Tag Archive for 'longtang'

25
Apr

Book Review and Giveaway of “Shanghai Shikumen” (上海里弄文化地图)

By Sue Anne 21 Comments
Categories: Exhibits, Talks and Publications, The Fading Vestige and What I Am Reading

◄ Back
Picture 1 of 4

UPDATE: Congratulations to Patrick, the 10th commentator! Random.org picked you out of 18 commenators. Drop me an email via the contact sheet and I will dispatch the book to you!

Thanks again to everyone who participated! For those who are in Shanghai, remember to pick up a copy! Amazon.cn has it on sale.

** I am giving one free copy to a lucky reader regardless of where you are in the world. Leave a comment below about yourself and why you’d like a copy. Entries close 5 minutes before midnight May 3, Beijing time. I will pick the winner at random. **

(欢迎中文读者！如果想用中文来看博科，可以在右边点下翻译钮 “Blog translated”)。 我会选出一位幸运读者送出《上海里弄文化地图》的一本书。请在博客文章下留下个人发言，介绍自己。比赛5月3日半夜停止。我会随机选择。)

For me, the hardest thing about documenting Shanghai’s ubiquitous lilong (or lanes) residences and shikumen isn’t the tedious amount of time invested in research and photographing them, but surprise, surprise, actually finding the hidden gems.

While there is substantial and organized information on Shanghai’s western architecture thanks to dedicated archivists including Tess Johnston and Paul French, there is no equivalent English directory for the hundreds of Shanghai shikumen and lanes, which is a challenge given their rate of demolition.

As an outsider without initimate knowledge of the city, I depend a great deal on the internet, Google maps and collecting anecdotes from residents to piece together the what, where and whys.

There was one key source I often turned to – a photographer on Flicker and the Chinese equivalent, Douban who went by the name of Gropius (the famous German architect who pioneered the Bauhaus School) or Xi Zi (席子). His work was a treasure trove of beautiful shikumen and lanes that I never knew existed, along with names and addresses, which I would use to guide myself around the city. He was receptive to questions and had a large Shanghainese following online.

A few years ago, while shooting in a heap of what used to be a beautiful structure in Hongkou, I met a man in his late 30s, early 40s doing the same thing. Lo and behold, it was Xi Zi.

We became friends and I’d meet up with him on several occasions to shoot and even interviewed him for the blog. He almost never used a map and knew of hidden spots that even local Shanghainese had no idea existed. He photographed the same places over and over again, mapping a timeline of their demise.

After 5 years of continuous shooting, Xi Zi (whose full name is Xi Wenlei (席闻雷)) and his good friend Jiang Qinggong (姜庆共) (or Lao Jiang as he calls himself, a well-known publisher of history and the arts) have finally put out one of the best photo books on Shanghai shikumen that you’ll ever find. Both authors grew up in shikumens and as Xi Zi once said to me, for the younger generation, the shikumen will be just a concept as many of them have never lived in one.

“Shanghai Shikumen” or more accurately “Shanghai Lilong Culture and Map” (上海里弄文化地图) condenses explanations and diagrams of various shikumen styles, 40 shikumen lilong travel guides, 400 shikumen lilong directories and 120 accompanying images of both the exteriors and interiors of the shikumen.

Interestingly, Xi and Jiang have chosen to emphasize their work in images rather than in text, a departure from traditional Chinese publishing standards. The best part of the book is the litany of maps (both pre-1949 and the present) that help the tracking and identification of shikumen and lilongs more efficiently. All in both English and Chinese.

For the authors, the book is as much a way to reach out to the younger generation of Shanghainese about their history, as it is appealing to foreigners with a deeper curiosity of the Chinese aspect of Old Shanghai.

That this easily accessible shikumen guide has not been published earlier is baffling to me, which is why I recommend readers to pick up a copy and start exploring as some of these neighborhoods may not be around for too long.

