Wujiang Road is a traditional Chinese street around the corner from where I live in Shanghai. It’s packed with private shops, restaurants and stands, making and selling every kind of noodles, barbecue and my favorite fried dumplings. My most frequent visits were to a guy who set up a makeshift stand selling juice, soft drinks and beer (at 50 cents per liter!). Within a one block radius, there are three Starbucks’, a couple McDonalds’, a Krispy Kremes, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and another McDonalds under construction. One more block down you’ll find Louis Vitton and Marks & Spencer stores. Wujiang is the perfect 100 meter stretch of local businesses and food offering a taste of pre-commercialized China in tastefully antiquated buildings.
Or, it was.On my way to the apartment from the airport, after my U.S. visit in February, I noticed a metal wall closing off the street and looming cranes behind it. In an earlier post, I mentioned Shanghai was undergoing major reconstructions for the International Expo, which is going to start in May. The railway station was renovated, streets and sidewalks repaved, traffic cops appeared on every corner (directing pedestrians of all things), street sweepers multiplied, and Wujiang Lu was torn down. The Shanghaiist translated an article from a Chinese newspaper, saying the road will receive a “facelift” to become a “fashion street.”
In these moments, I really miss America’s tedious bureaucracy of approvals, from environmental committees to neighborhood councils (this wouldn’t fly in North Park).
Update about me:
Before visiting the States last month, I said goodbye to Suzhou for good. I’m staying in Shanghai right now working part-time jobs as a teacher while I wait for my papers to be processed by my new employer, Hainan Airlines. Soon, I’ll relocate to Haikou for training, then to Beijing to work as a flight attendant. I’m still in the background checks part of the process, but so far so good.
Both of these photographs were taken from the same spot in opposite directions, one looking towards the already commercialized part of Wujiang and one towards why I'm sad.
