Life's Persistent Questions

Duolun Lu

Duolun Lu or "Culture Street," was home to some of the left-wing writers/social activists of Shanghai in the 1930's. In the rush to modernize, the older neighborhoods of Shanghai have been inevitably falling victims to bulldozers until someone somewhere could come up with an economical reason why any such place should be preserved. Sometime it was the mere logistics of the land (too narrow a strip to build high rises), while more often it was the combination of the density of population and the price of "moving cost per capita." Duolun Lu is being preserved because its historical significance and the government's goal to transform it into a commercially viable attraction with an artistic twist. You can walk into small shops to satisfy your inner child as an antique collector. Truly, this is one man's trash another man's treasure. Mirroring the fate of the city's old architecture, most of the items on display were probably bought cheaply by the dealers from people who were at one point more concerned about that new color TV instead of the broken grandfather clock.

I spent most of the afternoon in the small alleys off the main road, playing with my the old canon EOS650. I tried to imagine the alleys without the ubiquitous AC outside each window and the growing herd of autos parked to one side. In some ways, life here is not so different than 30 years ago. There are the colorful flags--shirts, long-johns and underwear hanging off bamboo stick, waiting to dry. The new year's mascots--the smoked duck, pork belly, sausages and fish--are both enticing and intimidating. And finally there is the daily ritual of cleansing--the emptying of ma-tong. Listening to the crisp sound of national past time--mah-jong and the "washing of its pieces," is this what life is like in the 1930's?

posted by hedgehog @ 6:59 AM