I am standing in what must be the centre of the universe, the lightest, brightest place in the world: the Maserati and Ferrari showroom on Nanjing West Road in Shanghai. If China is the hottest economy in the world and Shanghai is the richest city in China, and Nanjing Road is the most glamorous street in Shanghai, this is proof enough that this shiny showroom must be the centre of the universe.
Nanjing Road is busy, but for all the rushing around, some passers-by still stop and gaze into the glittering showroom.
They look longingly at the beautiful cherry-red and sky-blue cars. Most of these people could no more buy a $420,000 Ferrari 575 than I could, but it doesn't matter.
This Maserati and Ferrari showroom has sold only three cars all year but it doesn't matter. What matters is wealth ? the prospect of wealth and the desire for wealth, even the mere proximity of wealth. The desire for that shiny new car is the glue that binds Shanghai to China, and China to the rest of the world.
Later, just east of this bright centre of the universe, I meet James, a Shanghai native.
His is the forward face of China, the face that meets the world. That face is young and hungry, sharp-eyed and English-speaking and ready to grab a piece of the good life. James has a plan, too. He is selling cigarette lighters that come equipped with a currency scanner. But he's not selling them to me: he has his sights set much higher than that.
James wants to sell millions of his lighter-scanners. He wants that Ferrari 575, and he just might get it.
Little jewel
Shanghai has become China's boom town, the latest in a long line of Asian boom towns. The ones that came before ? Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo ? are all old news, but in Shanghai the gold rush is on. And streaming in from across the world are the property developers, manufacturers, salesmen, lawyers, bankers and analysts who are keen to grab their share. These new arrivals are shovelling money into the town like there's no tomorrow: Shanghai soaks up an incredible US$12 billion of the US$50 billion in foreign direct investment that floods into China each year. Of course, the ultimate driver of all this wealth is not Shanghai but China. Shanghai ends abruptly at the ring road, and beyond that lies China, huge, charmless and unlovely, the land of factories that makes cheap goods for the world. China is the reason that the Ferrari 575 sits in the window on Nanjing Road. Shanghai is the jewel in China's crown. It is a small jewel, too, a tiny point of light encircled by the relative darkness, like a deep-sea lanternfish that lives in the blackness. But small as it is, the light is on and everything in Shanghai 2005 is working. All the streets have English signs, the city has a subway system and a new airport, the taxi drivers are honest, and there are lots of international hotels. You can walk into a mobile phone store, buy a chip and be wired in 15 minutes. All of these things matter a great deal to a business traveller. ?Everything here is so much easier than it is in Xian,? says Phil Kennedy, general manager of the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel. Much of the efficiency is due to Shanghai's openness to new ideas. That quality set it apart 80 years ago, when it was the finest city in the Orient, and still sets it apart today.History preserved
In Shanghai, like any other city, some areas have developed more rapidly than others. The brightest point of light is Xintiandi, a living demonstration of China's possibilities ? a place that was making money even when China was in the grip of the SARS epidemic 18 months ago. This small bar and restaurant zone was rebuilt from the tiled roofs and brick arches of the shikumen, or stone gate houses, of an earlier era. Like much of Shanghai, it resonates with atmosphere, and the western-style clubs, eateries and shops, with their touch of old Shanghai, have proved to be popular with tourists. Xintiandi showcases another one of Shanghai's strengths: old buildings are often preserved or, at least, not always torn down, as they were in many other Asian boom towns. The latest talk of the town is Three on the Bund, a renovated seven-storey building filled with restaurants, art galleries and lounges, all of them relentlessly chic. On the ground floor is the flagship Armani store, done up in minimalist warehouse style and stylishly decorated in white and black. It's admirable but cold, perfectly designed but without soul ? much less inviting than the warm and shiny Ferrari showroom. But Three on the Bund will no doubt finds its place in the new Shanghai before long. There are other points of light, including Lan Kwai Fong at Park 97 (2 Gao Lan Road, Fuxing Park, on the corner of Si Nan Road), and the pubs on Hengshan Road and in the Jing An District. The lively nightclubs of Maoming Road, sadly, are almost extinct, forced to close after residents complained about the noise levels. Lan Kwai Fong at Park 97 ? a barn-sized building that has been carved up into lounge bars, discos and the like ? is still very much alive. When I visited, after midnight on a weekday, the place was alive with hip young locals, visiting businessmen and polyglot tourists, all looking for good times (and elbow room). What lies