huangpu

huangpu is shanghai's answer to manila's pasig, minus of course the pollution, squatters and all of manila's underbelly. to some extent, this river is shanghai's victoria harbor, dividing the city into 2, puxi on the west and pudong on the east. along its banks, the bund and pudong's skyline are located.

when we got to shanghai in january of this year, it was freezing! not to mention the cold winds being swept from huangpu, so we just made a quick visit to this historic place and off we went to nanjing road and then to the hostel. but the fleeting moment we had at huangpu's viewdeck made me wonder how pinoys really tend to forget past heritage. while shanghai is and has been seeing dizzying heights of industrialization, the bund and all of its glory is still maintained, even to the point of controlling the building heights in this area, primarily because of the role this place has played in the evolution of this city. along with this, the river is also maintained and cared for. while shanghai's huangpu river is just a body of water, the marvel behind is how shanghainese people managed to shield it from decay and urban degradation and still make use of it for transportation and now, tourism.

not in the philippines. we don't have anything like these due to neglect and sordid thoughts on the significance of preserving heritage and nature. one needs to travel to other countries such as china to appreciate co-existence of nature and urban development.