Where to buy

“Shanghai Shikumen” (上海里弄文化地图), 162 pages, March 2012, Tongji University Press (RMB 42)

1. Dukou Bookshop(s) (上海渡口书店)

- 828 Julu Lu, near Fumin Lu, Jingan District 静安区巨鹿路828号, 近富民路

- 245 Madang Lu, B1, Xintiandi Style Mall, 卢湾区马当路245号新天地时尚B1楼

- Online bookstore

2. Link Shanghai Gallery in Tianzifang (搭界)

- No. 5 Lane 248 Taikang Lu, Shanghai 上海市泰康路248弄5号

04
Jan

A review of 2011 (part three)

By Sue Anne 2 Comments
Categories: Exhibits, Talks and Publications, Off the Streets of Shanghai and Street Stories

This is the third installment of my review of 2011. Picking a favorite story from each month is difficult. All posts take time, including research, photo editing and writing and re-writing each paragraph to the best effect. It can sometimes be tiresome, especially when I would linger on a post for weeks, to the point of it remaining stubbornly unpublished. And believe me, there are quite a few. I sometimes have to revisit the place to jog the memory of the details, smells and sounds.

Yet there are moments which pass you by as quickly as they come. A look, a body movement or a sound can trigger an entire composition never to be recreated ever again.

July: I published a piece on exploring the port architecture of Shantou in Guangdong, where the Old Quarters, while crumbling miserably, is a beautiful place worth visiting. The city is home to Teochews, a dialect group, of which the overseas disapora number over 30 million.

Another favorite is “Reflections at high noon”, a photo essay on the most unknowing inspiration for street photography.

August: I’ve often feature the Chinese street photography collective Zaijietou.com (在街头) as an example of the popularity of street photography among a select few in China. Here, an interview of Chinese and German perspectives on street photography in China.

September: In lieu of blogging, my September was packed with activities. My biggest event was  “The Living Streets of Shanghai and the Hague”, a video exhibit by Shanghai and the Hague’s best street photographers. I co-organized it with  Five Spices, a Dutch design company, and the exhibit was held in Shanghai and subsequently in the Hague.

One of the featured photographers of the above exhibit was Tan Tien Yun, whom I interviewed. Working in the one of the countless factories in Minhang, Tien Yun took the time to take in the the more rural aspects of Shanghai’s suburbs including the local migrant communities.

A review of 2011 (part one) (part two) (part three)

31
Dec

Happy New Year! and 2011 in review (part one)

By Sue Anne 2 Comments
Categories: Exhibits, Talks and Publications, Off the Streets of Shanghai, Portraits of Strangers, Street Stories, Suburbs of Shanghai and The Fading Vestige

In the tradition of pensive reflection of the past year, I present to you the blog’s ”2011 in Review”. Below is the first of four installments rounding up my favorite stories each month. Hopefully this will keep you entertained over the long weekend. You can also read my review for 2010 here.

The pace of old housing demolition in Shanghai has slowed a little in comparison to the frenzied activity prior to the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.  This might be related to the Chinese government’s strict property tightening measures to scale back the real estate bubble, and the general malaise of the global financial crisis. On a positive note, on a recent visit to a half-flattened longtang, residents tell me they are now protected by laws to prevent forcible removal from their properties until all negotiations are complete. While not universally enforced, I am hearted by the small development.

2011 for me has been a significant amount of traveling to new cities and countries. In addition to revisiting Berlin, London and of course, home in Singapore, I visited for the first time Dubai, Seoul (and a very exciting jaunt to the North Korea border!), Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Vietnam. It was a year of new boundaries and new friends and I expect 2012 to be more of the same.

I want to thank regular readers, faithful commentators (you know who you are!) and occassional passers-by for visiting the blog. I occupy a small sliver of space in the vast Internet but work hard to piece together the stories and photos for our mutual pleasure. As always, I welcome your suggestions on how to improve my photography and writing.

My best wishes of good health and happiness to you for the New Year! I leave you with one of my favorite quotes, something I remind myself daily and find very apt for fresh starts in general.

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

January: Meeting Mr Cai (photo above) in Shanghai’s suburbs, whom I have designated “The Happiest Man in Shanghai”, was a fortuitous affair. I am reminded of his cheery optimisim at his old age which warms my heart each time I have a nasty encounter in Shanghai.

February: I was very glad to have documented the beautiful mosaic-tiled public service posters in Ruihua Lane (瑞华坊) which preached good manners and respect amongst the neighborhood’s residents. Unfortunately, the lane has emptied out in anticipation of razing.

On another note, my trip to the very sunny and excessively opulant Dubai.

