Monstrous events generate monstrous consequences
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Long before the Shanghai Expo, I was not totally in favor of the event. In 1967, my native city in Canada, Montreal, held the World Expo, which brought deep positive changes in the society at that time. It was where most of the Canadian visitors saw Russians and Chinese for the first time, and what led Canadians to drink wine instead of beer at meal. The subway was completed on time for the Expo. The best pavilions remained until today with a new mission: a biosphere, a casino, an amusement park.
Nowadays – 40 years later – people travel and see the world with their own eyes instead of miniatures and audio-visual documents inside crowded pavilions. The others have access to TV and the Internet. Thus, I doubt that Shanghai Expo was a necessity. Too much money has been spent on the World Expo, and the admission cost was not for the "ordinary people". Waiting in line for hours made people nervous and discontent. Also, it seemed a business event, like the huge fairs that are organized yearly in Guangzhou, to name only one.
China always aimed at doing big: the greatest Olympics in the world (2008), the biggest National Day (60th anniversary) celebration, the most expensive World Expo of all times. Monstrous events may cause monstrous wastes. I'm not sure that Shanghai is now a "better city" with a "better life", as the slogan said.
Recently, Guangzhou Metro Corp. and the local government introduced a plan to keep nearly half of the city's 2.1 million private cars off the roads ahead of the 16th Asian Games. Free public transport service was offered for 30 working days beginning Nov. 1. Commuters responded with such enthusiasm that the subway was crowded by an average of 7.75 million trips per day, almost doubling the previous number. Therefore, authorities were forced to cancel the free-ride plan after the one-week trial, to the great annoyance of the users. The Asian Games are at the door, and Guangzhou, with a population of 14 million and expecting some 3 million visitors during the two-week event, is still far from a solution.
First the sweet, then the bitter. People are not happy. But I don't see why public transportation should be free. Price are already much lower than real costs. Once the plan has proved to be ineffective and caused more problems underground than outside, while threatening public security, it was wise to cancel it.
In Beijing, the next "big event" is the self-invited and unwelcomed guest called Winter. A rumor went that "23 subway stations on nine lines would be limiting the number of passengers entering between 7 am and 9 am." Authorities said there was no such plan as closing the busiest stations, but that temporary measures would be introduced to control the passengers flow by slowing down the movement. Some commuters are very angry and see only the bad side of the measures. But those who take the subway at Sihui, Tiantongyuan or Nanlishilu station every morning have been longing for something to be done much before the arrival of winter this year.
China has changed not only the face but the destiny of our Planet by building the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower plant, and by the South-to-North Water Diversion Project on thousands of kilometers. It now considers diverting seawater from its eastern regions to the northwestern drought-plagued Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Terms such as "milestone", "gigantic", "powerful" have become synonyms of "China".
What will be next?
The author is a freelance writer in Beijing.
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