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Yang Yilin
98101
Expository Writing
May/24/1999
Shanghai
My grandfather said, �gYou shouldn�ft come
back to China because it is not easy for
people to live there comfortably. You had better live in developed countries,
such as America and Japan.�h As you know,
China became a battlefield during the World
War II, and many strong countries, such as
Japan invaded and occupied China. A lot of people were killed, and also the
towns and the industries were destroyed. After the war, China became a communist country
in 1949, but the economy was still bad. In the end of 1970�fs, China decided to adopt
the capitalistic ideas, such as free competition
for the communism. Then, the economy has become more active,
and especially my hometown, Shanghai, has
rapidly grown. However, the gap between the rich and the
poor became more serious, and particularly
high prices, inconvenience, and the terrible
city environment have become big problems
that we can not neglect these years.
To begin with, prices are surprisingly high
in Shanghai. In 1997, GDP per Capita in China was only
860 dollars (Japan was 37850 dollars and
the U.S. was 28740.)(The World). Although the pays in Shanghai are pretty
high in China, the average monthly salary
is not always better in comparison with the
prices. Many products in Shanghai are as expensive
as in developed countries, such as Japan. For example, the average washing machines
cost 250 dollars in Shanghai. It is equal to the three months�f salary
for general people in Shanghai. If you work as part-time workers for a month
in Japan, you can buy at least three or four
washing machines with your monthly salary. Also there are many fast food restaurants,
such as McDonald�fs and Kentucky in Shanghai. However, the prices of a set are as almost
expensive as in Japan. If a general person works all days, he or
she can buy only a hamburger set in McDonald�fs. For the reason, when parents who are not
rich go to McDonald�fs with their child,
they can�ft order hamburger sets for themselves
and they can only buy a set for their child. It is quite unbelievable for Japanese or
Americans.
In addition to high prices, Shanghai is very
inconvenient. There is no convenient store and vending
machines for soft drinks like orange juice,
ice cream, and cigarette. Therefore, you must walk for a moment in
or order to look for small private stores. People who are used to the rich countries,
such as Japan can�ft imagine such an inconvenient
life. What is worse, the number of public phones
and toilets is not enough. Accordingly, you must spend much time to
find the public phones when you suddenly
want to call someone up outside if you don�ft
carry portable telephones. Also when you suddenly want to go to toilets
while going out, you need to stand for a
while until you find public toilets. Moreover, people need to pay money for use
in most toilets even though they are in restaurants,
such as Kentucky, so people are apt to go
to toilets in their houses before going out. Additionally, when you want to go shopping,
you should carry a few plastic bags because
stores can�ft give customers bags for free. I�fm sure that young people in today�fs Japan
have not had such an experience so far.
Finally, the worst problem is that the city
environment to live in Shanghai is very terrible. The city is dusty and noisy everywhere because
of the vigorous construction these years. The old buildings are destroyed, and new
houses or roads are being built. Therefore, you should carry handkerchiefs
to press your mouths before going out. When you passed a very dusty area, you can
use them. Also, the exhaust gas from automobiles, bikes,
and companies seriously affects the atmosphere. Today, most people in Shanghai can�ft afford
to buy their own cars because of the high
prices and the low pays. However, the exhaust gas from automobiles
will rapidly increase when the living standard
becomes more improved some day. Of course,
cars and bikes are the main cause to make
a noise, so people who are not accustomed
to it may have a headache. That most people don�ft obey the traffic
rules makes the noise more serious. In fact, not only vehicles, such as cars
and bikes but also people don�ft intend to
yield to each other. Passersby try to cross streets even though
a traffic signal has turn into red, and also
cars and bikes cannot endure until the traffic
signal changes. Therefore, the passersby always get angry
at the attitudes of cars and bikes, and the
drivers constantly sound horns.
All in all, it is absolutely difficult for
people to live in Shanghai today. In Shanghai, people are suffering from high
prices, and it is very inconvenient for people
to do anything. What is worse, the city environment is so
terrible and it is clearly unhealthy for
people to live there. However, not only Shanghai but also other
cities in China, such as Beijing face the
same problems. If people don�ft try to solve the problems,
Shanghai will become an unattractive city
in the world. Therefore, we must make efforts as soon as
possible in order to make Shanghai more fascinating. For example, the government should control
high prices while improving China. It is also an effective way that people keep
the traffic rules. Some day, I want to go back to Shanghai,
which I love, and make it easier and more
comfortable to live there. Whenever I think about my hometown, Shanghai,
I remember my grandfather�fs saying, �g Shanghai�fs
future depends on each of yourself.�h
Works Cited
�gThe World Bank Group Countries and Reasons�h.
Regions and Countries. <http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/regions.htm> (May 17, 1999).
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