Singing praise of city’s move to clamp down on excessive noise from motor vehicles
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More than a decade ago, when I was studying Chinese language at a local university in Shanghai, I came across an introductory text on Chinese culture meant for foreign readers. In one passage, the author explained the Chinese people’s supposed affinity for noise. This love of loudness could be seen, according to the scribe, in things like fireworks displays, Peking Opera and traditional gong-and-drum music.
I’ll leave it to readers to judge the accuracy of such claims; although the city of Shanghai definitely has a way of imposing itself through sound. Coming from a semi-rural hometown in the US, one of the things that first struck me about Shanghai was its noise. For the most part, horns and construction sounds, among other sources of racket, seemed inescapable for much of the decade I spent in the city.
At times, I enjoyed the sound of hustling-and-bustling that I quickly associated with urban life in an exciting, fast-developing, fast-modernizing city. In calmer moments though, I could appreciate how near-constant auditory stimulation was taking a toll on my hearing and my mental acuity. Walking downtown, I often struggled to hear myself think over the sound of scooter alarms, car engines, loud advertisements, dancing grannies and the dull roar of human conversation. Like many urbanites, I retreated into my headphones, which were typically cranked to full volume in an attempt to drown out the competing cacophony. This, of course, has left its own impact on my ears.
I’m sure that many residents of Shanghai will have similar thoughts on the city’s clamorous soundscape, which is why I’m happy to read that local authorities are getting tougher on certain forms of excessive racket. According to a recent report, which cited local traffic police, 165 vehicle owners were fined in December for excessive vehicle noise. The fines were meted out using sonar-equipped traffic cameras installed at four locations around the city, including Huaihai Road. Many of these overly-raucous motorists were nabbed because of illegally modified exhaust pipes which are designed to make vehicles louder.
To be honest, I hope that similar sonar cameras can be installed elsewhere around the city soon. My former neighborhood in Minhang District was (or so it seemed) a favorite destination for car-tuning enthusiasts, who took advantage of the area’s quiet residential streets to rev their engines. Often this happened at night, when people like myself were trying to get some sleep. No doubt there are many other neighborhoods — both downtown and in the suburbs — where residents feel similarly plagued by overly-loud gear-heads (and their often reckless driving).
Raise the fines
I also hope that the fines for noisy motorists can be raised as well. Those who break the latest noise rules — which went into effect on December 1 — can be fined as much as 200 yuan (US$30), although some offenders have reportedly been slapped with additional penalties for running red lights and using forged vehicle plates, among other violations. Rule-breakers also receive driving-record demerits, which could send them back to driving school if they accrue too many, but I think the threat of losing 200 yuan may not be enough to change the behavior of certain drivers.
Interestingly, when Shanghai traffic police introduced a downtown ban on car honking back in 2007, the maximum penalty was also 200 yuan, according to reports from that time. While it’s only recently (thankfully) that anti-honking restrictions have become rigidly enforced, even more than a decade ago 200 yuan didn’t seem like very much money when one considered the amount of money needed to register a car in Shanghai in the first place.
While I don’t want to make too much of Shanghai’s noisy streets, one of the first things that struck me when I moved to Berlin in 2017 was how quiet it seemed in comparison.
I still wear my headphones when I go outside here, but I often take them off just to experience the churning of my own thoughts in relative silence. This may seem like a minor thing, but the press of urban sounds can take a real toll in terms of stress and distraction, even on those who are accustomed to it. As authorities in Shanghai start to clamp down on excessive levels of noise, I’m sure that more residents of the city are appreciating this too.
Shanghai, understandably, revels in large-scale events and mega-projects, but it’s often in small, day-to-day matters — particularly those which strike the senses — where one experiences the most pleasure, and the most frustration. The air, and the sound it carries, are public property and those who abuse it for selfish, pointless reasons should be punished. Making Shanghai easier on the ears is one small step toward better urban living for everyone.
The author used to work as a copy editor at Shanghai Daily. He now studies in Germany.
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