Shanghaiist: The last days of Wujiang Lu?

marcee

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:16:54 +0700

This is the worst news I have seen since I've been living in Shanghai. I really like that street and its atmosphere, and it sickens me to think that the main winners now would be the usual: developers and politicians. And what bugs me more is the "Mei ban fa" attitude, really...

nanheyangrouchuan

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 02:26:28 +0700

The saddest thing is that if you tolerate the um, flavor of these streets, you can get a pretty decent meal or snack for ultra cheap and the staff is also much friendlier since they are often the owners. In due time, pan fried dumplings and ma la tang will only be a memory.

Micah

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 22:37:43 +0700

Rumors say that many of the stands that clogged the old Wujiang Rd have moved to the Yunnan Food Street, south of People's Square. Baidu Maps: http://tinyurl.com/39bxo5 (It seems like I remember another food street south of the walking portion of Nanjing East Rd, on the way to the Bund.) Also, the city will set up a branch of the police that patrols Nanjing East Rd to patrol Wujiang Rd in the future in order to assure that the present cleaning-up lasts into the future. Also, a mounted bicycle patrol. The reports say that cleaners had to bring in high pressure hoses and laundry detergent to wash off the layers of oil that had accumulated on the road's brick surface over the years. Store owners commented that people often fell on rainy days because of the oil slick that appeared on the road. They were outside taking advantage of the street's emptiness to give their stores' face a good scrubbing. "Unlicensed stand" owners (as the articles all standardized on calling them) stood in the shadows discretely watching the janitorial work. They ask that the city government develop a supervised licensing system so they can legally work their trade. Good article here: http://web.xwwb.com/wbnews.php?db=9&thisid=90205

Micah

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:39:50 +0700

I've been reading some Chinese articles on this from Google News: http://www.google.cn/news?hl=zh-CN&ned=ccn&q=%E5%90%B4%E6%B1%9F%E8%B7%AF&btnG=%E6%90%9C%E7%B4%A2%E8%B5%84%E8%AE%AF Looks like, concretely, they're shutting down and "remodelling" the section between Taixing Rd, where the WB store is, and Shimen No 1 Rd, where the "real" Wujiang Rd starts. The rest of the street, they're performing a "purification" on, bringing things up to building and health codes. The tone of the articles is the usual resignation, a "what can you do" kind of attitude. There's some irony there too. In this article, a city rep claims that the new street will attract office workers and high-income local residents, but in another section a white-collar women who works at a Pudong financial institution laments that the once-busy street has grown shorter while a man taking his wheelchair-bound mother on a walk praises the streets newfound walkability. Telling, if you ask me.

James Creegan

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:44:48 +0700

I had friends visiting from the UK this past week and walking down WuJiang Lu was one of the things they enjoyed the most. Kebabs, stinky tofu, monkeys- it's got it the lot. Are there any other places similar to this?

Bob Chippens

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:10:47 +0700

Kinda sad to see it go... but then if such sentiments had been rife in Shanghai from the late 90s, most of us wouldn't be here as it's be an even bigger dump than it is now.

plex

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:49:40 +0700

@ Steve "If there's one thing shanghai needs, its another fashion street!" Prey tell: where are the other fashion streets? I've been looking for fashion in this city for years and all I can find are over-priced imports and crap-quality copies. Aside from Huai Hai Rd and pockets of Nanchang, Changle and Fuxing ... there really isn't much to choose from for a city this size.

evonzz

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:30:18 +0700

Since when did the powers that be know what fashion is?

Steve

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:42:10 +0700

If there's one thing shanghai needs, its another fashion street! I wonder how the regional planning departments are divided in the city center - it wouldn;t be surprising if Wujiang Lu is in a section which currently doesn't have a "fashion street" and with the white elephant loving mentality of mid level officials they decided they needed one as well . .

Johnny

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:28:50 +0700

I was there last night with a Chinese friend. He wanted to visit because he had seen on the TV news an item about it being closed down. Its really sad because the place is now deserted and hardly packed full of people and vendors as it usually is at around dinner time. Overnight they have built a concrete gate at the entry of Wu Jian at the Shimen side and there were police everywhere. Aparently, it is all because of the neighbouring new development and the developers wanting to have a more "modern" appearnce. Doesn't Nanjing Road have enough ghost malls (Plaza 66, Citic, West Gate) already? The sad thing is that not only have all the street vendors had to move away / lose their business, but the pernament restaurants are quite empty as well. At the one I was eating at a girl came in towards the end of the night asking if they had any positions opened -- she'd just been fired from her job across the street. I'm guessing because the owners know that buiness won't be so strong in the future.

Tim B

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:07:54 +0700

It is sad to see that the appears sterilisation of inner city culture has finally hit this great feature of Shanghai. Upscale retail strikes again.