Expat Rumor Mill

Urban myths, legends of yore, and general rumors are par for the course over here in Shenzhen. The folks involved in all of this are not tweens on the playground spreading vicious rumors at recess, or the catty high school crowd ostracizing a nobody. No. These are the 20-50 somethings of Shenzhen, and what I would expect to be the expat community the globe around spreading rumors and tales. Though I would not expect it is a self-serving thing, but more a result of general naivete.
I will use myself as a glaring example. Shenzhen is growing, exploding even, and as such there are construction sites littered around the city. Everyone knows of China's withstanding goal to create a high-speed rail system to connect Hong Kong with Beijing, and the first leg of that will of course dart through Shenzhen. More than a year ago I was told by some 'expats in the know' that it would be opening in August of 2011, and would soon extend up to Guangzhou (the capital city of this province, and a manufacturing giant as well), to create a trip of Hong Kong to Guangzhou in one hour. And boy that sounds nice because dealing with customs and trains/buses here normally puts the commute into downtown Hong Kong at nearly 2 hours. A 30-45 minute trip into Hong Kong would be fantastic, and we are all excited to see it open, except for the fact that it will indeed not be open until this time next year. Sad.

I had unknowingly (see: naive) spread this false truth around to my friends, excitedly boasting my inside knowledge of the goings-on in Shenzhen. We all do this here: A new building in our district's CBD (central business district, of which Shenzhen has two) has a large tower going up with a strikingly simply figure and it is alleged to house the new Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It is an impressive building to behold and any expat in the know will be quick to point it out as you whiz past in your taxi. Another morsel of information is one gleaned from an American urban planner and engineer who is a consultant to the Shenzhen government. While he cannot divulge actual facts he will let slip that occupancy rates in the office towers here are abysmal at best and that the government buildings here are even worse.
All of these little factual/quasi-factual tidbits help expats here define themselves as having their finger on the pulse of the city. Everyone has a Chinese friend with "connections" and so on and so forth. The fact that I had been so quick to spread my little bits of information only show that I am no different, and when you realize this, you need to go back and grab a few grains of salt, and reconsider much of what is said here.

How much do we really know? I'd say next to nothing. As adults here, I think back to what I have talked about with friends before: the smartest ones are always the quietest.