Personally, I prefer Beijing in some aspects and Shanghai in others. If I had to choose an undergraduate school again, I would definitely choose to go to Beijing. However, if you choose a graduate school, the weight of Shanghai may be much heavier. I am afraid that a school with similar difficulty will choose Shanghai. If you choose a place to work, then it must be Shanghai.
On the whole, I think we can say "study in Beijing, work in Shanghai and start a business in Shenzhen". As for life, we should choose some medium-sized cities with developed economy, good air and good climate. Of course, this is beyond the scope of the topic, so I won't talk much.
As far as the subject is concerned, if your ideal in life is to become the middle class that most people in this society want to be and live a decent and quality life, then there will probably be no better choice than Shanghai. The city of Shanghai is big enough, the platform is high enough, and there are enough career choices. As long as you have the basic consciousness of "obeying order and striving for progress", you don't worry about finding a suitable job and living a decent life in Shanghai. If you are more talented and diligent, it is also possible to become a member of the upper-class rich when you enter middle age.
Specifically, the main advantages of Shanghai are:
It is far superior to the management and planning level of all cities including Beijing;
No matter in society or in the workplace, a more "professional" culture
Compared with Beijing's better air and transportation, it brings a better commuting experience. (The air is influenced by the nearby areas, and it seems that the advantages compared with Beijing in the past two years are not so great.)
When I live abroad and go to Shanghai when I return home, I will feel that all aspects of Shanghai's society are orderly, decent and relatively perfect, unlike China's cities.
If we know the history of life and consumption in various places during the Republic of China, we can understand that Shanghai's development is actually due to the fact that China's modernization was confined to Shanghai for a long time. The "software" accumulated by the century-long modernization in Shanghai is the reason why this city can operate in an exceptionally orderly way, which makes it look taller than those places that have just learned how to build roads in Gai Lou.
Some other respondents said that Shanghai is characterized by a market economy, but I don't quite agree with them. In fact, it is free market spirit. I'm afraid it is still Shenzhen, as well as southern China provinces such as Guangdong and Fujian. In contrast, Shanghai is a "big government", and the government plays a very obvious role in urban economic life, and there are also many state-owned enterprises. Shanghai's culture is more like that of technocrats in Germany and Japan, and the most important thing is "order", "rules" and "professionalism". In fact, this culture is not so picky about whether it is state-owned or private, whether it is public or private, people consciously want to take the money they should take and do what they should do. Therefore, the biggest advantage of Shanghai compared with other places is the efficiency of the government and state-owned enterprises. In Shanghai, even if you work within the system, you basically don't have to worry that your boss is incompetent. Being able to achieve a certain position in Shanghai basically shows a certain ability. And seeing that many people with no background can succeed by personal ability and struggle, you know you can.
In fact, the resources of Beijing itself are no worse than those of Shanghai. Don't be fooled by the appearance of small counties in some parts of Beijing. Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger, the Imperial Capital, is not only the political and cultural center of China, but also the actual economic center (in China, a semi-market economy country, the central government and central enterprises have great capabilities). The most awesome people, things and things in China are basically concentrated in Beijing. In terms of broadening horizons and increasing knowledge, I am afraid there is no better place than Beijing.
But the problem is that these resources are gathered in Beijing in an unnatural way, and most of them will be redistributed in an unnatural way. If you don't have any connections, and you don't have the talent/charm/luck beyond mortals, most of these enviable resources will never be with you.
So for most people, although Beijing is very powerful, Shanghai is a better place to work and live. Compared with undergraduate courses, graduate students need to be close to the place where they intend to develop for a long time, which is convenient for internship and job hunting, and the school's local recognition and resources are better. Considering that Shanghai's equally famous schools are often much more advanced in academic level, training system and management system than Beijing, they are generally better choices themselves.
But if you want to say "feeling", then Beijing will also have advantages that Shanghai does not have. Perhaps it is because Beijing is the capital of a multi-ethnic country for a long time, and it is located in the border of China. There are far more interactions with heterogeneous cultures than Shanghai, which is adjacent to the core of China in the south of the Yangtze River. The sources of immigrants are also more diverse. Beijing's culture and values are more diverse, and it is more tolerant of "different" people, and "dreams" are less ridiculed here. In addition, most Beijingers are more enthusiastic, more friendly to strangers and new classmates and colleagues, and relatively willing to take the initiative to help. Just arrived in Beijing, although it is cold in winter, I will feel warmer inside.
