One of the constants for me in Shanghai is being woken up by some form of drilling or construction noise. With all the demolition, renovation and construction constantly going on in the city, I don’t think I’ve ever spent a lot of time in any apartment or office here without hearing the sound of a drill or jackhammer. Even worse is that it always seems to start at like 6 AM. Saturdays and Sundays are not exempt.

Well today took the cake. I woke up to a loud sound of crashing metal and rocks being crushed, synchronized to the shaking of the whole apartment. I thought a nearby building collapsed or there was an earthquake.

I went outside to the balcony to see an excavator-mounted hydraulic jackhammer in our lane.

When I went outside, I saw the concrete lane at the back of the building had been drilled with a grid of holes about a metre apart; the pavement looked like swiss cheese. The lane adjacent to ours was completely dug up with huge slabs of concrete piled up against the walls.

I’m not sure if the sound in the video does it justice, but picture this going on ALL DAY LONG. The workers stop at 6 PM and you get some peace, but you go to sleep knowing that you’ll be woken up by this beast in a few hours.