Redefine Shanghai Culture through the Lens of its People
My first glance at Shanghai was decorated with trees holding hands above and rivers racing each other. The city was awakened by me and my cab, with people preparing for their morning shifts. Hopping off the cab, I wandered towards the Bund, Shanghai’s waterfront. As I got closer, the view opened up like a breathtaking artwork kept in the finest museums.
What struck me the most wasn’t how the buildings resemble those I see on a European travel blog, but the astounding conflict between Western and Eastern cultures. The existence of foreignness seems to camouflage itself in this transnational space. The city is like a mosaic glass, with reflections of different colors, yet an extraordinary piece of art.
“[Shanghai] is like Modu (魔都), or magic city,” shared Yang Yu Hong, a driver who has lived in the city for 23 years. He told me that the term is based on a novel by the Japanese author Shofu Muramatsu. When Shofu Muramatsu moved to Shanghai, He used the term Modu in his novel Mato, to describe Shanghai. The novel is an abundance of travel compilations that Muramatsu worked on during his journey around China. The term originally portrays the phenomenon of cultural conflicts during the Shanghai concession and the contrast of light and darkness within the city. He was fascinated by the coexistence of two different spaces, the eastern and western cultures, in Shanghai. The term was later used to describe the mystical and dreamlike components of Shanghai. “Shanghai is everyone’s dream to be in, if not America. You don’t dream about da lu mien 打卤面 or zha jiang main 炸酱面” says Mr. Yang. America is a distant dream to many, but Shanghai seemed more approachable and possible to those in China. Mr. Yang’s parents work in a noodle shop back in Tien Jing and he left them to work in Shanghai. He would occasionally visit them, but he hope to move his parents over.
Ever since the 20th century, Shanghai has been constructing itself into a city of everything. The city invites new influences and welcomed voices into its advancements. Shanghai was returned to China in the 1940s and started its journey of transcending the Shanghainese culture. Being divided by its Jiangnan origin as well as the globalization mission, Shanghai had to find its path aroused by both Chinese and western urban and cultural plans. This exotic space allowed a diversity of people to settle in. Unlike Beijing, the center of culture and history, known for ancient sites such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, Shanghai seemed to never take part in it.
Modern Shanghai is a city built alongside a river, with rising skyscrapers and architecturally distinctive buildings. Shanghai was reborn under a construction boom. The bund was revitalized by a Dutch architect. Nanjing west road was the first to obtain country-styled villas that are built for the upper class. It is known for its elegant and leisurely garden-styled houses that we could find in the West. One would wonder, where did the Chinese-styled buildings go? It was long gone after the war and after dynasties change. History told me that, perhaps, Shanghai never existed as a Chinese-styled city. Shanghai itself is a cultural construct. The Shanghainese culture on its own is the intersection of both cultures and representation of its own. It could never be a replica of a traditional Chinese city or a small “Paris”. Being a city born under multicultural influences, it is hard to resemble either one. As I revisited the Shikumen, known as a traditional Shanghainese architectural-styled stone warehouse, I start to see its multicultural elements.
As I interviewed those who lived in the city for decades, I received the same answer, Shanghai is Shanghai, irreplaceable and incomparable. People shouldn’t be visiting Shanghai with expectations of it being a duplication of a culture. Being a migrant worker, Ms. Zhao Meng Man told me that everyone wants to work in Shanghai because it represents a dream, like the American dream, where young people fulfill their material and spiritual needs. Originating from Ji Nan, Shan Dong province, Ms. Zhao moved to Shanghai to pursue her dream as a writer. She started to work in a newspaper company and tried publishing her own romantic novel online. She once helped with a tv series that didn’t end up released due to management disagreement. She told me that coming to a city like Shanghai could also be an illusion, disguised by the fashionable lifestyles and trendy developments. “It’s easy to be lost in big cities when you’re not strong and determined. I tried to do whatever I want as a girl, but now I just want to settle down.” She had moved on from her dream and is now pursuing a pet supply business. Shanghai allows its people to believe in a magical change, but it also reminds them to find their sense of belonging.
Mr. Gao Chuan Yuan had a different perception of Shanghai’s history. He was furious, or I could say, upset, that his country had lost the war. His grandparents would tell him how people took over the city and left its people scared. “Some buildings in the area of the French Concession were so beautifully and elegantly made because it was made for rich white people. They prohibited the Chinese and dogs!”. He suggested me to read the novel, Dog, by Bajin. The story highlighted the common sentiment among Chinese people towards its colonizers. Despite his strong feelings towards colonization, Mr. Gao is proud to be born here. “It is important for people like my family to be here, you know. We need to have those who know what happened and could tell others what happened.” Mr. Gao would pass down the stories from his grandparents to his child and so on. I reached another appreciation that Shanghainese culture is made up of the experiences and emotions of people from all around the world.
The city felt as if it was a multiverse, where everything here does not resemble anywhere else in the world. It consists of Paris’s romantic nature, metropolitan New York’s liveliness, and opulent Beijing’s significance. It is never made to be a Chinese or Western city, its self is a cultural icon.
