SUCCESS STORY OF SHANGHAI

Dear my friends, Shanghai Literally means “above sea” – no wonder it has so much to offer as  it is the city that never sleeps – exhilarating for those who seek an  active lifestyle. To facilitate its crucial function as a gateway to  China , it's integrated logistic and transportation systems manifestly  reflect this main heart of activities. Easy and excellent accessibility  by all modes of transportation, namely road, air, sea and rails is  crucial.    Not withstanding the fact that it has a super duper public  transportation system, it also has clean streets and surprisingly little  air pollution which is clearly in contrast to other major cities. The  city is also linked with thousands of bus lines apart from the  Shanghai Metro (subway) which has four lines at present. All these  facilities are made available for them to fuel demand of a highly  educated and modernized workforce. Such infrastructures are  crucially required to facilitate the movement of the labour forces  domestically as well as internationally.    Not surprisingly to note the world first of its kind, maglev railway  was erected there, from Shanghai’s Long Yang Road subway  station to Pudong International Airport. It takes only 7 minutes  to travel a 30 km journey with its maximum speed of 431 km/h.  Such an advanced and sophisticated transportation mode is  necessary in view of its huge population coupled with its  attraction as a favorite tourist destination. This city also has two airports; namely Pudong International  airport, caters for both domestic and international flights, served  as one of the most important hubs in China. Whereas Hongqiao  Airport is mainly used for domestic flight purposes.     To supplement its function as the gateway to China, numerous  elevated roads are also added, apart from the three railways  intersections in this grand city. You may find these elevated  roads appear in expressway-like road conditions (direction  separated lanes).  These bridges/multi level highways in the centre of this great  city, featuring the Chinese character “well”, link up the flow of  traffic from every direction. This zig-zag crossing afloat and  under the elevated highways truly reflected the glory of their  local architectural designs. If you were traveling at high speed,  you may feel like traveling on a roller coaster. Tunnels and  bridges cleverly creep in to link up certain areas such as Puxi  to Pudong. Everywhere you find big crowds of people, truly reflects its  real success as a tourists destination. Normally you may also  find parades of buses bring in and out thousands of visitors,  local and foreign, to and fro this grand city. As such, parking  problem becomes a norm here. To overcome this problem, the  drivers (locally called “Shi fu” or master) of all these tourist  coaches usually stopped their vehicles at the road side of the  main destination to drop their valued passengers. Thereafter,  they have to drive to a destined parking area, which is a walking  distance away from these tourist spots. What will happen if more  and more people, whom majority at present are still using  bicycles and scooters as their main mean of transportation,  upgrade to motor cars. Although it has well equipped with all these sophisticated  transportation infrastructure, ironically we find some of their traffic  rules are not in harmony with the international traffic laws.  Pedestrians who are used to normal traffic rules, usually have to  ensure that both sides of the traffic where two lanes of flowing  directly opposite to each other, are clear before crossing, they  have to be extra cautious especially when crossing the road.  Pedestrians are legally obliged to give way to the motorists  as the latter are legally obliged to slow down their vehicle,  but not obliged to stop even when approaching a zebra-crossing  – contradictory to the normal traffic rules. I was told that the  local authority is looking into the matter seriously. I guess it  is due to their own uniqueness where pedestrians and cyclists  at one time form the majority far beyond when compared to  motorists. That may be the reason why they think it is more  appropriate to shift the legal burden to pedestrians, rather than  the motorists. With the present situation, the Zig-zag traffic flow  has complicated the above problem especially to the pedestrians. Being one of its tourists’ main attraction spots, Shanghai Bund, is the  classic image of Shanghai. Here, you will find huge crowds of  tourists flooding the area day and night. It is worthwhile to note the  elegant colonial architectural buildings and the new futuristic buildings  actually blend in easy harmony, separated by the famous Huangpu river, being the main attraction. Naturally it never failed to attract visitors,  being individual or groups to snap their photos with such wonderful and  rare background of its kind. Taking a cruise along this famous river, which divide the majestic  buildings dating back to Shanghai’s grandest days and the latest  landmark area such as Oriental Pearl Towers and trade centre, you  may find some fun and excitement.    Alternatively, taking such a cruise at night may prove romantic  especially for young loving couples. The effect of the neon lights  from those elegant buildings along the river, may be viewed as if it  is candle lights from mighty candle stands. Just imagine you are at  that scene, staring at the beauty of the lighting while you let other  parts of body do the talking with your sweet and lovely partner –  a real romantic and joyful sensation. The breeze blowing towards  both of you, may add more sensation to their already intimate  feeling. By snapping a photo with such a memorial and sweet  moment is worth far beyond the effort.    For those who have already known of its port, being the largest in  the world as of December 2004, will not find any surprise to see  huge cargo ships frequently moving along this river. As such, taking  a photo with such unplanned cargo ship as a background would  become a norm here.    This never sleeping city brings in and out hundreds of thousands of  visitors either domestic or foreign daily. Coaches forming beelines  along the bund is a normal sight to the local people. Beggars; young  and old, able and disable, are also seen trying to take advantages of  the crowds. Your Chief Servant, James Oh Founder and Group CEO Skype me at james.oh18 http://liftyouup.blogspot.com