March: One of my favorite photo essays on discovering life and color in dying neighborhoods undergoing demolishment. This one was in northern Jingan district, which I had rarely visited. Beauty often lies in character, and Shanghai’s old lanes are filled with them. Everytime you pass by an unassuming lane, make it a point to poke your head in.

A special mention of my contribution as co-author (along with Old Shanghai establishments including Tess Johnston) of the book “Still More Shanghai Walks” which we presented at the Shanghai Literary Festival and our booklaunch at the beautiful and quaint Old China Hand Cafe, where it is still available. I covered the former Jewish Ghetto and street markets of Tilanqiao.

A review of 2011 (part two) (part three) (part four)

02
Dec

Confessions in Desheng Lane (德生里)

By Sue Anne 2 Comments
Categories: Portraits of Strangers, Street Stories and The Fading Vestige

◄ Back
Picture 1 of 9

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 began treading slowly across the rocky terrain.

De Sheng Lane hugged the corner of Huimin Lu (惠民路) (formerly known as Baikal Road) and Dalian Lu (大连路)(formerly known as Dalny Road). After much reearch, I’ve theorised that it might have been named after Lian Desheng (连德生) (1893一1935) who was the bodyguard of a covert dual agent for the Chinese Communist Party, Yang Dengying (杨登瀛), who spied on the Kuomintang Party. Lian Desheng had previously worked for the British Tram Company located along Huimin Lu, not far from the lane, which leads one to assume he used to live in the area. Unfortunately, I had no one to confirm this with as all of the original residents have left.

While weather-beaten, the lane entrance was beautifully engraved by Qing Shannong (青山农) (1880~1969), a famous writer, painter and calligrapher. The few remaining structures in the longtang (弄堂) appeared to have been well-preserved even before demolition. The reddish brick hues and white outlines were clean and distinct, which made it a bigger shame to see them hollowed out.

Gingerly, I hopped from brick to beam to wood, watching for rusty nails and potential cave-ins. I knew I must have been a silly sight to behold, like an ant lost in a mess of dirt. But I was not alone.

In the distance, an elder woman in her 50s appeared to be sorting bricks. She waved upon seeing me, I could have sworn I saw the briefiest glimmer of her gold tooth reflected in the sun. Or perhaps it was from the brass buttons on her cheery sweater.

From Kaixin, Chongqing, Mrs Wu’s son-in-law owned the rights to the area of Desheng Lane for demolition and cleaning up. I’ve noted over the years that many people in this particular business were from Chongqing, drawing in many relatives and hometown friends to Shanghai, where they’d live and work together. Mrs Wu readily confirmed with a vigorous nod.

“I’m retired and just passing the time, you know,” she added as she deftly picked and separated piles of bricks, often used to refurbish old houses. “Look here, you see? The bricks are very good quality.” She pulled out a sturdy red brick, marked with “1934″ – the year the longtang was built, others were marked ”C.S.”, the manufacturer of the bricks.

At RMB 0.30 a brick redemption (RMB 0.25 for the smaller grey slates), it was quite a lucrative retirement. I joked about pitching in to split profits. She laughed, infectious and hearty, and continued chattering when I asked her if she goes home often. Not since she moved to Shanghai to join her children 9 years ago, she said.

“Although, I was there a few months ago to bury my daughter.”

I stopped, unsure how to respond. I was thrown off by her easy admission, of how her 31-year old second daughter had passed on due to a white blood cell-related disease. She waved her hands to excuse my murmured apologies, as if having sought closure a long time ago. She paused, her smile wavered ever so slightly, and resumed jabbering on about Kaixin, Shanghai, life and everything else in between.  Her husband, Mr Wu, and another neighbor later joined us, and minutes became an hour of folksy tales and shared photographs.

I noticed that some people that I have met in Shanghai, especially those far from their hometowns, shared details of their lives very easily. There were always stories of children left behind, mouths to feed, mortgages to pay and family members who were ill or even missing. They bury the stress on a daily basis, which forms a tightness in their chest that swells and gush forth at the slightest probe, which lasts as long as you had the patience to listen.

For a country where people are so distrustful of each other, confessions to strangers may be the catharsis they seek in a large and lonely city like Shanghai.

