Mountains Gone Wild
NOTE: An extremely toned down version of this story appeared in the April 2004 edition of that’s Shanghai magazine.
by DAN WASHBURN
Girls! Girls! Girls! — Motley Crue (1981-2000 AD), “Girls, Girls, Girls”
There is a place with no crowds, no skyscrapers, no trash on the ground — and it’s only a four-hour drive from Shanghai. If Hangzhou is Shanghai’s backyard, then Lin’an, with its comparatively organic surroundings, is the city’s secret clubhouse up in a tree. You won’t find this quirky city of 500,000 in any of your guidebooks, and that’s exactly the reason you should go. Located in northwest Zhejiang Province, Lin’an is the perfect jumping off point for a day spent exploring grand and green Tianmu Mountain. Head back into town after dark to take in its curious and compelling nightlife. (There is a disco bar in Lin’an that has a dance floor that glows and bounces up and down … and barely bedraped dancing girls — two of them, at least — who do things that haven’t been done to a pole since Roman Polanski slept over at Jack Nicholson’s house.)
04.10.2003, 10:39 AM · Lin'an, Stories · Comments (1)
Build Me Up, Tear Me Down
NOTE: A version of this piece was the cover story for the April 2003 issue of that’s Shanghai magazine. The South China Morning Post (subscription only) also ran a version.
by DAN WASHBURN
The Shanghai Concert Hall looks lonely. It sits by itself, surrounded by bulldozers and dirt, cowering in the shadow of Yan’an Elevated Highway. Once grand, the 73-year-old theatre now just looks grimy. This building deserves better. And later this month, many believe that’s just what it will get. The hall — all 5,650 tons of it — is being hoisted up and moved 70 meters southeast. It is the largest relocation project Shanghai has ever seen, and no doubt will be touted as a sign of the city’s dedication to preserving its past.
04.10.2003, 7:40 AM · Politics, Stories · Comments (1)