Shanghai is one of the largest cities by population in the world. During the last decade of the booming of Chinese economy, it has flourished to a global city, exerting influence over finance, commerce, fashion, technology and culture.
Today, Shanghai is the leading financial center in Asian continent; it's own stock market Shanghai Stock Exchange ranked their among worldwide stock exchanges in terms of trading volume; it has over 20 million residents; it just held the World Exposition in 2010; it has over 13 metro transportation lines; ATP World Tour took place in Shanghai; F1 took place in Shanghai; Transformer 2 was shot in Shanghai......
However, under the shade of prosperity, Shanghai is a vicious magnet, attracting migrant laborers to come and contribute their life to the venal magnates. Let's look at some facts and statistics. Shanghai has a bigger population than Australia's. Out of the 23 million people in the city, 9 million of them are migrants from all over the country. Then, out of the rest of 14 million residents, only 35% of them are natural Shanghaiese, born in Shanghai and speak Shanghaiese, a local dialect only spoken in Shanghai, distinct to Mandarin Chinese. Similar to the immigrants culture in New York City, a foreign is formed by various groups of emigrants in Shanghai.
This is a typical tenement, maybe even a fancy one since it has only one storey and a yard. Behind the tenement we can see that there is a silver modern building. In all the images one can find online, Shanghai is composed by a medley of uneven fashionable buildings, but here in this picture there is only one. On the second door from the right, a red Chinese letter is written on it: "拆“, which means demolishing. The tenement we are looking at here is about to be pulled down, or already pulled down by now. Because another groups of modern building is about to be constructed here. It means that the migrant workers living in the tenement are forced to leave and find somewhere else to squeeze in.
shanghai v. to put by trickery into an undesirable position
After all, where can he go?
Today, Shanghai is the leading financial center in Asian continent; it's own stock market Shanghai Stock Exchange ranked their among worldwide stock exchanges in terms of trading volume; it has over 20 million residents; it just held the World Exposition in 2010; it has over 13 metro transportation lines; ATP World Tour took place in Shanghai; F1 took place in Shanghai; Transformer 2 was shot in Shanghai......
However, under the shade of prosperity, Shanghai is a vicious magnet, attracting migrant laborers to come and contribute their life to the venal magnates. Let's look at some facts and statistics. Shanghai has a bigger population than Australia's. Out of the 23 million people in the city, 9 million of them are migrants from all over the country. Then, out of the rest of 14 million residents, only 35% of them are natural Shanghaiese, born in Shanghai and speak Shanghaiese, a local dialect only spoken in Shanghai, distinct to Mandarin Chinese. Similar to the immigrants culture in New York City, a foreign is formed by various groups of emigrants in Shanghai.
This is a typical tenement, maybe even a fancy one since it has only one storey and a yard. Behind the tenement we can see that there is a silver modern building. In all the images one can find online, Shanghai is composed by a medley of uneven fashionable buildings, but here in this picture there is only one. On the second door from the right, a red Chinese letter is written on it: "拆“, which means demolishing. The tenement we are looking at here is about to be pulled down, or already pulled down by now. Because another groups of modern building is about to be constructed here. It means that the migrant workers living in the tenement are forced to leave and find somewhere else to squeeze in.shanghai v. to put by trickery into an undesirable position
Other than the "Shanghai" you can find here, (just kidding, here). There exists the invisible "shanghai" behind it. It locates at every blind spot away from the city's resplendence. Shanghai, lures these migrant workers with its exhaustible opportunities and limitless wealth, cram them into slums and extort cheap labor from them. No "rags to riches" story could possibly blossom there because "infants" are already smothered in the "nursery". While the urban city expands, these "ugly" tenements are torn down and workers are driven out from their home. The city's improvement is based on the sacrifice of diligent, innocent workers. Once a worker offered all his labor to the city, the city repels him, leaving him no opportunity nor even a shack for him to live. Behind the glory and splendor, the human nature of greed and hideousness forms the invisible city - shanghai.
After all, where can he go?
Visually, Jay-Z's American dream narrative is told through his movement from the street corner to the corner office. Inthe earlier shots in the video, Jay is shot in street clothes singing on street corners throughout the city. From 2:35 to 3:20, though, when he raps the third and final verse of the song, we see him in the corner office looking out a large window over the city, the Empire State Building in the background. A second visual clue to Jay-Z success is the repeated aerial views of the city that also contrast the earlier corner perspectives. This is a powerful, totalizing view, one that can gather in the entire city in a single glance, or gas up the (private) jet and escape for a weekend.
