The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center was quite a sight to see, not only for us, but also for Spain's King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sophia, who dropped by with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng after they concluded a a meeting at Shanghai City Hall. We were quite lucky to be in the two story hall just at the time the King arrived, because they dimmed the lights for him and his entourage and lit up the ginormous model you see below, which The King viewed from the balcony up above where were standing. News reports indicated that the King was on a one week trip through China at the time, hoping to encourage the making of its national exhibition hall in the World Expo Shanghai 2010 into a permanent showcase for Spanish culture and art in China, and to encourage the teaching of the Spanish language throughout the country.
As you can tell from the model, Shanghai has big plans as well. You are seeing only a very small slice here of the model of the city,
which sprawls across a very large room in the two story viewing area. It took us quite awhile to walk around the entire model, and it is most inspiring to think about the future which China has planned. A large percentage of the buildings are not yet started, but plenty of construction is proceeding apace and Shanghai already has one of the most impressive skylines in the world. We saw signs of construction everywhere. Piles of things lay all about, most often piles of bricks. Bricks were just everywhere you looked. Also in evidence, however, were piles of bamboo for scaffolding, and piles of metal rods to be assembled for scaffolding. At the sites of skyscraper building, we saw workers wearing hard hats, and we saw fences separating the construction from passersby. This was different from the smaller construction sites, where no very few precautions were taken to protect either the workers, or those who might be walking nearby.
The Huangpu River cuts through the city, as you see in the model above. "Pudong" which means East of the Pu is the skyscraper-stuffed area across the river from The Bund. Currently under construction is what will be the largest building in China, and perhaps the world. Things happen fast in China. Just 17 years ago, that area was nothing but fields.
Pudong is also home to the Oriental Pearl Tower. In this photo, this rocket shaped building looks small only by quirk of perspective. It is at 1,535 feet, the tallest tower in Asia. Our tour group climbed to the top to see the city from above. Generally speaking when a tourist climbs such a tower, the tourist wastes quite a few hours and learns nothing about the country, or the people, but just sees a bit of a hazy birdseye view of a bunch of streets and buildings. You can climb these towers in city after city and see virtually the same thing. But in this case, we did encounter something rather telling. The glass viewing area was labeled with arrows, distances and names pointing to major cities. Beijing was noted. Hong Kong was mentioned. Xian was somewhere in between the two. Chongqing, the largest city in China was certainly listed. But when we walked around the circle thinking we would next see Sydney, and Delhi, Johannesburg, London and New York, instead we saw nothing. Nothing but blank glass.
As you can tell from the model, Shanghai has big plans as well. You are seeing only a very small slice here of the model of the city,
which sprawls across a very large room in the two story viewing area. It took us quite awhile to walk around the entire model, and it is most inspiring to think about the future which China has planned. A large percentage of the buildings are not yet started, but plenty of construction is proceeding apace and Shanghai already has one of the most impressive skylines in the world. We saw signs of construction everywhere. Piles of things lay all about, most often piles of bricks. Bricks were just everywhere you looked. Also in evidence, however, were piles of bamboo for scaffolding, and piles of metal rods to be assembled for scaffolding. At the sites of skyscraper building, we saw workers wearing hard hats, and we saw fences separating the construction from passersby. This was different from the smaller construction sites, where no very few precautions were taken to protect either the workers, or those who might be walking nearby.The Huangpu River cuts through the city, as you see in the model above. "Pudong" which means East of the Pu is the skyscraper-stuffed area across the river from The Bund. Currently under construction is what will be the largest building in China, and perhaps the world. Things happen fast in China. Just 17 years ago, that area was nothing but fields.
Pudong is also home to the Oriental Pearl Tower. In this photo, this rocket shaped building looks small only by quirk of perspective. It is at 1,535 feet, the tallest tower in Asia. Our tour group climbed to the top to see the city from above. Generally speaking when a tourist climbs such a tower, the tourist wastes quite a few hours and learns nothing about the country, or the people, but just sees a bit of a hazy birdseye view of a bunch of streets and buildings. You can climb these towers in city after city and see virtually the same thing. But in this case, we did encounter something rather telling. The glass viewing area was labeled with arrows, distances and names pointing to major cities. Beijing was noted. Hong Kong was mentioned. Xian was somewhere in between the two. Chongqing, the largest city in China was certainly listed. But when we walked around the circle thinking we would next see Sydney, and Delhi, Johannesburg, London and New York, instead we saw nothing. Nothing but blank glass.
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