'The Bund' by Joshua Sim

My room mate has an unhealthy obsession with the Bund in Shanghai. He wanted to go there to visit the sunset and sat around till it was late. It was easy for us to joke about his obsession until I was there myself. Perhaps now I have an unhealthy obsession with the Bund too.

The Bund felt oddly familiar. Before it reaches midnight, the Bund is bustling with businesses of every kind. Ice cream, coconuts and sausages were on sale almost everywhere. But when the night came and the crowd dispersed, the Bund became something else. It was to me, a symbol of aspiration.

As I gaze upon the skyline, the first thing that struck me was how the skyscrapers appear to reach out upon an impossible aim. To touch the sky. In its many lights, it almost looks as if some of the stars have been plucked from the sky in Shanghai's economic aspirations. The city portrayed its many achievements, its conquest over the night, height, distance and imagination. As the lights glittered rebelliously at the night, it was to me, a reflection of the city's desire to ever reach for the skies.

As I switch my attention to the people around me, it occured to me that such aspirations was not only symbolic, but also personal. Couples sat by the Bund perhaps making promises to each other, gazing upon the night sky. And my room mate too, walked around, with a sense of aspiration in his eyes.

As we snapped our last photos at the Bund, it seemed to me that the magical pull of the Bund is perhaps, our common desire, to reach for the very heavens. And it was this universal desire, that is so alluring, so beautiful.