Shanghaied Bob: Zhangjiagang part 1

The last week of April ME spent 4 days in Zhangjiagang, at a Dow site. Zhangjiagang is considered a third tier city, located on the Yangtze River, about an hour and a half drive from Shanghai. Originally it was a farming area, with many fish farms and a small fishery port. In 1992 the State Council approved a Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone the only inland river free trade zone in China, to develop an export-oriented economy with links between Chinese markets and the international markets. The town started its vast economic growth during this time which dramatically changed the entire city. It is now one of China's top cities with the highest economic rating. The city has 72km of riverbank along the Yangtze river which is now its most important natural resource, it has built ports and industrial sites all along the river.

In 2006 Dow opened the largest propylene production facility in the world in Zhangjiagang. Zhangjiagang makes for a ideal location for shipping materials up the Yangtze river into the middle of China as well as easy access to the East China Sea and other countries in the Pacific Asia region. Dow is one of many chemical plants and other large manufacturing companies now located along the river. Dow entered China in the early 1930s, it currently has 5 business centers, 20 manufacturing sites and 4000+ employees.

According to Wikipedia: In 1993, Zhangjiagang was selected to be a unique model city for all of China. Householders were given pamphlets listing 10 "don'ts" and 6 "dos" of what the government called "civilized behavior . The new rules emphasized courtesy, mutual respect, and obedience to authority. Thanks to vigorous enforcement, the rules are followed to such a degree that visitors remark on the beauty, cleanliness and friendliness of Zhangjiagang relative to other Chinese cities.

I searched the internet to find out about the 10 don't and 6 dos pamphlet, but was unable to come up with any information at least in English. This experiment was so successful that the current goal of the central government is to turn China into a country of mini-Zhangjiagangs with clean cities and pleasant, polite, and obedient people. These type of cities are such a novelty in China that Zhangjiagang gets a half million+ tourists visiting each year from around the country coming to sample what could be the future of urban life in China.

I was able to accompany ME on her trip and I brought my bike to explore this unique city now with a population of 1.3 million people. What I found was a city that did not look like a Chinese city. The entire city is new and well laid out. It was set up to be the model city, a modern, rich, clean and nice place to live and work. All of the streets are wide, neatly tree lined, with ample space for bikes. Rows of neatly trimmed bushes lined the larger avenues. Many very nice apartment blocks again well laid out with more space and trees between them. There were also many new high rise apartments, and many more being built. There was also many canals running through the city which gave it a very European look.

In Shanghai there is a wide range of housing available, from the very old, mixed in with the old, the not so old, the new and the very new all within several city blocks. Each of these areas have different types a people living there from the migrant workers living in the very old and run down sections to the large emerging class living in the new to very new areas and everyone else in between. In Zhangjiagang there was only the new and the very new. All you saw was the Chinese emerging middle class.

I visited the highly talked about pedestrian walking street billed as the only street in China that has no smoking. It featured many fine department stores, boutiques, and nice restaurants, it seemed very active with lots of people shopping or taking a stroll. There were also a good number of parks scattered around the city. Below are some of the pictures I took.