An acquaintance warned me that when I venture out into Shanghai, it helps to say to oneself "Everyone is just trying to survive" in order to accept the crowds, pushing, lack of queues and general pedestrian and traffic mayhem. It also occurs to me that because of the sheer number of people, perhaps the lack of general safety has resulted from just that - there are so many people. Case in point, I was warned my first day, and reminded for several days thereafter, that no moving vehicle stops for pedestrians. As observed in other parts of Asia, the bigger you are the more right of way you have in the traffic hierarchy. It is a concept that is pretty easy to absorb once you've navigated a few intersections.
The other lack of safety I became keenly aware of is that during the night, or in some ways this is a rather skewed view of safety, we are literally locked in the guesthouse. Two mornings in a row I've tried to go for a run and encountered a u-lock bolting the front door closed. Both times the sleepy manager has appeared to unlock it. I followed an "exit" sign to another door and found that it too was locked. However there do appear to be smoke detectors and fire extinguishers (or boxes labeled as such) so if we are locked in at least we have the means to do battle (should the warden, I mean manager, become asphyxiated).
The other lack of safety I became keenly aware of is that during the night, or in some ways this is a rather skewed view of safety, we are literally locked in the guesthouse. Two mornings in a row I've tried to go for a run and encountered a u-lock bolting the front door closed. Both times the sleepy manager has appeared to unlock it. I followed an "exit" sign to another door and found that it too was locked. However there do appear to be smoke detectors and fire extinguishers (or boxes labeled as such) so if we are locked in at least we have the means to do battle (should the warden, I mean manager, become asphyxiated).
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