Some of you were with us when we went up the CN Tower in Toronto some (best unspecified) years ago which has a section of glass floor in the observation deck which allows you to look down several hundred metres past your own feet. Last Sunday we went up the Oriental Peal Tower in Shanghai (see photos in previous post that looks like something from Chernobyl) where they have just recently added a glass-floored level to their observation deck. In the CN Tower the panes of glass are of small area and visibly of great thickness. In the Pearl Tower the glass panes are of considerable area and don’t appear to be particularly thick. It takes a significant level of trust in Chinese design, manufacturing and quality control to take a walk around 263 metres above the ground. It seemed sensible to send the boys out first to test that everything was ok.
Somewhat inconsiderately Arthur’s pushchair decided to lose a wheel at the beginning of the week, making the trip to and from school (four times a day for Arthur) a bit too much for his frequently tired and permanently short legs. Getting spares was going to take months at best, and buying a new pushchair seemed extravagant for a small person already the wrong side of 3½. So plans to buy bicycles were accelerated and I bought a mountain-style bike which looked really pretty cool for the 10 minutes before the child seat was fitted. We nearly bought Matthew a bike yesterday but decided that the 20″ frame is just a fraction too big for him to control safely at the moment, so we have bought a scooter instead with a promise to get a bike in a few months’ time.
One of the things you notice on dry days in Shanghai is how dusty it is. It’s not hard to see why as there are major construction projects happening everywhere. A lot of building work was accelerated to be ready for the Shanghai Expo which is now underway, but there is still an awful lot going on. We can see half a dozen from our apartment alone. Our route to school takes us down a main road with construction sites on both sides. When I go to collect Arthur at lunchtime after his half-day, the pavements are thick with the migrant construction workers having their lunch or sleeping in the shade under the bushes. Lunch is provided for them from convoys of tricycle trucks and the pavement is soon strewn with the detritus of pork bones, fish bones, rice, disposable chopsticks, plastic cartons, and polystyrene boxes. But in no time the overall-clad city cleaners have restored the site to the amazing level of tidiness that impresses one about the whole city. Everywhere you walk in Shanghai there are people in blue or orange overalls quietly sweeping, tidying and gardening, accompanied by their big two-wheeled barrows and their brooms made from the branches of roadside trees.
A thought experiment. Imagine you were in a restaurant in England when a family from an ethnic minority came in for lunch. What would you think if every member of the staff took turns in sitting next to the family’s children to have their photographs taken by their colleagues? Fortunately the boys are getting a little more used to this behaviour, although not yet managing to imitate the Madagascan penguins. Smile and wave boys, smile and wave.
Freaky pic – Matthew and Arthur look like they been photoshopped on, it’s so surreal. Brave of you to let them walk on the glass floor!