For the last three weeks I have been back in China and had a colleague

of mine, Scott Breeding, out from our company’s headquarters in the USA. Scott is quite a character – well read & traveled with a real passion for what he does and a seemingly endless stream of great one-liners. It was a great three weeks and we got a lot done, but my liver was greatly relieved when he finally left….

I showed Scott how to ride the Shanghai Metro (http://www.exploreshanghai.com/metro/) and he used it almost daily to get about – as I do myself. However in his second week he witnessed something special which motivated him to compose the following, which I thought I should share:

scott-breeding1“I’ve been in Asia about a month, and in here in China for almost 10 days.  Since I got to Shanghai, everyday I ride the subway to work.  Because of the unbelievable traffic, at rush hour the train is much faster than a taxi…cost makes no difference…train cost about a buck, the taxi ride about 10.  The train takes about an hour, but cabs take twice as long.  I have to change lines half way there which is an adventure.  I’m usually the only foreigner on the train, but nobody bothers me.
Almost nobody speaks any English at all.  Most ignore me completely, but some of the older passengers stare…like I’m from another world.  I read the China Daily and carefully try to appear completely absorbed in the odd ways the official media spins the news.  It’s always very quiet…the universal big city attitude of studied indifference.  No joking, no music…seemingly very civil.   But tonight on the way home, I witnessed one of the most disturbing events I’ve ever seen.
First, people in Shanghai dress very well..much more stylishly than a comparable city in the US.  The trains are all new, fast and hyper clean…no graffiti anywhere.  Very few cops anywhere to be seen, although crime is not uncommon.   Pickpockets and grab-and-run purse snatchers are out there…not as bad as Rio, but still out there if you’re not careful.  Service in the hotels for Westerners is barely just

ok…even though they are trying really hard.

The people are just naturally aggressive and not at all gracious…very used to fighting for everything they have.  The guttural, tonal language is amazing to listen to…very odd the way speakers have to modulate the volume and pitch to make the words have their intended meaning.  It’s facinatin

g how a Chinese speaker can talk so mildly to me in English but take on a completely different personality when they start speaking Chinese to one another.

Tonight the train was crowded…not insanely so, as some nights are…just packed.  We pull into one of the two dozens stops on the way home, and a  woman just next to wear I’m standing gets up from her seat to get off the train.  Two young well dressed professional women rush for the prize.  This is the usual scene…you don’t ever want to get between a Chinese subway rider and an empty seat.  Oneelbows the other and slides quickly into the seat, but the other doesn’t like losing out.  She starts to speak harshly (relatively) to the other woman, who then yells back.  The still standing women then attacks the other…I mean hair pulling, hitting, kicking…the other viciously fights back.  This is pretty odd, but it gets weirder.  Nobody does anything…the woman sitting next to the battle just watches. Nobody even says anything…not a word.  The car is completely quiet except for the heavy breathing and occasional bitter words from the combatants.

And it goes on…3 or 4 minutes to the next stop…fighting the whole way.  They’re getting tired and winded…they end up in a clinch, panting.  Hands full of hair…getting in a blow when they can.  Next stop…doors open, people get on and off….doors close we’re speeding up and they’re still fighting.  A little rested now, the standing girl finally able to wound the other who’s now bleeding form a scratch on her face.  Nobody says anything…the battle continues.  We slow for the next station…doors open, close…the train speeds up and still they fight in the little space they have…most fellow passengers watch impassively, the others ignore them.

Finally…finally…the train stops and the still standing woman breaks from the clutch and staggers off the train.  The other leaps up and goes to the door to shout after her.  Here’s the odd thing…nobody takes her seat.
I want to go home.”

Filed under: China - Shanghai
by Don Silcock