Worcester v Shanghai? Ian would take Worcester every time

I RECENTLY stepped off the plane at Birmingham Airport after completing a three-year work assignment in Shanghai, China.

There’s nothing that beats that initial feeling of landing back home after being away for so long. The sense of calm and joy that washes over you is truly an incredible feeling.

Shortly after settling down with my family, I began to hear snatches of the Englishman’s favourite pastime - complaining. Now, as someone who’s partial to a bit of a grumble myself, I completely understand the pleasure a good complaint session can bring, but the things I’ve heard people moaning about have really surprised me.

When I walk around Worcester city centre during the weekend, I hear people complaining about how busy it is. My chin almost hit the floor the first time I heard this. For the past three years my daily commute across Shanghai was a constant struggle.

Unlike the West, no one waits for people to get off the underground before getting on. As soon as the doors open it’s a constant melee of people ramming into each other.

My son is 6ft4ins and frequently found himself getting into the “Warriors” scrum position in order to push against the waves of Chinese people getting onto the train as he tried to alight.

In some parts of Shanghai’s city centre, and across certain tourist attractions, it’s a similar story. You waddle around an area feeling like a tinned anchovy because there are so many people.

Just this last Christmas, several people were crushed to death next to the river that runs through Shanghai because so many people had congregated to celebrate the New Year.

I’ve heard kids complaining, as they do, about there being nothing to do in Worcester. In Shanghai, Google, Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat, Twitter and many other “time-wasting foreign sites” are blocked.

Game consoles have only recently been made legal and cinemas only show certain Western films. Sure China has its own versions of these websites and its own films but trust me when I say they really are awful in comparison. I’m in danger of sounding like my own Dad here, but kids in Worcester really don’t know how great they’ve got it.

I’ve also heard grumblings about the recent election coverage and how you can’t go anywhere without hearing about it - well at least we can vote! In China you’ve got the Communist Party and that’s it.

I’ve read lots of editorials across the country complaining about the new high speed rail HS2. Over the past decade the Communist Party built a high speed rail across the eastern seaboard of the country.

People there weren’t given a choice and were forced from their homes to make room for the track. If they agreed to move out then the Government would relocate them. If they didn’t, tough! You can’t vote for another party.

Then there’s the matter of cleanliness. I walked past an old couple the other day and heard them complaining about a public bin that was completely full. Obviously it’s not a particularly pleasant site and I completely agree that it should’ve been emptied sooner. It did however give me time to reflect on how much cleaner Worcester is than Shanghai.

In Shanghai I’ve witnessed children and grown men defecating and urinating on the pavement. I should stress that these instances have been in the middle of the day, not after a drunken night on the town.

To spit on the street is also incredibly common. I was first exposed to this when I stepped on the plane from Heathrow to Shanghai on my move out to China. Throughout the flight I heard nausea induced sounds of my fellow (Chinese) passengers hocking up phlegm into a sickbag.

On domestic flights I’ve seen them just spit on the floor of the airplane and rub it into the carpet with their shoes. This level of public hygiene is also reflected, to a certain extent, in the hospitals in China.

In the UK there seems to be an outspoken minority who complain about our fantastic NHS. Getting treated in Shanghai was a nightmare. Hospitals seem to be constantly overrun with patients, no matter what time of day you visit. As a result, I’ve seen patients bleeding out on stretchers in the hallway.

I’ve also seen doctors with dirty white coats running around trying to maintain order. While a seemingly small thing, there is something incredibly disturbing about seeing a doctor in a dirty white coat. It gives an impression that hygiene isn’t perhaps a top priority and that maybe you’ll end up leaving the hospital worse off than when you first walked in.

For me, Worcester is a dream city. I no longer yearn for blue skies and I can leave the house without carrying a facemask to keep the air pollution out of my lungs.

My kids don’t have to worry about not being able to play outside anymore because the pollution is too bad. I can also walk alongside the River Severn without the risk of seeing a dead pig floating along the embankment, as happened shortly after I arrived in China, when a farmer who was angry with the Government threw 1,000 pig carcasses into the river upstream of Shanghai.

Chinese bloggers at the time tried to make light of it by saying: “In Beijing you can open the window and get free cigarettes. In Shanghai, you turn on the tap and get free pork soup, what a great country!”

Sure, Worcester isn’t perfect but I think it’s a great place to live and a place I’m glad to be raising my kids.