Three six zero
(Constructing a tower in Pudong: Shanghai, China)
This is how I picture China when I’m not there; as a skeleton city being dressed with glazing. In my mind, as here, it is grey, humid and slightly smoggy. It is rare to have two days together in Suzhou or Shanghai which are completely free of haze or persistent fug – it is only possible over a lucky weekend or over a public holiday when the factories shut down for an extra day or two. All through the night, light and sparks pour out of certain floors of these emergent skyscrapers as electrics are installed or structural joints are welded together. From way above us in the dark, the glint of torchlight or welding sparks catches the corner of our eyes. Nothing ever seems to stop in China, least of all the growth.
On another note, can you believe this is the 360th post I’ve written? I shall have to return to China soon or I shall run out of things to say shortly… It is amazing how much a person begins to forget about one place when they have stayed in another for a while.
– Today Rosie is in the UK, drinking chrysanthemum tea and having loft insulation fitted –
