I dislike Shanghai in general. It just feels like a second tier city except without all the good things you can get in second tier cities (its impossible to find street food here unless you're out in the boonys). Historical sites are negligible, and in general the food isn't as good as in the north and West.
But... Every time I go to Shanghai I find a few things to like about it. Very personal things which you don't really get anywhere else. It never changes my overall feeling, but its what I try to concentrate on while I'm here. Here is what I discovered so far during this visit:
1. Boats: This is partially because I managed to land a free stay at the peninsula, where I'm staying in an 8th floor suite overlooking the river. The river is really quite active, and its nice watching boats filled with coal float by. It gives a sense of things happening.
2. Their subway: This is rather recent, as I still remember when Shanghai only had 2 subway lines both which went nowhere. Shanghai now has a subway system to compare with Tokyo, and unlike Beijing, Shanghai subways can run diagonal, which makes it much easier to get where you are going.
3. Hole in the wall restaurants: when you get out of a shopping center area, you surprisingly often run across little restaurants about the size of a one car garage, with no front door or anything. Beijing used to be like that, but the Beijing authorities have been much more efficient at clearing such shops away. The farther away you get from the river the more you'll see (Hongqiao actually has quite a lot of street food).
4. Teenagers & college students: With the eternal enemnity that exists between Shanghai and Beijing people I probably shouldn't say this, but younger Shanghai people I talk to are really quite a bit more internationalized than Beijing people. I still prefer Beijing people, because I think they're more inclined to "make their own culture" and in general cultural industries are much more prominent in Beijing (as well as a certain hippyish ambivalence towards making money), but I've found young shanghai people rather fun to chat with.
5. It's more expensive: I know this is a ridiculous thing to say is good, but I find that I am more inclined to think of the RMB as play money in Beijing just because everything is so ridiculously cheap. Here I actually question whether I need to take a cab somewhere.... or maybe that's because Shanghai has less things that I want (lack of cultural industry), a much better subway system (no need to take a cab) and no girlfriend (no need for dinners/drinks).
That's my thoughts at the moment. I still would prefer not to live here, but its not that bad in general.