If you like avant-garde art, underground music, small theaters, or have a minority hobby but want to meet a group of young people to enjoy this hobby, then there is probably no place in the country that can satisfy you more than Beijing. There is jazz in Shanghai, too, but how much is written by local people? Just as Shanghai is more developed than any other China city, so is Beijing's richness in spiritual and cultural aspects than any other China city.
whether a person is "successful" can generally be guessed at a recognized conclusion in Shanghai. Although the society provides many career choices, there seems to be only one criterion for judging regardless of occupation, just like every notice in the People's Park dating corner can be roughly converted into a unified score. But not in Beijing. The same person, put in the internet circle, film circle, independent music circle, university circle, financial circle and civil servant circle, will probably have completely different evaluations. Although the air in Beijing is very dirty, this atmosphere is the fresh air for everyone who is "different".
a little higher, according to the camp system of DnD, the culture advocated by Shanghai is "order-neutral" (in the dimension of order-chaos, it tends to be order-neutral, and in the dimension of good-evil, of course, these concepts are not exactly the same as what we usually understand). In Shanghainese's own words, it is necessary to "carry it clearly". Shanghainese are the least willing to interfere with the interests of others, but they are also the least willing to be interfered with by others. Shanghainese don't ask themselves or others to take the initiative to "do good", but everyone must be polite, abide by the rules of social operation in society, and have a spirit of professionalism in their careers. Although if you get in touch with Shanghainese, you will find that there are also many compassionate "kind" people, and of course there are also selfish "evil" people. But because the order is particularly well maintained, it is difficult for evil people to do harm; And because the values of "neutrality" are deeply rooted in people's hearts, kind people do not often show their kindness. When foreigners first arrive in Shanghai, most of them will feel that Shanghai is a little cold, which is probably the reason.
and Beijing? The culture advocated by old Beijing is probably consistent with the Confucian tradition of "keeping order and being kind", or in Beijing's words, "having a face". Now it seems that "having a face" has been misinterpreted as a real benefit, but in fact, "having a face" originally meant that a person can be respected regardless of his inner or external image. Be "benevolent" in your heart, be able to sympathize with and help the weak, and have "righteousness" in your behavior, and have the style of everyone. Typical "well-ordered" people, such as Gaowa Siqin's second grandma in the mansion, several mainstream warrior images written by Jin Yong, a paladin in medieval Europe, or Ned Stark, the wolf father in the ice and fire, and so on. Such people not only obey the rules, but also take the initiative to defend the rules, punish evil and promote good. In an orderly and kind society, there are often no written rules, and these "people" are "rules".
however, the problem with this set of values is that this series of rules and orders derived from "kindness" or "benevolence", that is, "courtesy", "righteousness" and "faithfulness", are so complicated and profound that in fact, in the traditional agricultural society, only a few places with the most developed education, such as Beijing and Jiangnan area headed by Suzhou, can be basically maintained. Even in Beijing, because several revolutions are the first to bear the brunt, this set of rules only exists in a few people with good nature and family style, which is not enough to maintain the operation of the whole society. The unwritten rules are maintained by people, which is always not so reliable in China during the transitional period. So in fact, Beijing, like most cities in China, has insufficient rules, but naturally there are still bad people in the society, some of whom are sheltered by systems or relationships, and there are many disgusting things.
to take a step back, even if a "orderly and kind" culture can monopolize a society, if people don't understand and accept these beliefs from the heart, they may not cultivate less hypocrites than real gentlemen. It seems that Lu Xun's works are full of benevolence, righteousness and morality, but there is "cannibalism" in the cracks. Even a true gentleman sometimes seems too judgemental and infringes on personal freedom.
On the other hand, the culture of advocating goodness has always remained. If a Beijinger is really kind at heart, his social education will definitely encourage him to show this kindness. Moreover, influenced by this culture of "having a face inside", Beijingers are less likely to be too shy to help others like people in many places.
In addition, it is also because Beijing concentrated on the powerful old order (this old order can be traditional Confucian jurisprudence or authoritarian bureaucratic rule formed after 49 years) and also concentrated on the rebellion against the powerful old order. It seems that there are more people in Beijing who adopt the values of "chaos" or "rebellion" than in other places. Not only are there many rock bands in Beijing, but there are also more people in Beijing who play rock music. It is not without reason.
On the contrary, when Shanghai was founded, it was completely an immigrant city. There was no old order here, only a new order brought by foreigners. Moreover, the foreigners who came here were mainly businessmen, and they didn't bring the almost equally complicated Christian ethics to China. It was enough to have a basic order to do business and live. This order is neutral in the judgment dimension of "good and evil", so it is relatively simple, and you don't need to be kind to master it. Because of its simplicity, this order has been well maintained, so up to today, Shanghai is the most disciplined and fair city in China.
back to the subject, although I praised Shanghai and talked about many benefits of Beijing, I think Shanghai should be more suitable for the subject than Beijing. People who like Beijing probably already feel the benefits of Beijing. No matter whether they choose Beijing in the end or not, there is no need to ask others what they feel about Beijing. Most places in Shandong are no closer to Beijing than Shanghai, and there is no reason to choose Beijing because it is close to home.
However, after studying in Shanghai for several years, I don't think I can go to Beijing for two years if I choose another place for postgraduate study. If family conditions permit, it's always a good thing to toss and turn when I can. In fact, how people can "realize themselves" in the end depends on one's knowledge. And already familiar with Shanghai, Beijing is the best place to learn more in China. Even if you want to return to Shanghai in the end, maybe the experience in Beijing will make you cherish and love your life in Shanghai more.