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Build It And They Will Come
If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support LiveAndLetsFly.com.
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Kyle is a freelance travel writer with contributions to Time, the Washington Post, MSNBC, Yahoo!, Reuters, Huffington Post, MapHappy, Live And Lets Fly and many other media outlets. He is also co-founder of Scottandthomas.com, a travel agency that delivers "Travel Personalized." He focuses on using miles and points to provide a premium experience for his wife and daughter. Email: sherpa@thetripsherpa.com
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As much as I’d like to mock this construction and behavior, I’ve been to Las Vegas too many timesto think they are any different than Americans. And if I cared about going to any Disney park, I’d have even less to say. 🙂
I think there is some merit to that argument, however, each of those places was built piece-by-piece and with commerce in mind. While Thames Town was busy when I visited over a weekend, many Ghost Cities remain mostly vacant, and I doubt it was as bustling on a Tuesday where Vegas and Disney don’t share that problem.
I don’t find anything wrong with the themed towns. If it creates a different atmosphere that people enjoy, who’s being hurt? As to the brides wanting good photos, I feel their pain. Having dealt with many a horde of Chinese mainland tourists on a variety of trips, I’ve observed that they just don’t care if they’re in your important picture. It’s doubtless a cultural thing.
I agree with these comments. I was expecting to find a vacant ghost city, so when I arrived it was very busy, my perspective changed and I was hoping for that there was some cultural absorption. There was very little (man at Churchill’s) and mostly selfie sticks. I think that is why my reaction had varied.
Solvang is a Danish themed town in California!
I might have to check that out.
A very good reading. I’m looking forward to your next adventure!
Thanks Robert, I am glad you enjoyed it.
They’re probably posting on weibo or wechat
Undoubtedly. The last line was tongue-in-cheek, but I do wish I could find it. If you happen to have the mandarin characters I will search Weibo to try and find them.
Kyle, I myself just came back from a weeklong business trip in China. What struck me is the efficiency of the government when it comes to infrastructure building. Shanghai decided that they needed a metro system so they built multiple lines simultaneously! Seattle, where I live now, projected that they will finish a sub 10 miles light rail extension by 2030, no comparison there. One thing they need to solve is air quality. In a week when I was there, whether it was Shenzhen, Guangzhou or Shanghai, the smog is omnipresent. My Shanghai hotel is at Nanjing road area (Portman RC) and I was supposed to be able to see Jinmao Tower and all I saw was grey.
Bob, great comments, thanks for adding them. I agree that Chinese efficiency for mass building projects is legendary, however, they have some advantages that the US does not. For one, the government works toward the progress of those projects differently without the mess of various municipalities coming into play. Secondly, they are at a developmental stage in many areas that the US resolved decades ago, so their progress should be compared perhaps with the 1920s Manhattan buildout and then scaled for technological and transportation advances over the last century. Third, they can build those lines to places that do not yet have traffic to justify them because they will fill them in with SOE (State-owned enterprises) like government agencies and universities. The citizenry will fill in the gaps to be close to their jobs and school, whereas US equivalents would let the market build out those communities. The book I link to in the post helps to form thinking from a US perspective to a Chinese one, and then, all of the sudden the theory makes a lot more sense.
One note on viewing Jinmao tower – the best view is from the Park Hyatt Shanghai.