November 2011

03
Aug

A parking lot in four frames

By Sue Anne 7 Comments
Categories: Street Stories

I recently had an appointment at a hospital located along Fengyang Lu (风阳路) off the Northsouth Elevated Highway Road (南北高架路). One look at the numerous moaning patients spilling out of the entrance of the emergency ward, I scrambled across the street for refuge in what turned out to be a makeshift parking lot.

I mentioned once that temporary parking lots were an easy and profitable solution to utilize fallowed concrete spaces caught between the stages of demolition and reconstruction. Opposite the hospital once stood a longtang, half of which has been flattened while the remaining shikumen had been bricked up.

And so I walked a big round of what was left of the area. My black shoes felt like it was conducting all of the sun’s fury to scorch my feet. Seeking respite in the shade, I started chatting with the parking attendants at work, one of whom insisted on his photo taken. I could hardly say no.

Until he asked for my number while telling me he hadn’t seen his wife in years. I decided that waiting by the entrance of the hospital wasn’t too bad an idea and made a quick but graceful exit.

July 2011

12
Jul

A dog’s life and a cat’s world

By Sue Anne 0 Comments
Categories: Street Stories

I’ve encountered my fair share of pets while roaming in old neighborhoods. Live poultry aside, they range from scruffy half-heartedly adopted dogs and cats that looked like they needed a really good wash, and the celebrated category of toy pets, excessively groomed and beautified.

As the city becomes more compact and kids grow up and move out of the family orbits, older residents have taken to lavish greater attention on their pampered poodles and slick felines. But dogs definitely remain a greater status symbol due to the one-dog policy in Shanghai and the tedious registration process of owning one.

Ironically, the greater amount of time and attention lavished on these dogs has resulted in their declining loss of dignity. I’ve seen poodles with their ears and bob tails dyed a horrific green or pink, beagles and Yorkshire puppies uncomfortably squeezed into stuffy dresses and tiny shoes, hoppity hopping along the sidewalks.

In one breathy gush, an elderly resident described to me how his poodle sleeps in the same bed as his daughter and the extensive wardrobe his pet now has. Meanwhile, said poodle sat next to his master, scratching uncomfortably in its new pair of “Addidas” running shoes. At a street market, a middle-aged woman was buying yards of ribbon to decorate her dogs, entwining them in blue, pink and gold.

Cats, on the other hand, would roam alone, lying languidly on roofs and window sills, watching the world go by with great suspicion feigned by disregard. More often than not, they tend to be strays, or “domestically challenged”. Whatever the color of their fur, ginger, striped, pale or dark, they would be tucked in cracks in the wall or hiding under the eaves of roofs. When you’re shooting in quiet old longtangs, these cats can be your companions, quiet and unassuming. Sometimes, they are so stealthy, you wouldn’t notice them until you see a pair of shiny eyes staring back at you from a dark hole somewhere.

And once in a blue moon, theirs eyes are of different colors and they can be mesmerizing.

 

31
Mar

A little scrap story

By Sue Anne 3 Comments
Categories: Building the China Dream and Street Stories

◄ Back
Picture 1 of 4

While I am not one for following major scrap stories like some folks, it is nevertheless amusing to hear the backstories of what, why and how involving “DIY scrapping”.

I was travelling around Wangjiamatou Lu (王家码头路) in Old Town with my Roving Exhibit when I spotted this couple. I decided to place my photo boards next to them for a show-and-tell but the husband and wife duo seemed a lot more interesting.

“These are left over things from a hotel in Pudong which has just closed.” the husband explained. They arrived there a bit late, but it was a decent stash. Alarms, door knobs, light fixtures, control switches, random wires. Everything was being stripped into small piles separated by materials: glass, copper, light switch frames, fixture casings and bits of wiring.

They knew what they wanted. No large piles of wood or alumnium. It’s all about value, not volume. I watched the wife pull expertly at a burglar alarm followed by a light bulb, extracting the tungsten.

I had a go at it to give a helping hand and nearly took my foot off with the screwdriver and hammer. The wife shook her head, maybe it’s best you stick to photography, she laughed.

And take a photo of my kids while you’re at it, her husband chimed in.

December 2010

28
Mar

If a Tree Falls in a Forest*

By Sue Anne 3 Comments
Categories: Building the China Dream and The Fading Vestige

◄ Back
Picture 1 of 6

A purposeful pathway slices through Wuding Lu (武定路）(formerly known as Wuting Road) and Kangding Lu （康定路）(formerly Conaught Road), parallel to Xikang Lu (西康路) (formerly Ferry Road).

