A Place I Would Like To Visit

What is Shanghai like? What is every city like? There are various places in the world which are very hard to define and Shanghai is definitely one of them. In my very own point of view, of course. What defines a place may be the basic things such as the enviroment, the people, the buildings, the public spaces, the nature. But each of them is very different to each other here. They don’t play together. Each of these features is individual and doesn’t fit to the others. When I first stepped the ground of China, I didn’t feel any difference but the humid weather. But with every moment and step further, it slowly became a wonderland for me and I could define it harder and harder. The city is full of extremes, that is my thought and it proves me right every day. The environment is extremely rich, but not very well used. The people can be very nice and staring at you with curiosity, but then they don’t mind crushing you with their bikes without apologize. The buildings might be old, the hallways and staircases inside even scary, but people know to make their apartments very comfortable, modern looking and well decorated. The public spaces are mostly covered in dirt and trash with no real

Because that is probably the biggest difference I spotted and what keeps me amazed every day. It is not about spending a lot of time out in the public space, what surprises me is spending time in the dooryard just in front of the house. The fact that being at home and on the street can happen at the same moment. They keep the comfort of their livingroom but move it out to the street level so they can be present in all the happenings and connexions of everyday life. To feel they are not missing anything what moves around but still can hide to the safest place when it’s necessary or needed. Simple appropriation of the sidewalk and creating their own piece of street makes the whole space richer and unexpectedely