Drainage

Head For The Hills! Shanghai Is Sinking!

            The reports are in: Shanghai residents should roll up their pant legs and grab a pair of stilts while they still can.  Shanghai is (ironically) on the way down while the financial capital of China is eyeing its greatest rise in more than half a century. 

            Due to the topography of Shanghai’s marshy base, the dense metropolis is having a harder time than ever to manage the perilous situation on the ground—or rather, underground. 

Groundwater wells are commonly used in Shanghai and dozens of other cities across China as a resource for potable water.  With chronic bouts of dryness and a rapidly spreading arid zone, ground water seemed the only dependable short-term fix for water shortages.  Now the ill-advised practice is taking noticeable tolls. 

            The effects of drainage are perhaps most evident in Shanghai, one of the most prolific cities in China.  And while developers have been eager to build with an almost reckless zeal, the more historic sites that form the cultural core of old Shanghai are most at risk.  The land around the HuangPu River, known commonly as The Bund, stands even with the river even before peak water levels of the summertime.

 Little do tourists and residents realize, but when they stroll along the site-seeing promenade erected during the 1990s, they’re actually standing on the city’s best flood defense strategy!  The promenade serves two purposes: to allow visitors a chance to snap the perfect shot of Shanghai’s ever-changing skyline, but more importantly it keeps the water of the HaungPu River at bay and off the 8-lane road that lies just a few meters away. 

Nobody is recommending a resurgence of the ill-fated aquacar fad of the 1950s; but sooner than we know, the use of amphibious vehicles could be common practice in Shanghai.  It’s difficult to determine just how much the city has sunk in the last 100 years or so; official measurements weren’t taken until the 1920s when sinking first became noticeable.  All the same, we can take a guess as to what the future holds in store.  According to official projections, the water levels of the HuangPu could rise up to 27 inches by 2050.   

“What can we do to stop it?” one resident wonders.  For starters, the city has made the switch to river water to meet its clean water needs.  This should relieve the strain put on the empty wells underneath China’s financial capital.  In addition, engineers have been working to replenish the ground wells.  They aim to pump in 5.2 billion gallons per year in an effort to slow the sinking and save vulnerable riverfront establishments. 

Even with the impressive catalog of engineering marvels Shanghai has unveiled in recent years, this problem may prove too daunting.  With an urban population of more than 13 million people, Shanghai is one of the world’s most densely populated cities.  And after decades of overworking the instable ground below, who knows how much longer Shanghai can stay afloat?

It’s a problem that demands our attention.  So next time you stroll down the street, keeping your head held high in typical Shanghai fashion, it may be more out of necessity than that classic sense of Shanghai pride. 

Metro ink

Aug 28th

Nanjing

When I think about my reasons for brazenly rejecting an escort from Shanghai’s international airport to my new residence in Nanjing, they don’t seem so sound anymore. At least, that was the repentant notion that I adopted after spending the better part of 24 hours in airports, train stations, or some other vestibule that was designed to shuttle me toward my eventual terminus. Just like the wind; Traveling blows!
So, in the grand scheme of things, I’ve become more resigned to follow through on my goal of only taking 2 very selective holidays during this new chapter of China. I should save myself a bunch of grief and a little bit of money as well.
During one of my constant train rides from the last day or so, I was a passenger aboard a comprehensive and state of the art metro system. This metro system belonged to Shanghai, and brother it’s something. It’s clean; it’s timely; it’s quiet and comfortable. In short, it may very well be the antithesis of Chicago’s beleaguered public transit system. Not to downplay the inherent charm of my hometown’s bucket of bolts CTA, but it doesn’t really measure up to the standards being set by modern transit systems all across the world.
On Shanghai’s metro, I spotted a young Chinese man amidst the commuters. He was outfitted in (what I imagine to be) contemporary 21st century fashionable urban garb; and he also sported a tattoo on his left forearm. What caught my eye in this particular young man’s appearance was not the style of his clothing, nor was it his physical demeanor (he seemed adequately sedate among the other doleful passengers). Rather what caused my eyes to linger on him a bit longer than the other myriad distractions was this forearm tattoo. It was written in English. It read “Love You” and it was written in a looping, lazy script. The two words were so close together that it looked more like LoveYou—one word. I can’t fathom the intentions and motivations of this young man when he got that ink seared into the flesh of his lower left forearm. I couldn’t help but think of every hapless person that deems it necessary to get some obscure Chinese character emblazoned onto his or her hide. Most often these people make the choice based on aesthetics alone because, quite frankly, they have no idea what their choice in Chinese characters actually means.

Dragonfly Island, or Liandao

Note: this is an archive piece retrieved from my last days in Lianyungang
June 21st

Yesterday a Chinese friend and I went to Xugou in order to soak up some rays on the beach. I should make it clear that I was the only one interested in a) exposure to the sun and b) contact with the water. Generally those are two elements akin to Kryptonite where the Chinese are concerned…those and sitting on dirty surfaces.
The beach we went to was located on Liandao Island. Liandao is a remote offshoot of the Xugou seashore. It offers fantastic vistas and an escape from the perpetual smog of the mainland. There were an inordinate amount of dragonflies buzzing about that afternoon—which has moved me to dub Liandao “Dragonfly Island” for future references.
Swimming in some waters off Dragonfly Island can be hazardous. Not due to any natural peril, because after all the beaches are quite serene in their own right. Dangers arise in the form of manmade devices. The very same cove at Sumawan Beach that is ideal for bathers/swimmers is used to give thrill rides on assorted watercrafts. Jetskis and motorboats are zipping about and crashing through the swimmers’ area at an almost constant rate. The jackassery and swashbuckling attitude of the jetski dudes is especially irritating and perilous. They’ll zip through a crowd of swimmers without a second thought as to who they may crush asunder or leave crippled from the neck down.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s a beautiful beach in an absolutely fantastic setting. But swimmers beware! At any moment you could be mowed down or left in the wake of some reckless jock that’s showboating for the couple of ladies on the shore.

Tracking the wind, I'm chasing the gale

It goes without saying that people the world over have their own foibles and funny habits. I've noticed that Chinese people are in no short supply of idiosyncracies. For instance, Chinese people really enjoy walking backwards.
Whenever I'm taking a much-needed respite in the wide open landscape of Lianyungang, I can peek a single Chinese person or in some cases a pair of Chinese persons walking backwards. I thought it peculiar at first, no question. Then I thought that maybe I could relate this odd sight to some extreme weather conditions. Say for example if the wind was blowing up a heavy gale and one wanted to shield their facial orifices from the onslaught of air. But there seems to be no excuse for walking backwards on a perfectly nice, calm and sunny day. I've been told that the Chinese believe the backward walking is good for health. Hm.
I went for a run the other night at the university's track. It was late, maybe around 10:30 or so. I expected to see a few couples sitting on the soccer field in tender moonlit embraces, but I was not prepared for the mob of people that I came across. Did I mention that this was a Friday night? Well, it most certainly was past 10 pm on a Friday (I had my own reasons for engaging in rigorous cardio at this hour) and I think I nearly stumbled over half the student body on the track and adjoining playground. I thought to myself: this is what college would be like if teetotalism was more popular than the current exploits that are in vogue on western campuses. And of course, many of the people on the track got a glimpse of my face, flush from the effort of running, as I lapped them. These were the people walking around the track in reverse. Perhaps they thought I was some kind of monster apparition of the night.