The diversity of design in shikumen headers
What makes a shikumen (石库门) header an architectural tapestry so emblematic of Shanghai? The grey stone pediment, shaped in a triangle or semi-circle, contains designs that range from the…
Disappearing, Gone
Shanhaiguan Lu (山海关路) through the eyes of an older Shanghainese
The streets have grown quieter. As Siwen Lane (斯文里) in Jingan district empties out ahead of demolition and redevelopment, the surrounding neighborhoods are anticipating changes too. New basketball courts,…
A history of the (underground) printing press in Shanghai’s shikumen
Buried amidst the largely demolished Chengyu Lane (成裕里) (or Achieving Abundance Lane) on Fuxing Zhong Lu (复兴中路), a mountain of debris hid a small piece of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP)…
Revisiting JR’s “Wrinkles of the City” in Shanghai
Some of you may have seen a giant photo booth truck in and around Shanghai with people queuing to have their portraits taken. A friend recently shared snaps…
Xingping Lane (星平里): Going, going, gone
Clutching my wrist tightly, she spoke with a heavy, sour breath, “You have to come back tomorrow with the photos,” and leaned closer to make her point, “We…
Private surveillance in old shikumen lanes
They watched with a deceptive air of insouciance that masked a deeper, almost territorial, wariness. Stray cats, in various hues of black, brown and ginger, rested lazily on…
The diaper store nail house
“He’s a stubborn one.” “Who?” The middle aged man pointed at a small and dusty shop, its wares piled up high on both sides of the entrance while…
Shanghai’s lost shikumen and villas in 2013
When the editor over at Shanghaiist approached me to write a review of “lost” historical buildings in Shanghai in 2013, I hesitated for a brief moment. In an attempt to…
Melancholic tang poetry on shikumen walls
Somewhere in the labyrinth of shikumen lanes between Jinan Lu (济南路) and Hefei Lu (合肥路), the soundtrack of longtang living was underway: the clanging of spatulas against sizzling…
Confessions in Desheng Lane (德生里)
The entrance into De Sheng Lane (德生里) was like a door into nothingness. Surveying the vast sea of fallen brick and mortar, bleached by the blazing sun, I…