It was unusually quiet in this particular longtang*.
For one, the cold snap has more or less driven everyone indoors to huddle around heaters, that is, if they were not already swaddled in thermal wear.
It was also not yet dinnertime, hence the absence of kitchen activities like the rinsing of vegetables and the firing up of woks. It was certainly much too chilly for its residents to be taking quick showers by the public sinks as they do in warmer climates.
This particular longtang seemed very self-contained, unlike the large networks of alleys I frequent that weave and interconnect to form an unending and sprawling community that housed several hundreds of people.
Perhaps it was its location along a quiet part of South Gaoyang Lu, far from the Hongkou’s bustling centre.
Yet if you stood there long enough, albeit in the cold, the soundtrack of a longtang community will come to you in a soft buzz until you distinguish them household by household. In the background, a drama serial was playing on the television. Mahjong tiles were being rearranged and tap-tapping on the table. Children were giggling and a sharp scolding ensued after.
But the noise never grew to a cacophony. Minutes later, still not a soul. A sight and sounds (or lack thereof) rare in Shanghai.
* Longtangs (弄堂）are traditional alleys and lanes lined with houses styled in both Western and Chinese influences unique to Shanghai. They are known by different names in other cities i.e. hutongs (alleys) (胡同) or siheyuan (courtyards) (四合院) in Beijing.
December 2009
larizza14
this looks like a lonely place.