Going to Shanghai Part 1: First Impressions - The good, the Bad and the Ugly

One of the best things about Shanghai is its incredible views.

Not too long ago, I was invited to join the security team for the Oil Minister of Saudi Arabia during one of his recent trips to Tokyo. Although I had worked with that security company before, the length of this particular job allowed me to really get to know its president, and we spoke at length about his newly opened Shanghai branch, and the lifestyle there in general.

"The Bund" is a great place to visit at night- both for its beauty
and its atmosphere.

 As a function of the fact that I had studied abroad at the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong as a university student, I had already visited Shanghai once, but that was 8 years ago, and I was fairly positive that the Shanghai of today had to be a drastistically different place. He asked me if Id like to come out there to see it and spend some time with him, so with that, Mari and I decided to make a trip out there. (She also needed to check out some shoe and textile factories for her business as well).

Before leaving, my initial impressions of Shanghai was that it was a lot like the wild west of the East. Although in the strictest sense, it's bubble economy is over, there is still a ton of money to be made for those who are willing to take risks, and are street smart enough to not get themselves screwed. After about 4 days there, I think my impression was pretty much on point.

 The great thing about it was that contrasting with Tokyo, it is only about 30% of the living cost. Apartments come furnished, and you can get both a live-in maid and translator for about $200 a month. A lot of the money to be made is also under the table, so there are no taxes involved and what not. In terms of working as an entertainer (particularly actors) I heard of actors getting paid even two or three thousand dollars a day for relatively easy work because foreigners are still relatively rare. (Black folks are almost non-existant.) Contrasting with Tokyo that is extremely appealing. (The best Ive ever done in Tokyo is about $1500 a day, but that was when the economy was much better. These days pay is generally much lower than that.) As a function of that, if I did choose to go out there for a while, it seems as though I could do fairly well.

 On the other side of the coin however, it is again, it isn't as clean and safe as Tokyo and while there are exceptions, people are more rude (apparently Shanghai has a reputation for that in China). I've also heard that any kind of physical entertainment work (including stunt work) is more dangerous as well because there isn't the same attention to details. Furthermore, when I contacted agencies online before I left, I didnt get any kind of a response...from any of them. And upon going there, the few who's address I could find had disappeared... not exactly a sign of consistent quality work.

While theft in Tokyo is virtually non-existant, and problems with organized crime generally don't happen in the public eye, in Shanghai, both were apparent...and require you to proceed with a degree of caution in deciding what kind of places you want to go to, or how you should conduct yourself...(i.e. be wary of hot women approaching you to take you to a bar, or cheaper than usual massage places- both are typical scams).

 Public transportation is pretty good, as the subway is extensive and is under a dollar (4 - 6RMB) to go pretty much anywhere. Taxis are also just a few bucks (14 -21 RMB) to go pretty much anywhere, making them a reasonable option for late night escapades or times where you are just feeling lazy. This is something you cant really do in Tokyo- they start at 660 yen (about $8) and depending on how far you have to go, you could end up spending well over $100. The fact that Shanghai taxis don't have seatbelts is a bit scary however.

 Overall, I would say that my overall impression of the city is a favorable one. As long as you have a bit of money, so you afford to stay and eat in the nicer areas, it's great. It actually reminds me a lot of Seoul in terms of the fact that some areas are super nice, hip and trendy and other areas are not...but pretty much everywhere is reasonable. This again contrasts with Tokyo where pretty much everywhere in Tokyo is nice and super clean, but it is also generally expensive. (And the trendy areas are very much so) It also reminds me of Seoul in terms of the fact that you can get copious amounts of the local beer for ridiculously low prices, but it only takes one or two of them to make you sick the next day.

 Like other places in Asia, getting around without the language is doable, but knowing the basics is exceedingly helpful. Being able to read Japanese is helpful as well, as a lot of the Kanji is about as similar as English and Spanish words.

 In terms of getting a tourist visa for China, it was a bit of a pain. Whereas with Korea and Japan, you get a visa by showing up, for China, you have to apply ahead of time...and it's expensive. Mine was 15,000yen. ($187). If you are going for the long run however, business visas there are supposedly substantially easier to get than for Japan, and you can usually pick them up the same day. It is just a matter of getting an invitation letter from a company in Shanghai.

 I think I will definitely need to improve my Chinese far beyond what it is to actually be able to use it out there, but I think another trip may still be in order later on.