China, one of the oldest civilisations in the world, is home to deep ancient secrets and futuristic mega high-rises, writes Shannon Ebrahim.
If you are in search of a place that mesmerises, captivates your senses, and has hidden backwaters, then China is the place for you.
You haven’t seen modernity at its greatest heights until you have set eyes on Shanghai and few will dispute that this burgeoning metropolis of over 23 million inhabitants makes New York City look like the old world.
Only the Chinese with their meticulous long-term planning and attention to detail could have created a spectacle like Shanghai, which is now practically devoid of run-down or dilapidated areas. They have made way for a sea of high-rise buildings - glittering in multi-coloured lights by night and a rhythm of humanity by day in a shopper’s paradise.
Every big designer label imaginable line the shopping avenues, making Europe or America’s shopping meccas look outdated. It takes seeing it to believe it.
If it used to be fashionable 30 years ago to waltz down Fifth Avenue in New York in diamonds and a fur coat, today it’s Shanghai’s Nanjing Avenue - minus the fur coat.
Shanghai has far surpassed its former glory when it was known as the “Paris of the East” and Westerners frequented the alleyways to smoke opium, indulge in silk and experience the Orient.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai was the place to be with the best art, architecture, dance halls, brothels, international clubs and glitzy restaurants.
The city catered to the whims of the rich, but was powered by cheap Chinese labour. Today the heartbeat of Shanghai is it’s central core known as the Pudong, which boasts the famous TV tower, financial centre and other high-rises; some of the tallest in the world.
What few realise is that in the early 1990s Pudong was an impoverished area with few buildings. Within two decades a world-class city has emerged, even boasting high-speed trains that travel at 300km/h.
Shanghai’s renaissance followed the decision by China’s former president Deng Xiaoping to open up the economy and promote the development of the city. The secret of success has most likely been the 50-year plan which details exactly what Shanghai will look like in the future.
Everything flowed from there - the transport network, enter-tainment district, commercial centre and massive apart-ment complexes.
The most recent addition to the city’s fame is a Disneyland, opened in June this year. Its architects say it is destined to be the largest Disneyland in the world, with only one of three phases completed so far.
Walt Disney himself would have been proud to see what the Chinese have done with his legacy.
Chinese tourists are flocking to the new children’s wonderland, with some waiting two hours in line for river-rafting rides or Peter Pan’s flight above London.
Perhaps the most impressive ride is the pirate’s cove, which takes tourists for a 3D ride on the high seas amid exploding pirate ships and caves of treasure.
Of great interest to South Africans is that the entertainment highlight of the new Disneyland is the Chinese debut of The Lion King, which is performing to packed-out audiences.
Impressively, 10 black South African performers in the much-loved musical have perfected their Mandarin to deliver flawless performances.
You know that the world has truly become a village when you witness the Xhosa witchdoctor, decked out with her bones, interact-ing with a Chinese Simba all in flawless Mandarin.
Following a late-night perform-ance of The Lion King, guests can retire to the Toy Story Hotel, a short shuttle ride from the Disney complex, where the movie’s characters meet you in the hotel lobby and rooms are adorned with Toy Story paraphernalia.
A Disney pass is not a cheap venture at R1 000 for a day ticket during peak season, but it’s cheaper for South Africans dreaming of the Disney experience, compared with the R1 700 a day at Florida’s DisneyWorld, in Orlando.
What makes a visit to Shanghai’s Disneyland unique is that one can compliment it with an immersion into Chinese culture and cuisine.
Highly recommended is a day excursion to the ancient water town of Suzhou an hour- and-a-half drive outside the city, long considered the Venice of the East.
Old-style river boats course enchanting canals and winding waterways set in between historic buildings that date back over 2 000 years.
Generations of Chinese writers, scholars, and artists have been inspired by the serene ambiance of Suzhou’s water towns.
A must-see, just an hour’s bullet-train ride away from Shanghai, is the place that the Chinese call “heaven on earth” - Hangzhou is a place that some say should exist only in the imagination.
Its lakes are lined with weeping willows and adorned with ancient pagodas, Buddhist temples and river rafts.
It’s where Chinese tourists go to relax and recover from the fast-paced life of spiralling cities.
It is a place where time stands still and the air is clear.
But the highlight of a visit to Hangzhou, and most likely a highlight of a visit to China, is to take in the West Lake ballet that Hangzhou has become known for - set on West Lake itself where performers dance in ankle-deep water.
It’s like a fairy-tale scene, with the entire lake lit up in vibrant colours set against the night sky, with fountains dancing to music and lines of ballet dancers moving in formation.
It’s so spectacular that world leaders requested copies of the official DVD of the ballet performance they were treated to.
This is just the start of what China has to offer potential tourists, as its ancient capital Xian, with its Terra Cotta soldier armies, is another unforgettable highlight.
Xian is a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Hangzhou.
It marks the Silk Road’s eastern end and was home to the ruling houses of the Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties.
It is here that the Terra Cotta Army - a collection of thousands of life-size, hand-moulded figures - are buried with China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. They were meant to protect the emperor in his afterlife.
Then there are the decadent dumplings that Xian is famous for - at the Dumpling Banquet in the centre of town - boasting every imaginable type of dumpling.
To get the digestion going, one can take a walk along one of the world’s most impressive ancient city walls.
Xian’s 600-year-old city wall is one of the largest, well-preserved, ancient military defensive systems in the world.
China represents one of the oldest civilisations in the world, and many of its natural and man-made wonders are under-explored by foreign tourists.
It’s time for more of us to take the road less travelled, and venture into a country that so easily contrasts the secrets of its ancient world with the high-rises of the future.
* Ebrahim is Independent Media’s Foreign Editor.
The Sunday Independent