Shanghai Shikumen

Late in June, I went on a tour sponsored by the Shanghai American Women's Club. The tour was led by a Shanghai native, a freelance photographer named Gangfeng Wang. Gangfeng Wang grew up in one of the many lane houses you see all over the city. These lane houses and alley ways are slowly being destroyed to make way for new high-rise developments. These places are often referred to as shikumen ("stone gate"). Residences are connected by alleyways with the entrance to each alley framed by a stone gate or archway.



Here you see the stone gateway that remains while the houses beyond have been reduced to rubble. Soon, the stone gateway will also be gone.

As Gangfeng Wang is familiar with these houses and with the people that there, we were able to see some of the houses within these shikumen.



In front of this soon-to-be-demolished shikumen house is a pile of scrap, all of it for sale. As wood seems to be scarce, the boards likely will go quickly. Also for sale are sheets of metal and plastic and makeshift ladders. Further in the alleyway are the remains of buildings with heaps of unsorted and broken brick waiting to be cleared and hauled away. The brick is unsalable and impossible to be reused for building, so they are free for the taking. A few American ladies tucked bricks into their purses as souvenirs.



Here also is a building built completely of doors, with a stack of spare doors to the side. The Chinese are creative like that.

Many of these lane houses are in desperate need of repair and are oftentimes quite crowded. And not all have indoor toilets. Here you see a picturesque pot in front of this person's house.



It's a chamber pot. Many people have pots like these. You will often see people carrying them in the morning, bringing them to the nearest public toilet or sewer to be emptied.



Here you see the contrast of the old shikumen lane houses in the foreground with the modern highrises in the back. Outdoor sinks like this one are not uncommon sights.



The shikumen we saw that afternoon had all been condemned and would be demolished by the fall. In its place would rise new apartment buildings and shopping centers. Many of us foreigners heave a sad sigh at the loss of these buildings. We are entranced by the history and charm of these places in contrast to the seeming soullessness of yet more concrete and steel high-rises. It's easy to be sentimental when you are not the the one who has to live within the reality of these crumbling old lane houses. Gangfeng says that the demolition of these places is a win-win-win situation in that the people living in these places get monetary compensation and the opportunity to live in a newer, more modern place, the developers will make buckets of money on the new developments, and the government will get their share of the profits while simultaneously improving the city scape. He also stated that the only people really mourning the loss of these lane houses are tourists. All true.

Not many people have the wherewithal to renovate these old houses, though there are lane houses in varying degrees of repair or disrepair available for rent and for sale throughout the city. Xintiandi is a trendy hotspot filled with boutiques and cafes. The place is modelled after these old shikumen and is designed to capture that feeling of old Shanghai. There are rumors that another similar development is in the works in another part of Shanghai.

I hesitated about what to blog about in regards to these shikumen. On one hand you cannot ignore the conditions found in these places. Narrow, rickety stairs; dim hallways; crowded rooms and buildings. Many of us foreigners live in relative luxury here and we tend to forget that back in our home countries, we also have our poor who live in conditions just as deplorable or even worse. I think we tend to notice the poor more here in China because that is what we expect from a so-called developing nation. I've been here only 4 months. In that brief time, I've realized that there really is no single explanation of what China, or Shanghai to be specific, is. Shanghai has its poor and its wealthy; its 5-star restaurants and its hole-in-the-wall restaurants; its shopping malls and its street vendors. I suppose not much different than back home in the U.S.

Leisure

Living in China, we are experiencing a different quality of life than what we had back in the U.S. Labor is cheap (the USD:CNY exchange rate also helps) here so it isn't unusual for expats to have personal drivers, maids, and custom-tailored clothing. And most of us are living well within our means.

Eric had a couple of suits tailored earlier this spring and was thrilled with the results. I was happy that his shirts actually fit him. It's hard to find things to properly fit a tall, skinny man. We went back there recently to have him fitted for a couple of summer suits.



I have never in my life seen Eric so excited about clothes shopping. We have some friends (a married couple) who have had clothes tailored at another shop by the fabric market and we are planning to go clothes shopping with them soon. I can't believe I just wrote that we are going on a couples outing clothes shopping and that Eric is not only willing, but excited, to go. The husband has also had shoes made and managed to buy about 30 ties for 10 kuai each (that's about 1USD per tie).

Later that Saturday, I went on a midnight bicycle ride with the Expat Professional Womens group. There was a group of 20 people, some with their own bikes with the rest of us with rentals. It had been some months since I had last been on a bicycle and I was a bit unsure and wobbly at first. Having short legs also does not help. Shanghai never truly sleeps. The traffic diminishes but there are still many people out and about.



The guides led us to Old Town and through dark and narrow alley ways. Mind you it is the middle of the night and not only do we have to contend with no street lights in some of these alley ways, we also have to navigate through narrow passageways clogged with rubbish, bicycles, mopeds, and furniture. I nearly hit a wall trying to negotiate a tight corner. We rode past startled Shanghainese people, some finishing laundry, others enjoying a late night meals, still others managing their still-open businesses, and one man emptying his bladder. Our passage evoked laughter and one person commented in Chinese about how the 'laowai' (foreigners) certainly enjoy riding their bicycles. We rode on to the river and boarded a ferry to take us across to Pudong, where we continued to ride for about an hour before heading back to the ferry. We stopped by the Pudong river walkway and was surprised to see it flooded. Eric and I had been there the previous Saturday and the river was nowhere near the flood point.



