Metropolis

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Is this the greatest city in the world, I wondered, on the drive into town, as the sheer scale of Pudong, Shanghai’s upstart suburb, took my breath away. Well, it is the greatest city in the world, at least by population (this is China, after all). With nearly 25 million residents, it’s the most populous ‘city proper’ in the world.  Yet, as I discovered, Shanghai can easily feel cosy and intimate.

I was having difficulty processing even the fleeting glimpses I had stolen from the hotel limo—of the nakedly ambitious architecture, the sense of order and composure, the squeaky cleanliness of it all. All in all, more First World than the First World, and definitely not the China I had expected. But there’s an antidote for everything. In the boutiquey embrace of the Andaz Xintiandi, my home for the next few nights, I started getting my bearings back.

Shanghai is a masterly act of urban planning, an aspect of the city that is well celebrated, as is its towering influence on the Chinese psyche and culture. Hip yet rooted, outward looking and inward gazing, global but local, the Andaz Xintiandi is like a microcosm of Shanghai. In any case, given its size, Shanghai should only be savoured in small bites. A short while later, I was having my amuse-bouche.

M50, a disused industrial space along the Suzhou Creek on Moganshan Road (the source of the ‘M’ in the name), was redeveloped as an arts hub by Shanghai artist Xue Song in 2000. A soft rain ushered me indoors, where art galleries and artists’ studios were quietly pushing artistic boundaries. I encountered sexualised portraits of petite, childlike figures, cute polar bears in several shades of pastel, a loaf of bread serving as a site of creative expression.