On the opposing ends of the walls were contrasting states of development. In the north, a new construction towered in the horizon while in the south, a section of the old neighborhood stood derelict, waiting for the razing to begin on mass.

Instead of rubble and broken stone, construction workers were grappling with branches that formed an intricate maze against the bright afternoon sun. They had spent all of the day before sawing pieces apart, digging through roots and trying to pull the trunks out in whole pieces for scrap sale. Nothing ever went to waste if they could help it.

It was spring but ironically, there were no leaves anywhere for the trees have died a long time ago, as if anticipating the inevitable death of the neighborhood.

A man perched on the core of a trunk, heaving as he sawed through branch after branch. With the sun behind him, he looked like a peacock which had its feathers spread open behind him.

My eyes trailed from the branch to the trunk and down to the roots which were embedded deeply in the walls of the house and deeper in its foundation. It was going to take a bit more time to get it all out if they want to salvage both brick and wood.

“Who knows how long these roots run into the foundation,” the foreman wondered out loud. “Either way, we’ll get it done.”

March 2011

* In case you missed the reference.

18
Mar

The Shikumen Obituaries, Greater Shanghai Map and Reporting on Japan

By Sue Anne 2 Comments
Categories: The Fading Vestige

◄ Back
Picture 1 of 3

– Ever wonder what an ongoing obituary for Shanghai’s old shikumen and houses looks like? Xi Zi (席子) has been compiling an ever-expanding photographic list of before and afters of beautiful structures in Dongjiadu (董家渡), Wujiang Lu (吴江路) where the food street used to be, Fengyang Lu (凤阳路) and many  more. Have a poke around his archives. The memory of Shanghai’s most iconic shikumen, in all its diversity and architectural uniqueness, is rapidly fading.

– The intrepid Ms Old Shanghailander (deceptively named, she is young and most lovely!) has posted a walking map of Greater Shanghai, detailing a few key landmarks worth exploring. Spring is here and perfect for a vigorous stroll. So go forth and discover what the city has to offer.

– In sadder news, the devastation and growing death toll in Japan continues to be heart breaking. Do considering donating for every bit helps, one possible NGO is the Japan Red Cross. In addition to the many courageous individuals cooling nuclear reactors and searching for survivors and bodies, journalists and photographers are braving harsh conditions to bring us images and information.

The Guardian’s photographer Dan Chung who just returned from Japan, offers “a revealing and thought-provoking analysis of the aesthetic, logistical and reporting challenges he faced working in the disaster zone”. A key debate emerges on whether Dan’s use of “cinematic journalism” was appropriate for spot news reporting.

This was put together by the prolific David Campbell who is a lecturer for the  MA in International Multimedia Journalism located at Beijing Foreign Studies University and run in association with the University of Bolton. I’ve learned a great deal from David’s probing analysis and lectures he has shared online, and encourage anyone who want to learn more about the philosophy and processes of photojournalism to read more.

04
Mar

Say it loud, but say what?

By Sue Anne 0 Comments
Categories: Street Stories and The Fading Vestige

When someone writes anything ugly or inflammatory on public walls, it doesn’t take long for the authorities or the local committee to come along with a paintbrush to destroy all evidence.

Hastily scribbled words in old neighborhoods often allude to 动迁 (dong qian), the process of being moved out of your homes so the plot of land can be redeveloped. As far as I’ve seen, they are rarely overtly political but often a rebuke of society’s widening gap or the sorry state of the common folk.

In the above case, the screaming loud and red pronouncements remained on the walll for the two weeks I’ve been there. It didn’t make much sense, being along the lines of “Rumours of 动迁 are untrue!” Either that, I’m missing some play on words (characters that sound like the more ‘sensitive’ word) that seems more subversive than it looks.

I guess we’ll see how long that lasts. It’d take a mighty big can of white paint to wipe that out.

February 2011

« Previous Entries

Follow me

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • RSS Feed

All rights reserved

Please do not use content from this website without the author's permission.

Blog translated

EnglishFrenchGermanItalianPortugueseRussianSpanish

Subscribe to the blog