Photographers capture the different details of the shikumen. (Photo : Getty Images)
Cleared of any human obstruction, it appears there will be no more impediment as the local government of Huangpu District in Shanghai embarks on restoring the deteriorating shikumen (“stone gate houses”) residences standing at Shangxianfang Lane.
The local government finished relocating the last remaining residents last Saturday, announcing next day via WeChat the latest turn of events regarding the ambitious restoration project, reported Shanghai Daily.
More than 96 percent of the residents agreed to relocate when the local government introduced the restoration plan and offered subsidies.
Relocation started in April 2014. The remaining 395 households residing at 358 Huaihai Road finally moved out last weekend.
The local government will reveal by the end of July its follow-up plans for shikumen after the renovation.
According to a female local official, the government will “launch a protective renovation to revive the historic look of the lane.”
It looks like it’s high time to restore the 52 houses reflecting a distinct blend of Asian and Western architectural styles.
She described the state of living in these “severely damaged” buildings as “getting progressively worse.”
Cai Xinghua, 59, one of the lane’s residents, told Shanghai Daily that living in these houses was initially “comfortable.” He added they originally provided shelter to different white-collar workers.
In the 1970s, according to Cai, many residents leased a part of their house, with some even tearing down walls to give way for an enterprising venture, such as a hair salon or a store.
These brick-wood residential structures are basically townhouses of considerable size. They’re either two or three-storey high with a flat or sloping roof, a yard, an attic and a balcony.
Shanghai first saw shikumen occupying its neighborhoods in the 1860s, with upper-middle-class families typically living there, according to The New Yorker.
Paul Goldberger, writing for the online edition of this American magazine, described a shikumen as “a Chinese home with a Parisian sensibility, a hybrid form both delicate and monumental.”
“In the culture of old Shanghai, the Shikumen reflects the elegance, boom and petty bourgeoisie of Shanghai life,” writes Cultural-china.com.
Perhaps almost a couple of years ago many young tourists and photo enthusiasts got lured to visit Shanghai to see these residences when Four Seasons Magazine featured the shikumen in a Sept. 2014 article and called it “an Instagrammer’s dream.”
The new Shanghai awaits its restoration.
