Update: A Photographer’s Eviction from the house on Yulin Road
Note: This was originally published on 6 January, 2011. I have since updated it upon new details revealed. From a distance, the row of European-styled houses stood out…
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Conversations: Sound Artist Terence Lloren on Recording “Growing Up With Shanghai”
Terence Lloren is a sound artist based in Shanghai who creates field recording projects, releasing them under his label, Bivouac Recording. Trained as an architect but with a passion…
Making friends in high places: Photographing Jiuan Fang (久安坊)
“What did you say you wanted?” The old lady stared wide-eyed at me. Her granddaughter, who was diligently practicing her characters on the dining table, eyed me curiously….
Art Deco influence on Shanghai’s shikumen
We all know that Art Deco has had a major influence in Shanghai starting from the 1930s at the peak of its Concession-era building boom. This city boasts one of the most…
Shanghai shikumens, London gables and Facebook
Things have gone a little quiet around here of late. Work has wholly consumed me for much of February, leaving very little time (and brain cells) to blog…
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…
Life behind the wall
It can be claustrophobic in the alleys, especially when the backs of the shikumen apartments sit so closely to one another; it feels they are closing in. Hengfeng Lane (恒丰里) along the leafy…
The stress of a wedding dress
Peering through the window of the wedding store, past the orgy of exploding sequins, glossy taffeta and cheap lace, a gaggle of middle-aged and young women hurried around a young…
What I am reading: Party propaganda, slogans and posters
Long-time readers may recognize the above Ruihua Lane (瑞华坊) which I have written about, particularly the mosaic-tiled public service posters that grace the walls. I had anticipated that the entire lane…
Toiling in the heatwave: whither thy subsidy?
His world was a three-block radius. Each day before the sun rose, he would wake from his dormitory bed which creaked from rusty springs. The mattress was thin…