I flew to Beijing on Wednesday for a dinner and some meetings yesterday. As a “white face” still learning many new things about China, the contrast between Beijing and Shanghai was striking to me in many ways.
The two cities have a very different physical feel — Beijing being grid like and orderly with wide avenues while Shanghai’s streets remind me of the chaos of Boston’s streets, narrow, twisting, and circling around just when you’d least expect it.
One of the curious differences is in Shanghai it feels unusual to see the China flag flying. Few buildings seem to fly the flag, for example. Beijing is different — lots of red flags flying, especially around the government buildings where the flags literally ring the tops of the buildings.