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Published: January 20th 2010
Today I took a tour through the American Women’s Group with one of China’s most celebrated photographers, Gang Feng Wang. The tour was through the Shikumen (stone gate) houses and lanes. Mr. Wang grew up in the lanes and gave a very interesting and historical view of the lanes and houses that are rapidly being demolished in favor high rise buildings.
Ironically the tour started off in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel which I’m sure is built on the site of one of the old neighborhoods. We were taken to two buildings that were once homes to wealthy families and then to lane houses and apartment buildings. With the takeover of the Communist party, it became very unpopular to be wealthy and dangerous for the families. The family that owned the first house left China and in later days one of the sons came back to claim the house and property. After 12 years of paperwork he was able to gain ownership of the third floor only. The first two floors remained property of the government. The second family was able to maintain ownership of their entire house during the communist takeover but gave it up to
live in smaller houses next to the larger one. This was mostly for safety. Today they regret the decision as the property value of the larger house would have made the family very wealthy if they had been able to sell it to developers.
The village of Shikumen houses has almost been completely demolished. This tour has been given twice monthly but this was the last day because there will soon be nothing to tour. As you can see in the pictures, there are very little of the structures left. The architectures of the Shikumen houses were from London so they are built like townhouses in the European style. The houses have stone gates as the entrances and were connected by the side walls along straight lanes. Like other Chinese style houses, these have small courtyards that would provide the residents with a quiet, peaceful place from the commotion of the streets. It also provided ventilation for the rooms and a place to have a small garden.
We were also taken to areas where these houses have been protected as historical sites by the government. This is a blessing for the tourist but actually a curse
Smaller houses
These are the houses the family moved into.for the local people as they will miss out on the relocation packages that many have been given from the development companies. Gang Feng said that the only people that are really sad about the loss of the Shikumen houses are the tourist. The locals are happy to take the 350,000 Yuan per person and buy large apartments instead of remaining in their current houses. He said not to worry; the government will build reproductions for the tourist to see. I think they should buy the remaining houses from the locals and turn them into tourist sites. Seems like that would be a Win, Win for all. Maybe once the developers are finished the government can step in and work on the tourist sites.
We were able to visit a lady that Gang Feng has known since he was a child. She still lives in one of the protected Shikumen houses and was very excited to show us her remodeled bathroom. It was very nice. She seems to be happy with her small room since she lives near friends. They get together every afternoon to play Mahjong.
The last style of buildings we toured were apartments.
They were in various stages of being demolished and surprisingly still had people living in them. I was speaking to another person on the tour and we decided that this tour would have never been legal in the US. It was a lot of fun though. We climbed on rooftops and through half demolished buildings. We saw how people have lived in the past and how they continue to live today. What a firsthand education. May have only been made better with a hard hat!
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Max
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Where exactly did you go?
Hey, interesting blog-entry. I was in Shanghai 3 years ago and was walking through the Shikumen, not aware, that they would be demolished soon. Now I am back in Shanghai and cannot remember, where I went. If you have any clue as to where you went exactly (so I can find it on a map) I would really appreciate it! You can contact me through vieleweg"addfifthletterofthealphabethere"@gmail.com