CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Friday, July 30, 2021 | 17 LIFE SHANGHAI hang Yuan, a community of According to Ge Yin, a staff mem- hundreds of shikumen (a ber with the publicity department of style featuring Western and Jing’an district, there are more than Chinese elements) houses 200 such houses in Zhang Yuan, inZ downtown Shanghai’s Jing’an which was home to a tightknit com- district, was recently reopened to munity of more than 1,000 families the public after its last residents Restoring charm until 2019, when the first group of were relocated late last year. residents moved out. All families An exhibition titled, 100 Years of received compensation for the relo- Zhang Yuan: Urban Renewal of cation. Jing’an District, was launched in An urban renewal project is set to infuse life into old homes, At the exhibition, one video instal- the compound on July 6 to com- Zhang Kun reports in Shanghai. lation provides a glimpse of the lives memorate the site’s historical value. of people residing in this crowded “We want to bring the stories to neighborhood. The video shows how the public and let people know Western boxers to prove to the inter- people would pick vegetables, dry about Zhang Yuan, and show how national community that Chinese If you go their laundry, and play board games the Party and the State have done were courageous fighters. Peking with neighbors in the common out- everything possible to improve peo- Opera maestro Mei Lanfang also Zhang Yuan, 99 Taixing Road, door area because there was simply ple’s quality of life,” says Shi Yunlun, made his debut performance at a Jing’an district, Shanghai not enough space indoors. president of the Jing’an Real Estate private event there. 9:30 am-4:30 pm, Monday-Satur- In recent years, filmmakers have Group, the State-owned enterprise Stories like these are what the new day, July 1-Sept 30. Visitors can been traveling to Zhang Yuan to responsible for the conservation exhibition endeavors to share with make appointments via Jing’an re-create scenes from the 1980s and and restoration of Zhang Yuan. the public. The exhibition begins Zhangyuan WeChat account. The ’90s. The set of a movie scene shot in “Zhang Yuan is the first urban with photographs that depict the green health QR code has to be the compound has also been re-cre- renewal project in Shanghai to early beginnings of Zhang Yuan, shown to gain entry. ated for the exhibition. In this scene, implement a protective expropria- which was named after its founding actors gathered in front of a tiny tion plan,” Shi says. owner Zhang Shuhe (1850-1919), a black-and-white television in a back “For decades, the shikumen hous- merchant from Wuxi in Jiangsu mented in the Oct 17 issue of the lane and watched as China’s women es were packed and the facilities province. Zhang had bought a piece North China Herald. volleyball team won their first world overused. In order to conserve the of farmland in Shanghai from a Brit- In the late 1900s, Arcadia Hall championships in the 1980s. heritage of Shanghai, the city decid- on named Francis Groom before became a popular venue for public As several families used to share a ed to relocate all the residents in building a garden home for his speeches. It is believed that revolu- shikumen house, they often had no 2018 and protect the buildings.” mother. This home was named Wei- tionaries such as Sun Yat-sen, Huang more than one room for the whole According to the district’s plans chun Yuan, or Chang Su-ho’s Gar- Xing and Cai Yuanpei gave lectures family. for the compound, the houses will den, and was located in the here during public rallies against the “In some extreme cases, a small be restored and refurbished, under- international settlement during Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) govern- room was home to a family of three ground spaces will be constructed, colonial times. ment. Thousands of people were generations,” Ge says. and a commercial compound over Zhang opened the garden to the reported to have had their pigtails To address this situation, some 150,000 square meters will be intro- public after his mother’s death in cut off at these rallies — a symbolic families created space by building a duced. Maintaining the cultural 1885 and later built a Western-style act of their determination to break second level within their rooms. heritage and characteristics of the mansion called Arcadia Hall, a place away from the Qing governance. In Today, the ladders that these people shikumen houses will be the top pri- where people could enjoy a the 1910s, more entertainment used to climb to the upper level can ority of this project, Shi says. bird’s-eye view of Shanghai. He also parks, such as the Great World still be found in many of the rooms. Located just off Nanjing Road expanded the garden space to more Amusement Center, were estab- Through the decades, authorities West at the corner of Taixing Road than 4 hectares. lished in the city. from Jing’an district have made con- and Wujiang Road, Zhang Yuan, or With the introduction of enter- Zhang Yuan closed down in 1918 tinuous efforts to improve the living Zhang’s Garden, is widely known as tainment options such as a roller- after a period of decline and its land conditions. The plumbing, water Shanghai’s largest, best-preserved coaster, circus performances and was eventually sold when Zhang and gas supply were renovated so and most diverse shikumen com- pleasure boats, Zhang Yuan quickly Shuhe died a year later. The new that each family could have their pound. became a famous public space and owner divided the land into 28 own kitchen space. Small bath- Before it became a residential one of the few private gardens that blocks and resold them to different rooms were also built in some of the compound, the location was dubbed were open to the public in Shanghai. developers to build shikumen resi- homes. But many of the residents the “No 1 public garden of Shang- Its other amenities included a dance dences. still had to resort to archaic means hai”. It was the place where the first hall, a theater for Chinese opera, a Shikumen — the term literally of human waste disposal — more electric lamp in China was lit, the photography studio, a tea house and means “stone-framed gate” — in than 500 households in Zhang Yuan first bicycle race in China took place, restaurants. Top: A view of the shikumen houses in Zhang Yuan in Shanghai’s Shanghai first appeared in the still had to rely on chamber pots and where the country’s first out- In 1890, a Western performer Jing’an district. Middle: A movie scene featuring a back lane of Zhang 1860s. After 1949, most of these resi- until 2018. door photo booth was opened. It took off from Zhang Yuan in a hot- Yuan in the 1980s when neighbors watched TV as China’s women dential buildings became State- was also the place where kung fu air balloon before parachuting to volleyball team won their first world championships. Above: Interior owned, and the city designated up to Contact the writer at master Huo Yuanjia challenged the ground. This event was docu- of a residential building in Zhang Yuan. PHOTOS BY GAO ERQIANG / CHINA DAILY 10 households to each building. [email protected] Season of music and sightseeing at cultural institution By ZHANG KUN there have not been so many con- kick off and go on for six months on Bund, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower certs of Chinese music, so we decid- the fourth floor of the Shanghai in Shanghai and conference events A program that combines a con- ed to create an on-site edition of the Concert Hall. It will be an immersive all over the country. cert production by the Shanghai Chinese concert. show of Chinese music, illustrating As the Shanghai Concert Hall is a Chinese Orchestra with digital “We hope audiences, be they the rich colors and diverse charac- protected building, the installation visual art will be launched at the local or tourists from China or teristics of Chinese instruments and of visual projection equipment will Shanghai Concert Hall in October. abroad, will feel the warmth and music. not damage it, Zhang says. It will consist of a daily package of diversity of the city. It’s a live-mu- Motion Magic, a leading digital Six series of concerts and events day-time tours of the venue and sic experience that can’t be entertainment company in Shang- will be held there from August to evening presentations of Chinese replaced by anything you see on hai, will create a 3D projection on December. Aside from the in-house music and outdoor digital art the internet.” the western facade of the concert concert of the orchestra, 10 other shows. The concert will be presented in hall. classical concerts will also take The concert by the Shanghai Chi- 100 shows at the Shanghai Concert “Audiences will enjoy the 8-min- place, featuring leading artists nese Orchestra will be an updated Hall, and the first round of perform- ute 3D visual show projected on the such as pianist Chen Sa and violin- version of the production New Ori- ances will take place from Oct 20 to wall from the lawn to the west of the ist Ning Feng, and young rising ental Chinese Music Scene, which Nov 11.