Shanghai, large and loud

JASON TAN recounts the many adventures he experienced while taking Shanghai's public transportation to his workplace.


IT was nearly midnight when my friend and I hailed a cab in Shanghai, trying to escape the freezing winter and waiting to step into our warm apartment as soon as we could.

While the cab was a much-needed reprieve from the frosty weather, little did we know that we were about to be assaulted, in a manner of speaking.

As we chatted in the car, as most passengers are wont to do, we began to realise that our conversation was gradually becoming inaudible against the music from the radio.

We wouldn't have minded some light Chinese tunes in the background to soothe us after a long day. But this was something else! The music could have blasted us out of our seats.
My friend politely asked the Shi Fu (the cabbie greeting in China) to turn down the volume, and he did — but for exactly a minute, and then the volume was cranked up even higher! We gave up reasoning with him;praying we'd reach home soon so this torture would end.

I was in Shanghai recently for three months, and this was just one of the strange dramas that I experienced there.

These days, it seems, cab rides are no longer a privilege for expatriates living in China. It has become affordable for just about anyone to take a ride in a taxi.

"Ten years ago, when I first landed in Suzhou, the rate for a flagged down taxi was 10 yuan (RM4.60). The fare now is still the same," said a French fellow who has been calling the city his home since 1998.

Thanks to the deeper pockets bulging from an economic upturn, more Chinese are opting for taxis instead of subways and buses. These days, it has almost become a physical tussle for residents — both locals and expats — to flag down a taxi.

After some time, I started to come up with the "Three No-s" when taking trains with other fellow commuters.

First No: Avoid taking public transport during rush hours. Second No: Do not carry valuables unless you don't mind it being snatched. Third No: Never ever let your guard down.

Sandwiched though I was between other passengers, those train rides were wonderful as I caught glimpses of Shanghai life.

Often in the compartments, I'd come across sophisticated, career women in their high-heels, toying with their expensive camera phones. Standing next to them would be some middle-aged man wearing a tattered shirt, holding on to two big sacks — probably all of his fortune.

Once, my Shanghai friend was taken aback when a boy suddenly kneeled down before her on a moving subway, showering her with non-stop kowtows.

He was supposed to have been in a primary school classroom; instead he was pestering for money,quite unperturbed by the despicable glares from onlookers.

"What has happened to the parents these days? They do not send their children to school but ask them to solicit money?" my friend flared up when recounting her experience.

More often, travelling during peak hours meant we had to put up with the occasional unpleasant body odour in the train, as personal hygiene is not something Shanghainese take seriously.

And so it was that I had to grit my teeth when I saw the cabbie I had hailed down earlier stop at the traffic light, roll down the window and spit out.

I also had to prepare myself for a blank look every time I greeted the driver upon stepping into a cab. But then, not all of the public transport episodes were distasteful.

I stumbled across an amicable woman Shi Fu, who hails from a smaller mainland city and has been zipping around the bustling Shanghai freeways for years.

Our friendship blossomed when I accidentally spilt my bottle of mineral water all over her back seat. Immediately, I readied myself for an earful but she told me it wasn't a big deal.

Since then I have called for her service a few times.

"I start the day by leaving house at 7am, getting back home after 1am or 2am," she said when we chatted one day in her rental car.

Like her, most cabbies in Shanghai are cramming double shifts in their 15-day work roster every month for survival.

No wonder the cab driver we took had to max out the radio volume, so as not to doze off after a gruelling 10-hour plus shift.

The public transport in the city was an eye-opener, indeed.