinshan. I’m quite sorry to admit that I don’t feel confident enough to converse in Mandarin with the Mainland Chinese participants at the conference. Actually, it was not my command of the language that made me hold back — it was my lack of knowledge of technical terms said in Chinese.

To be fair, I don’t think my Mandarin is that awful. The jovial bunch of Chinese roommates at the hostel even commented that I spoke Mandarin rather well and that I didn’t have an accent most of my countrymen have.

Shanghai’s not a city I’d want to return to — not for leisure at least. It feels over commercialized and crowded. Even my friend who is a Shanghainese local admits that. For the next 200 odd days, the city will be obsessed over the World Expo 2010. Countdown meters are placed at various strategic public locations, even in my conference hotel. Public reminders about social responsibility and gracious behaviours are everywhere and they usually don’t fail to mention the upcoming World Expo. I’ve watched a video clip on the mobile tv on public buses which narrates the day of a young disabled lady who cheerfully navigated her way through Shanghai city, only to be met by exceptionally courteous and public spirited people. Well, I didn’t have the luck to meet such graciousness in public, at least not outside my conference hotel.

If there’s something that will bring me back, it is the pleasant Mandarin accent and the locals’ superior command of their vernacular.  I appreciate language well-spoken and unadulterated.  My few days in Shanghai has provided proof that discourse at a much higher level can be conducted in Mandarin — a language that serves only utilitarian purposes in my daily life here.  I would listen in silence when my roommates discuss politics, finance and academic matters.  My trip to China has shown me how Mandarin really becomes alive.