“Cabs Running At 120 kmph, Sheraton Room For ₹5000/N,” Indian Woman Lauds This “Futuristic” Town In China

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear ‘small town’? Cute homes with sloped roofs, lush greenery, simple living and country landscapes. Perhaps, the word ‘futuristic’ wouldn’t cross your mind. For Dania Faruqui, travelling to a “small town in China” made her realise that cabs running at 120 kmph, a hotel room at Sheraton costing ₹5000/n, all ran in the same sentence, the same town! Here’s her story.

Woman Visits China’s “Small Town” Shantou

Taking to her LinkedIn handle, IIM graduate Bengaluru-based Dania Faruqui revealed she flew to Shantou in China. Not for a holiday, but for research. Her research on wearable electric technology brought her to the ‘small town’, which was anything but small. “My mind got blown away in China,” was the teaser to the second part of her post.

Assuming Shantou to be like any other small town in India (because local Chinese people kept calling it ‘small’), Dania Faruqui was surprised by what she walked into. Firstly, the town was characterised by wide, clean roads. Pedestrians walked on separate lanes while electric two-wheelers and cars plied the roads.

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Netizens Impressed By Affordable Luxury Rooms, Clean Roads, EV Cabs & More

Wherever she looked, high risers looked down at her. Luxury hotels like Sheraton were affordable and cost about ₹5000 for a night. Super fancy cars for cabs, mostly EV, and a clean environment with absolutely no loose scraps in sight, added to the allure. An AQI of 5, with trees lining the paths and affordable airfares where flights between two cities cost ₹5,000, blew her mind.

Apart from the stellar ‘urban planning’, Dania Faruqui was pleased to see children’s engagement activities peppered at malls. It prompted children to leave their gadgets for playdough and LEGOs. “China is living in the future,” she remarked in her post. Moreover, the locals were friendly and felt very safe.

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Needless to say, social media users showered her post with praises for the “small town”. They echoed her reaction that China was living and planning for the future. Some called her post “eye-opening”, while others called the nation’s internal development “miles ahead”. Many wanted to research further on how flying domestically within China was extremely affordable.

Meanwhile, what do you think of Shantou? Is it as “small” a town as you’d have imagined?

Cover Image Courtesy: LinkedIn/Dania Faruqui