From Yesterday
I went on a tour today with the photographer known as Gang of One. I have talked about him before....in fact when Tucker was here this summer we visited Gang of One studio and talked with Gang Feng about his work. Gang Feng led us on a photo tour of the neighborhood where he grew up. This was a bitter sweet tour because they are tearing down the whole city block because the property was purchased by a developer. (Note: the word "purchased" really means "paid for a 50 year lease"). The neighborhood will be completely gone by the end of December. I learned some interesting things about Shanghai on this tour and was humbled by some of my preconceived Western ideas.

First a little history….Shanghai has a very long history and I am not an expert so I will just recap what I heard today.

*China lost the opium war
*China gave a large portion of the city to England as a concession
*Other countries wanted a piece of the action
*China gave concessions (property) to many more countries
*Foreigners flooded into Shanghai because of financial opportunities and freedoms

*The city of Shanghai was divided into many “concessions” each governed by its own laws
*Chinese were “kicked” out of their city and were not allowed in certain places
*The communist party won the war in 1949 and all the wealthy and powerful people were kicked out of the country, put in jail, or killed. This included Chinese nationals
*The cultural revolution began…lots of interesting and strange things happened during this time….too many to list here

Back to the tour….we went to an area in the English Concession call Shikumen. Shikumen means "stone above the door”. You will see why they are called this in the photos.

Our tour started across the street from the Four Seasons hotel. We walked past some buildings that were about 15 floors tall (mini high rise) and then walked through a gate that lead to this school. The school sits in the middle of the block but you can not see it from the street. This is often the case in Shanghai.....you walk down a little alley and discover a whole new world.

Back to the tour....this is how the story goes.....this block was purchased (leased for 50 years) by a company in Hong Kong. They paid 30 million US dollars for the block. They plan to bulldoze everything and build a very high end office and apartment building. The deal was done....then one night it was "discovered" that this school had been tagged as a historic preservation site. Our guide believes the "tag" was placed on the school after the deal was made. Needless to say.....the Hong Kong company was not happy about this....because the law states (this is a very new law) anything with this tag can not be bulldozed. After much "discussion" it was determined that the law did not say it could not be moved. So....they are now going to move the school to the corner and build around it. Until it is moved....it is the office of the development company.

Demolition has begun

These are roof tiles.....I thought it was interesting that these are being saved when everything else is bulldozed...

This is a good example of the Shikumen. See the stone frames around the doors.

More Shikumen

This was a little house next to the school.

Going...going...gone

The old and the new

Inside one of the Shikumen homes....many families shared this space

This is were things get interesting.....and this is typical all over Shanghai......the developer makes a financial offer to the families that live in the Shikumen. They are offered a certain dollar amount for each person living in the home. In this case they were also offered a bonus if they moved out before the end of September. I believe the offer was 125,oooyuan per family member plus an extra 100,000 bonus. The definition of family member can be a little fuzzy but in most cases it would include four generations. Now lets step back a little...since the cultural revolution in 1949 the government owns all property....this means the ground and the buildings. During the revolution families were given "living spaces". They can not sell their "living space" because they do not own it.....this is an important concept that I did not really understand. They have no equity...they can not afford to move without a deposit for a different home....and there are no homes like this for sale because there is no ownership. They really have nothing except a place to sleep and a shared kitchen. This is how it has been for 58 years. Generations are added and lost but they continue to live in the same space.

The next few pictures were taken inside some of the Shikumen homes. This is a kitchen that serves three families.
Another kitchen.....this one serves four families. I can tell because there are four gas meters. Our guide said that this space is very busy during dinner time and it is the center of the "rumor" and "gossip" mill.

Another kitchen..... I will never complain about my kitchen again!!!

I bet you are wondering the same thing I wondered....
What happens if a family does not want to take the offer from the developer?

They are called "nail families". This means they are nailed to the ground...i.e. they are holding out for a better offer. You may have heard about the most famous "nail family" earlier this year. They made international news as the last hold outs. The photos showed a shack of a home on top of a hill in the middle of a gigantic hole in the ground. Because of the international publicity this nail family received, new laws were passed that protected families in these situations. These same laws had been sitting on the "back burner" for 10 years. The picture above is what remains of a nail family home in the Shikumen. A senior widow lived in this very small space. She cleaned chamber pots for several families in the neighborhood to earn money. Each family paid her 25 yuan ($4.50) a week. She was given the offer I mentioned above. She held out for a better deal....in the end she got a new "expo home" that is 8 times the size of this place. She was paid a "per person" fee for herself, son, daughter, son-in-law, and grand daughter. In total cash she received 900,000 yuan. She and her son now live in the "expo home" (see note below) and she gave the cash to her daughter who purchased a home in a different part of the city. The son told our guide that he does not get much sleep at his new home because there is so much laughing. I think this is a good place for the phrase "laughing all the way to the bank". These people literally had nothing until the developer purchased the property under their "living space". Many many many people in Shanghai are dreaming about the knock on the door telling them that their homes will be condemned.

Note: In order to host the World Expo in 2010, Shanghai had to make several promises about improving the standard of living in the city. "Expo home" is now a term for homes built for displaced citizens because of development.

This is an outdoor kitchen in the Shikumen

Outdoor kitchen sink....this photo was taken outside a "nail family" home. This family has turned their kitchen into a restaurant for all the construction workers.

We visited another neighborhood in the Shikumen area. Our guide said that the residents in this neighborhood are very depressed. One morning they woke up and discovered that their neighborhood had been "tagged" a historic site. They have lost all hope of improving their living standards. They will live in these homes until they die. Their neighbors across the street became "wealthy" (in Chinese standards) over night and they will be left behind. But......don't worry.....as part of the "Expo promise" they will all get a flushing toilet. I wonder where you put a toilet when there is not enough room for beds?

This is the third neighborhood that we visited. The residents of these homes are in limbo. They have not been tagged as "historic" and the property has not been sold to a developer. These people still have hope but so far all they will receive is a toilet. This house was a mansion owned by a wealthy English family until 1949. The English family fled the country and the home was given to 11 judges families. Each family has one bedroom and they share all the common space. This house recently received 11 flushing toilets. Our guide said it took a long time to find places for 11 toilets.

This house has a beautiful curved staircase that come to the second floor. This photo was taken at the top of the staircase. The bamboo poles in the foreground are for laundry. They are placed on the hand rail of the staircase and then layed across to a kitchen cabinet. The kitchen is on the other side of the cabinet....all 11 families share this kitchen.

Each family has their own water faucet.......
Each family has their own gas meter.....

Each family has their own light fixture.....

Our guide said that you do not want to make your house neighbor mad.....i.e....do not use their water, or gas, or lights when they are not home. If you get into an argument it could last for 10 years......and you will see this person and their family members every single day for the rest of your life.

Every day is laundry day in Shanghai

This was a very difficult blog to write.....there are so many dynamics that play into the lives of these people....I went on this tour thinking it was a terrible thing for them to be pushed out of their homes......I came away humbled and feeling very bad for the people who have lost hope and will never have the opportunity to be "displaced".