23rd November: Shanghai, China

This is actually a lovely neighbourhood after all. We popped out to get some snacks and lunch, again wandering into the park. Most areas have green spaces like this in Chinese cities. They are well looked after and thought-out places for people to be, to relax, to get together.

I believe the UK’s loneliness epidemic is by design and that one key cause is that care for public spaces was ripped away by neoliberal policies specifically to lead to a lack of connection between people. Individuals are then much more susceptible to being exploited, such as through developing a fear of others (and then voting for right wing parties) and falling for ‘retail therapy’. I’m sure that China has some if these issues too, but they are being rooted out and acted upon rather than cruelly encouraged. At a broad level, it seems fair to say that China uses money for people whereas the west uses people for money.

After some more research time, we hopped on the metro to Zhongshan Park. This was rammed on a sunny, if a bit chilly, Saturday afternoon. Groups danced, played badminton, frisbee, and jianzi. Families relaxed on the grass and kids played games. One other aspect of Chinese parks is that they all have signage for emergency shelters, water supplies, food etc. Presumably, this kind of disaster preparation happens in many countries (hopefully), but I’ve never seen it so publicly visible.

As ever, there was also a shopping centre attached to the metro. This contained a vegan buffet, but we were not prepared for how busy it was going to be! We queued for our plates, missed out on a few dishes, and struggled to find anywhere to sit and eat. It was completely overwhelming, but we got some healthy food into us and got out of there!