outside Shanghai's points of light? For travellers who venture beyond the warm glow of Shanghai's five-star hotels and restaurants, service can be pretty awful: the slovenly, resentful attitude that once typified the entire country prevails. That attitude must be overcome. ?I have a real problem hiring staff and getting them to move their butts,? says the manager of a five-star international hotel. Shanghai is far from matching the efficiency of Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei. That's to be expected in a city that has changed so fast in the last 15 years. Everything still takes too long. Upon landing in Shanghai Pudong International Airport, our aircraft ? China Eastern no less ? gets a lengthy tarmac treatment. The airport itself is new, but it has problems. There's a 30-minute queue at the money exchange counter, and the transaction generates a storm of paperwork. There are no signs directing passengers to the taxi queues: it took five minutes to find a lift, take it to the third floor and secure a taxi to Puxi.Boom town blues
There are other problems, also of the small-but-annoying kind. Spoken English is rare, although becoming more common. Taxis are in very short supply; it's almost impossible to get a cab on Nanjing Road during rush hour. The subway is hard to use for non-Chinese speakers and readers. Traffic jams are a major source of irritation, particularly for people going north to south. ?I always allow an extra 15 minutes if I take a taxi,? a Shanghai native told me. But these are small gripes. Shanghai will no doubt sort them out and, besides, every city has its downsides. In Shanghai, the only serious potential threat is China; any sudden political upheavals in the country itself could completely derail the city. You can still get glimpses of the real China: a woman selling a few flowers in the palm of her hand; a group of teenagers turning away from a down-and-out; a man selling five potatoes on the side of the road. ?Sure, there are lots of people on the street, but most of them make US$100 a month, and there are lots of new buildings, but most of them are empty,? says an American furniture businessman. Many Chinese were left behind by the 1990s boom, and some may never catch up. Knowledge of official doctrine and a lifetime of bureaucracy ? what good is any of that now? But unless you take a very pessimistic view of China itself ? and few people do these days ? Shanghai will be fine. The locals have bought into the system. Everyone can benefit somehow, and they all want to; they all want that Ferrari 575. The boom town buzz won't last forever ? Asian boom towns come and go pretty quickly. But it hasn't moved on yet, and in the meantime, I have to admit: it does feel pretty good at the centre of the universe. ¡Partying in style
The builders of Shanghai 100 years ago knew what they were doing. Those old buildings are classy and roomy, and they were built to last. So when Shanghai boomed in the 1990s, would-be club owners and restaurateurs had ready-made spaces to move into and renovate. As a result, there is a welcome element of taste and style in the city's eating, drinking and partying venues. The sheer physical space is probably the primary source of enjoyment for visitors used to the more cramped, crowded venues of Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Xintiandi is fun to roam around in, a perfect mix of old Shanghai and modern commerce. We drank a beer on the patio at Paulaner Brauhaus, had another one at western-style Kabb, and then popped into Paradise lounge for some live music. The band was Filipino and most of their songs were western pop ? many from the 70s. This is the case throughout Shanghai, by the way: much of the popular culture is derivative. When they're not spinning discs, the popular nightclubs are still several decades behind. Face Bar is another atmospheric restaurant and watering hole, housed in a big old brick mansion in very spacious grounds. Inside, it is a roomy restaurant with a crowded, happy bar; outside, it's like sipping mint juleps on the veranda of a pre-Civil War plantation house. A refined, well-proportioned sense of space. The same feeling exists at the long, grey marble bar at Shintori, a Japanese restaurant built into an old warehouse. The place is subtly lit and cavernous, a welcome change from low-ceilinged restaurants in other crowded capitals. There are many such places: at the top of Three on the Bund is New Heights restaurant, which serves reasonable Asian diner-style food at good prices: Thai red curry pork, burger and fries, five-spice char siu ribs, five-spice duck breast, and bangers and mash. A budget restaurant on the top floor of this ultra-chic building is a refreshing idea. And the view is fantastic ? in front is the busy Huangpu river, while the steady flow of humanity walks along the waterfront, and straight ahead is the Bund, a curved procession of stately buildings along Shanghai's waterfront.- Face Bar 118 Rui Jin 2 Road, tel 86 21 6466 4328
- Kabb Xintiandi, tel 86 21 3307 0798
- New Heights Restaurant Three on the Bund 7/F, tel 86 21 6321 0909
- Paulaner Brauhaus Xintiandi, tel 86 21 6320 3935
- Paradise Lounge Xintiandi, tel 86 21 6387 7818
- Shintori 803 Ju Lu Road, tel 86 21 5404 5252
