The Shanghainese, he said, are notorious for being astute, arrogant, narrow-minded, slack-disciplined, fad-embracing and, last but not least, exclusivism-oriented. He admitted that these comments might be a bit too harsh, but he said he only wanted to speak his mind.

To prove his point, he offered an example. Upon graduating from a university in Northeast China, he had met with a series of setbacks when applying for a job in Shanghai. He was either turned away for not being a permanent local resident or put to endless queries as though he were someone wanted by the police. The cross-questioning ranged from his birth, family background, education, hobbies, language proficiency to, most disgracefully, whether he had defaulted on a mission assigned by his superiors. It dawned on him later that all these were actually meant to disqualify him for the job.

He said that he was given to venting his wrath on the Shanghainese just because of his initial misfortune. He admitted things seemed to have taken a turn for the better in recent years. The Shanghainese had become more cosmopolitan-minded than before and more accessible to people from outside the city. Maybe the change was attributable to the global status that Shanghai was enjoying as a cosmopolitan city.

To my question whether all those around him shared his view, he gave a decisive no. His Japanese boss, for example, adhered to a perception diametrically opposed to his. His view can be summarized as follows:

Though a bit high-falutin and boastful, the Shanghainese generally attach much importance to "mianzi" (Concern about "face"). Being a Shanghainese gives them a feeling of ascendancy over others. Their ability to co-exist with and even adapt to a different culture is amazing. Intelligent and assiduous in their undertakings, they are unquestionably ideal employees and entrepreneurs. Their weakness, if any, is that they fall easy prey to brand names and they would willingly go to any lengths just to be showy, extravagant and ostentatious.

It's natural that based on different personal experiences, people are likely to form different opinions about a person or a thing. Yet from the diverse commentaries, we should be able to piece together an all round image of an object, though it may deviate from the genuine one.

While shrewdness is universally acknowledged as a characteristic of the Shanghainese, lack of initiative in breaking fresh ground sometimes tarnishes their reputation as perfect entrepreneurs: prudence is over-emphasized and impedes the progress of adventurous endeavours. Their adherence to the city is as great as a toddler's to its mother.

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