← Front page

Odd Lots · Thursday, July 2, 2026

Shanghai's 'Paris of the East' Charm Contrasts with Beijing's 'Apocalyptic' Urban Design

Dan Wong expresses a strong preference for Shanghai, describing it as 'one of the great cities of the world' with a comfortable, walkable environment influenced by French design. In contrast, he characterizes Beijing as a 'desert step city with stalinist characteristics' and criticizes its vast, long, and wide streets.

The tape

3 quotes
Yeah, I love Shanghai. Shanghai is I think one of the great cities of the world, and Beijing is not. Beijing is not I really like Beijing.
Well, Beijing is this desert step city with stalinist characteristics, and you know, there's kind of this thread of apocalypse that hangs over there.
So you know, these are the sort of things where you know, we are happily dismissive of the Beijing life.
Heard on Odd Lots — “What Dan Wang Saw on His Last Trip to China, published Thursday, July 2, 2026. Heardvine summarizes and quotes with attribution and timestamps, and links to the original everywhere.
Transcribed via publisher transcript · $0.00
Shanghai's 'Paris of the East' Charm Contrasts with Beijing's 'Apocalyptic' Urban Design — Heardvine