Wu Guangqiang

    “WHEN remembering Jiangnan (to the south of the Yangtze River), I miss Hangzhou most.” This is one of the most recited verses written by Bai Juyi, one of the greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty, who served Hangzhou as its chief official.

    Hangzhou is my hometown, where I was born and raised. Although it’s been 26 years since I settled in Shenzhen, my attachment to Hangzhou has never diminished. In recent years, however, I’ve found myself even more fascinated by her.

    A charming city with a perfect blend of a long history and profound cultural heritage and modern beauty, Hangzhou is getting prettier with expanded scenic spots around the picturesque West Lake and surrounding verdant hills. But what is most interesting for me is her top-class urban management. I wonder what has made this ancient city sparkle with renewed vitality. At the same time, Hangzhou serves as a mirror reflecting an array of problems facing Shenzhen — my second and present hometown.

    Compared to Hangzhou, thousands of years older as a city, Shenzhen, a 31-year-old city, looks more like a senile old man in terms of management due to its messy streets (back streets in particular) and chaotic order and environmental situation in urban villages and suburb areas.

    Every time I get back to Hangzhou, I will wander — either on a rented bike or on foot — through the city exploring new changes.

    My amazement at the regeneration of this ancient city started from the neighborhood where I had lived before I moved to Shenzhen and where my 95-year-old mother is still living. The residential quarter, where there used to be paddy fields and fish ponds, began to take shape in the mid-1950s. By the time I left for Shenzhen in 1985, the neighborhood was in a rundown condition. In 2006 when I returned, I was astonished to find the place reborn. After a facelift, all the old buildings appeared new in looks after being repainted. What struck me most was the cleanliness and tidiness of the aging place. The narrow roads are free of even a small piece of litter. Cleaners in brightly colored uniforms work nonstop to get rid of every bit of trash.

    Following the path, I headed to the busy streets right outside the neighborhood which are lined with boutiques on both sides. Though alive with crowds of shoppers, the fashion hub is still immaculate.

    Speculating the city government may be beautifying the main streets at all costs, I was bent on digging out its dirty side by checking up scenic spots with huge numbers of tourists and back alleys far away from downtown areas. On the second day of Lunar New Year of this year, a warm, sunny day, I made a trip round the West Lake trying to spot some trash like cigarette ends and plastic bags that are ubiquitous in parts of Shenzhen. Hardly any was in sight. The same was true with tiny side streets and small alleys. The entire city is almost dustless.

    How about public toilets? Nothing can better reflect the management level of a city than public toilets. I used a number of them in different locations and all of them were clean and odorless. To me, it’s bordering on a miracle. To have a full picture, I also toured the wet market close to my home, which equally amazed me. Unlike its name: wet market, it is dry, orderly and free of unpleasant smells. It is a day-and-night difference in comparison with the one near my Shenzhen home. On the second day I returned to Shenzhen I made a shopping trip to that wet market and found myself in a garbage site. Filled with stink, thick layers of rotten vegetable leaves on the ground, this place is, indeed, wet everywhere as its name says.

    Back in Shenzhen, roaming the streets around my home, I was disappointed to see litter everywhere in visible public places, to say nothing of building corners and roadside hedges where you can find every conceivable kind of trash. Unlike in Hangzhou where cleaners are taking care of a fixed area, I rarely see cleaners at work in Shenzhen. Doubtless, Shenzhen urban managers are doing their jobs, but to some extent what they do is perfunctory. For a metropolitan city, the management level is a far cry from satisfaction.

    We must admit that Shenzhen is lagging behind in urban management. The breakneck urban expansion seems to have outpaced the improvement of the city’s management.

    In my opinion, what Shenzhen needs to learn from Hangzhou is nothing but attention to details. Details make things different not only for a person but also for a city.

    (The author is an English tutor and a freelance writer. He can be reached at jw368@163.com.)