Pudong voices witness to its development

Luca Carpinelli

Male, 49, Italian, commercial director of Florentia Village Luxury Outlets in China

"I'm sending my best congratulations on this important 30th anniversary of Pudong's opening-up. I believe that no other city in the world as Shanghai has made so great changes in such short time and Pudong’s development proves it.

I have been living in Pudong since 2013. I have seen a big improvement and big changes in Pudong during the last few years, just to mention the opening of Shanghai Tower and the opening of the new waterfront, a pleasant place where you can walk, jog, bike for many kilometers.

Professionally, I also feel I have contributed to this great change, because five years ago my company opened the Florentia Village Luxury Outlet, an Italian lifestyle shopping destination near the Pudong airport.

I live in Yanlord Garden of Lujiazui and in my opinion Lujiazui is the most attractive place to stay in Pudong, for its vibrant atmosphere, the luxury shopping malls, the presence of Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Shanghai Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center from where you can have amazing views of Shanghai, and the relaxing waterfront.

Pudong is the place where you can feel you are living in a dazzling megalopolis and at the same time enjoy many green and quiet spaces."

Zhang Yu

Female, 28, Chinese, founder of Rongyi Cultural Development Co

"I moved to Sanlin Town about 20 years ago when Sanlin was a typical suburban community. The only transportation to downtown Shanghai was one bus which usually took two hours. At that time, I felt the downtown area was so far away from me.

Now, a Metro station is within five minutes’ walk of my home. Line 11 links the city’s south and north. Within 30 minutes, I can go shopping at the crowded Xujiahui commercial area. And in one hour, I can visit the ancient Guyi Garden in Jiading District. I think the convenient Metro network has “scaled down” the city but “scaled up” the living circle.

The opening of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai brought Sanlin unprecedented opportunities to develop. The old residential complex where I live has been repaired and renovated, with more parking spaces built.

A shopping mall within a kilometer from my home has become my No. 1 shopping destination instead of those in downtown areas. Also, packet parks, sports stadiums and other facilities are springing up."

Pan Yin

Female, 31, Chinese, office worker at Bank of China

"I was born in Yangpu District but moved to Pudong with my parents when I was 10. Since then, I’ve settled down in Pudong where I got married and had babies.

In my childhood, Pudong gave me a different impression from other parts of Shanghai. Basically, it was a spacious rural place. But in the meantime, I saw farmland replaced by wide roads. Development was still in its infancy and it seemed to be full of vitality. It’s such a different place compared with crowded, bustling Puxi.

In 2000, I transferred to the Pudong Foreign Language School affiliated to Shanghai International Studies University in Zhangjiang. At that time, Zhangjiang seemed like a traditional village. What surrounded my school’s new buildings was vast farmland. Roads leading to the school were narrow and full of holes. From my window, I could see children from nearby rural schools playing rubber band skipping in the crops. But now Zhangjiang has become a very modern community.

Not only Zhangjiang, now it’s convenient to go anywhere in Pudong, even the remote Lingang area which has wide roads with beautiful greenery on two sides. It’s such a big surprise.

Besides infrastructure, Pudong has also a greatly improved cultural development. More theaters, exhibition halls and theme parks have been built, offering me many choices after work and on weekends.

After graduation from university, I worked at the Bank of China in Lujiazui. It’s been nearly 10 years. I love working in Lujiazui. I love the skyscrapers, malls and riverside scenery. For visitors, they are wanghong (Internet celebrity) sites, but for me, they’re part of my life. And I’m glad to live such a life."

Ralph Huhndorf

Male, 60, German, managing director of Heng Duo Fu Consulting PTE Ltd

"I came to Shanghai for the first time more than 20 years ago. The city was looking quite different from today.

Touching down at Pudong airport, with only one runway and a few people departing or arriving there at that time, I headed in a hotel limo toward Lujiazui through a huge, almost empty, Pudong. 

When exploring Puxi, after crossing the Huangpu River — by ferry that time mostly — one could easily smell the markets around the area behind the Bund walking toward Yuyuan Garden. The streets were full of people, bicycles and small motorbikes but almost no cars or other foreigners. The air was quite clean and no cats and dogs were running around. 

My project at that time was located in Pudong. We were picked up every morning by a bus which was bringing us through this huge empty space from the hotel to the project near today’s East Zhoupu Station on Metro Line 16. At that time on the bus we were passing fields and sometimes some huge constructions in the middle of nowhere which are now among Shanghai’s landmarks. 

Today I'm living in Zhoupu, not far from the site of that project, and it’s a busy and exciting place. But sometimes I’m looking back to that time when Pudong was just an empty area with fields with plants and grasses waving in the wind in the middle of Shanghai."

Liang Changlin

Male, in his 40s, Chinese, founder and chief executive of Dingdong Maicai

"I’ve been in Pudong for 18 years. My entrepreneurship is encoded with Pudong DNA.

I remember that when I first came to Zhangjiang in 2002, I was all alone and Zhangjiang was such a lonely place. What I saw was just the Metro station.

I ran to the business registration center on Longdong Avenue to register. I couldn’t even find a person to ask directions. There was a supermarket some hundred meters away. The rest was just vast farmland.

I rented a residence in a nearby town. Every day, en route to office, I passed by a great deal of empty land. I thought if I worked hard I would have my day and own one plot of that land. Now lines of buildings stand there. Zhangjiang is changing every day.

In the past 18 years, I lost and sold my company and house. Finally, I made up my mind to do online food delivery as I perceived a booming future.

Based in Pudong, my business now extends to 15 cities across the country. Next, Dingdong Maicai will build an automated warehouse and improve its supply chain."