April 17, 2026

Shanghai was much more than we anticipated. It is a world class city in every respect with almost all of its present development achieved in just the past 30 years. Despite having a population of 25 million, it seems a very livable city with excellent infrastructure, ubiquitous urban landscaping of intricate detail and care, varied walkable neighborhoods with welcoming residents and very little litter or grime.  More than half of the cars and scooters and all of the city buses are electric so it is startlingly quiet and the air quality was rated excellent every day we were there on our weather apps. Mid city at 4 am on the 13th floor of our hotel we could hear the twittering and calls of birds as they woke up in their urban spring environment. The highways are well designed and so well signed that I wouldn’t hesitate to try to drive here. The city mandates 30% green space for all development projects so there is a charm and peaceful cultured feel all around you – meticulously maintained gardens and parks are ever present. They even have planted spring annuals along all the medians and inner curbing strips for miles and miles. Unbelievable, really. 

The impression we as Westerners got of Shanghai is some combination of Manhattan meets Chicago’s upscale riverside… on steroids! Whereas our cities’ skylines might boast 25-50 iconic buildings, here it is easily several hundred. They have huge luxurious malls everywhere with more Gucci and Prada than you can shake a stick at – rampant capitalism in this most communist country, a puzzle. The lure of the illuminated towering architectural gems along the Bund (their riverside promenade) at night is enthralling and awe inspiring, even with the misty cool overcast we encountered during most of our five day stay. There are several outstanding city museums housed in huge futuristic 21st century buildings (the Shanghai Museum East is 1.2 million square feet!) with excellent displays of cultural artifacts despite the purges of the Revolution. But art lovers might be somewhat disappointed here as their museums largely center on modern post revolutionary Chinese art. We enjoyed all of the world class food on offer and the random interactions with locals.  Everyone seems friendly with pride of place and eager to converse via translator apps to find out where we are from and why we are here.  Shanghai is so advanced as a city and quite different from what Westerners might expect, a pleasant surprise!