That's all water covering the bottom step there. The water is somewhere between ankle- and knee-deep. When we rode back to the ferry to take us back to the Puxi side of the river, we found that the ferry was inoperable for a couple of hours due to the high river levels. It was about 1A at that point and we were stranded in Pudong with 20 bicycles. The metro was closed by then and it was too dangerous to attempt riding back on any of the roads due to homicidal car traffic. A couple in the ride group lived in Pudong and we stored all the bicycles in the parking garage of their apartment complex until they could be picked up the following morning. Those of who lived in Puxi pooled to take taxis back home. I hope to take Eric on the next bicycle ride.

Sunday we went to an indoor downhill snow skiing site with Penny. The place is located in the south part of Shanghai. We took the metro to the last stop south and then a short taxi ride to the skiing center. Admission includes equipment rental (coat, snow pants, gloves, boots, skis / snowboard). Eric and I took some of our own cold weather clothing like hats and gloves and socks. We made sure we had socks for Penny as she got a bad blister from ice skating without socks.



The ski site is all indoors and consists of three tiers. There isn't a proper ski lift as we Americans would recognize. Rather, there is a moving walkway to the first tier, much like those you see in airports.




There is another lift to the second and third tier but most people choose to stay on the first. The place was pretty busy and if you're new to skiing or getting yourself reacquainted, the crowds can be daunting. The slope isn't particularly steep but we enjoyed ourselves.

I wore my raccoon hat. I put it on and walked through the busy Grand Gateway mall and the subway with it on. Since the ambient temperature was in the 90's, I took it off during the remainder of the metro ride. I wore it on the ski slopes. Needless to say, it drew a lot of stares.


There I am with Penny.

So much activity over this past weekend has given me the excuse of being lax in my exercise regime. I'm planning on joining a yoga class but can't find one that meets in the mornings. Next week I'm starting Chinese lessons and hopefully I can better understand all the questions I'm asked on a daily basis.

Flower, Bird, Fish, and Insect Market

I have been remiss updating this blog. There's a lot I want to write about. I'm going to start with yesterday and work my way back until I'm caught up. I'm a bit sleepy right now as I answered a telemarketing call at 3:45A. The man on the other end was calling on behalf of the Wall Street Journal and was entirely too cheerful. I informed him that we were in China and that it was the middle of the night. He sounded quite excited at that and asked me what we were doing in China. I replied that we were sleeping. That's what we're doing in China.

Yesterday I visited the Flower, Bird, Fish, and Insect Market. It's an covered market selling, not surprisingly, flowers, birds, fish, and insects. Walking through places like the Dong Tai Lu Antiques market (which, incidentally, is across the street from this place), you see many booths that have cricket cages strung from the ceiling amidst strings of beads and other merchandise for sale.



When I first heard the crickets chirping, I had no idea where the sound was coming from. Upon closer inspection, I saw the tiny cages and the creatures within. I suppose the cages aren't that tiny as the crickets are easily as long as my middle finger and perhaps as thick as my thumb. The Flower, Bird, Fish, and Insect Market is a place where you can buy these singing crickets as well as other pets and pet supplies. The building is fairly nondescript from the exterior and I had passed it before on the other side of the street without giving it a second thought. I had read about the place and decided to put a little effort into finding it. Once you're inside the door, you immediately know you're in the right place. The cacophony of hundreds of crickets chirping is almost deafening.

There are tables full of glass display cases of live crickets, crickets in cages, and all sorts of cricket paraphernalia.




Strung from the pipes crisscrossing overhead are wicker cages of crickets strung together into a sort of garland. From what I can determine, the cages appear to be woven around the crickets and food pushed in through the holes.



Walking further through the market you see other animals available for sale: goldfish, puppies, kittens, rabbits, song birds, ducklings, turtles. I even saw a cage with a couple of chipmunks in it. Alongside the pets, animal food of all kinds, including tubs of writhing grubs, is for sale as are food dishes, collars, and other accessories.

Supposedly, this place also hosts cricket fights. I have no idea when these occur or what it must be like to sic 2 crickets on each other.

Also seen:
A mynah bird croaking 'Ni hao! Ni hao!' (Hello! Hello!)

A refrigerator on a bike. Truly anything and everything can be and is hauled by bicycle.




A man using a chopstick to pin a snake in a cage and then using a scissors to cut its jugular. I presume it was destined for the cooking pot.




Women rolling out dumpling wrappers on a metal table out on the sidewalk.




A street-side fish display. I've never seen so much seafood variety. Another street over seemed to consist solely of crayfish vendors.




Life here isn't contained inside buildings but spills out to encompass the sidewalks and streets. I suppose it's especially true in the summer when temperatures soar inside.

Summer in the City

We've had a rainy past month, which I hear is typical for Shanghai. I've heard said that Shanghai, being on the same latitude, has the same climate as Atlanta. Sweating profusely while walking around Shanghai, I couldn't recall it being this hot and sticky in Atlanta. Then I realized that I hadn't walked around outside this much back in Georgia. I would go from my air-conditioned house to my air-conditioned car, and drive myself in relative comfort to an air-conditioned office or store.

Now, I walk everywhere. I've gotten in the habit of wearing my backpack when I leave the house. In it, I keep an umbrella to protect me from both rain and sun, a Lonely Planet Guide to Shanghai (the map inside has saved me on more than one occasion), and a plastic handle designed to hook onto a plastic shopping bag so the plastic handles don't dig into your hands.

We sold our house; the closing was on June 30. I don't need to say what a relief it is to have that done.