A Tale Of Two River Banks

This was my only R&R during my very first business trip on my new job - to Shanghai. Dinner was at a restaurant that straddled the old and the new Shanghai, on either side of the river.

The old is the former English concession area, with the glorious architecture, art-deco style and overrun with tourists everywhere. The new is the spanking business district, with tall, glassy skyscrapers, all lit up and boasting of the most expensive property in the world. A condominium sells for USD15,000 per square metre. No wonder property everwhere else is considered cheap by the Chinese who are snapping them up by the dozen and pushing up our property prices over here.

I am dazzled by the modernity of the lights and the tall skyscrapers. I am intrigued by the romanticism of the old buildings. What a contrast.