Why?
But Connecting Shanghai to a nearby city of 6.5 million people seems a good idea from any perspective.
I think the problem is that neither the media nor city officials provided residents living near the maglev line (up to 22.5 meters in some places) with clear information regarding the effects of radiation and noise pollution.
In fact, the amount of radiation emitted is apparently negligible and perfectly harmless, so that concern can be eliminated.
I believe noise will not be a problem either -- within the train and from about 200 meters away, it is very quiet indeed. (Having said that, the issue seems not as clear-cut .)
Nevertheless, these protests may have a silver lining, actually, three: people with a common cause organized themselves to express their displeasure with the government, and effectively enacted civil disobedience in doing so; furthermore, the government got a lesson in what happens when you try to railroad a more and more self-assertive citizenry into just going along with its plans without listening to their concerns and responding effectively enough; finally, when in all likelihood the radiation and noise pollution will turn out to be non-issues, people will realize that all the time, emotional energy, they took in their protests were based on unfounded fears.
Since the number of people arrested and/or injured in the protests were few, hopefully this will be a lesson well learned (and remembered) by all parties at relatively little cost. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
I agree with your other points - I wasn't really commenting on the substance of the post at all, just the terminology.
definitely, on all three counts.
but i think among Chinese, Hangzhou is seen first and foremost as a tourist city, given its country-wide fame for its scenery, history, temples, personages, legends, tea, silk, and so on. the first time i was told about it was from a Shanghai woman who called it the city for honeymoons.
still, you're right, more recently it has become a booming business and high-tech hub, with plenty of business traffic from overseas as well. and a 28-minute (!!!) maglev connection between Shanghai and Hangzhou would be simply fantastic, particularly for the surprising number of Hangzhou residents who commute every day to Shanghai, not to mention the far more numerous business people who travel between the two cities on a frequent if not every day basis. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
