It is tough and relentless. It is innocent and sweet. It is Shanghai as it seemed to me in my first weeks.

Friends who have been to Shanghai before told me that it is the most “Western?city in China and the best start for a China beginner. Except for some Chinese customs, which seemed to have stayed in their minds, nearly everyone could only find advantages in going to Shanghai. Everyone wanted to encourage me to go to this amazing and unbelievable fast growing city. Most were impressed by how “Western?the city is, but I had not expected that the locals would speak English.

It made me wonder how a city can be “Western?when only very few people speak English. When I arrived and made up my own mind about Shanghai, my picture of the city got clearer and clearer.

Leaving my flat on the 26th floor I cross the street and am soon in a sea of little lanes with innumerable small houses in front of me. Up to three generations live in each of these very small dwellings. I am really afraid of getting lost in this milling mass of people, carrying out a variety of activities in the street. You realize when you step accidentally into a woman‘s bathroom ?she is washing her hair in the street ?that Shanghai is only “Western?in some special areas. One simply cannot say that Shanghai is a “Western?city.

To be definite about my opinions of Shanghai not being Western, I have to admit that I prefer the small streets in my neighbourhood where people run around in their pyjamas. This is, for me, one of the most innocent gestures a human being can make. In contrast, I hate the broad and anonymous streets of Pudong. And I prefer getting my meals in a small stand on the street than going to “Pizza Hut?in People’s Square.

Everyone who pays attention when walking on Shanghai’s streets must notice that the city is caught between contrasts. The striving for a “Western world? which is mostly represented by consumer items, sometimes seems to me to be nearly the only important point when I spend my lunch break on Huaihai Lu where Starbucks and McDonald‘s are strung together.

One Sunday, my friends and I went to the Four Seasons Hotel, which offers a buffet for around 400 yuan. Already while I was eating, I realized that this was a substantial proportion of the monthly average income in Shanghai. I did not want to think about how high the rural average income is. I did not feel comfortable at all and immediately had a bad conscience. Most of the foreigners living in Shanghai seem to be always looking for Western places and having little to do with the locals, which is not doing much to improve relations.

I did not know how much luxury my life included before I came here. However, I can not say that I appreciate my life more since knowing it. But I can say that being a “Western?city would not make Shanghai a better place or a superior city to others. I am thankful for my little typical Chinese neighbourhood where I am stared at as the only laowai (foreigner).

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