Shanghai 2.0

After a few days in Shanghai you start to assimilate, but there are some things that still make me think "that's mental!"

Things Shanghai needs to work on...

#3 Manners Sandra said that pre-Olympics there was a campaign coined, "Be civilized". Hmm. May be it stills needs a bit of work. Line up in order please! It's not last in, first out!

#2 Pollution With all the traffic shuttling 22 million people around the pollution is noticable. Driving from the airport I got a bout of Shanghai hayfever, aka my Californian nose was bombarded by the pollution and started itching!

#1 Traffic laws And the #1 thing that would improve the quality of life in Shanghai is...enforcing the traffic rules! Where does a red light not mean stop? Where does a "no entry" sign mean "come on in?!" Where does a "walk" sign actually mean...proceed, but watch out for oncoming cars, coaches, mopeds and cyclists. Not even India's premier cities seem this out-of-control. Seriously!

Now I know what LA drivers mean when they say that people drive poorly because everyone's from out-of-state. Well, in Shanghai you get a feeling folks can't read, haven't passed a highway code exam and were probably farmers in a past life (where there was one main road and no traffic lights and only cattle to worry about!?) before becoming Shanghai's taxi drivers?!

World-class But, don't get me wrong. It's not a one-way streak. Nope, what the rest of the world can learn from Shanghai...it has an amazing subway system. It's the little touches: schedule and arrival time displays, platform markings for the door openings, "next stop is" signs so you know which direction you're heading in, announcements so you know which side to alight....