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Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Diversity of China, Shanghai, and Xuhui

During my 6 years in China I gained a deeper appreciation of something.

China is big and diverse. If one wants to better understand China, it is important to not only consider well-known cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

The city in China with which I am most familiar is Shanghai. And from my explorations there I learned something else.

Shanghai is big and diverse. If one wants to better understand Shanghai, it is important to not only consider well-known districts such as Pudong and Huangpu.

The district in Shanghai with which I am most familiar is Xuhui. And from my explorations there I learned yet something else.

Xuhui is big and diverse. If ones wants to better understand Xuhui, it is important to not only consider well-known subdistricts such as Xujiahui and Longhua.

Of course, for most purposes there is no way possible to understand all of China down to the level of subdistricts. My point is simply that at whatever level I have looked I have found incredible diversity in China. Better appreciating this diversity improves the chances of conducting research, whether about China or Xuhui, that leads to meaningful results.

Shanghai can range from the skyscraper views that I have shared here & here to the Xiaonanmen area in the disappearing "Old Town". For some of my upcoming posts I will share sets of photos from other areas of Shanghai. They will provide a taste of how in its own way Shanghai, like many other places in China, is indeed big and diverse.

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