Describe a city or town where you have lived.

You should say:
     Where it is located
     What part of the city or town you are most familiar with
     What are the most important landmarks and places to visit

Why this city or town is special to you

I’d like to talk about Shanghai where I lived from 2002 to 2006 while I was working at a trading company. It’s located on the east coast of course and it is the largest city in China in terms of population and can get pretty overcrowded downtown.

I suppose that the thing I love most about the place is the multi-cultural atmosphere. You can find old architecture that is influenced by styles from all around the world as well as traditional Chinese buildings like the City God Temple and the Century parks. I’m most familiar with the bund which also has a lot of colonial architecture. There are a lot of skyscrapers around and the whole skyline is pretty impressive.

I suppose the city is special to me because I went there earlier in my career and it really was a great experience to hit the big city and immerse myself in new things. I guess I will always love the food there. The local cuisine is pretty sumptuous and of course there are restaurants that serve food from around the world.

I suppose the only negative part about living there was the air pollution although it’s really nowhere near as bad as in other major cities. It’s just such a dynamic place and it’s constantly changing. It’s the economic centre of China so there are always new buildings being put up and it’s interesting to see some of the contemporary designs. I’m sure that when I go there next, it will have changed a lot too.

Part 3 Discussion Questions

How do we solve pollution problems in large cities?

I think that this is a subject that everyone should be concerned with. Firstly, in big cities we need to improve public transportation, mainly by building more subway lines and seeing if we can have electrically-powered trains. Secondly, we can then put laws in place that restrict the number of cars on the road. Actually they already have these regulations in Singapore and Beijing has now followed suit.

How has city life changed over the past twenty years? What are the major causes of these changes?

I guess that city life is always changing really although now I think the main difference is that the government is trying to improve the infrastructure of the major cities. I think that our economy is really based on manufacturing which creates a lot of pollution, so the government is now trying to reduce the air pollution and improve the quality of life.

 
In the future, would you like to live in a village, town or city?

You know, I’m actually from a small village so sometimes I really miss the peace and tranquillity of life there. The hectic pace of life in the city can sometimes be stressful. I think I have to say though that I do really love the city overall because there is so much to do. I guess ideally, I’d like to live in the city but go back to my local area for holidays to see old friends and family.

Can you describe the entertainment facilities in cities nowadays? How do city people usually spend their free time?

Well. There are lots of entertainment facilities in cities now like cinemas, amusement parks etc.  I think that we live in a globalised world now, so people often entertain themselves in similar ways around the world. For example films will have world-wide release dates and modern trends and new pastimes will quickly spread around the world. I think we can also go out and sample food from around the world, so our cities are pretty international really.