In July 2020, Drawing Shanghai went exploring a lane on 199 Pénglái Lù close to Confucius Temple in Shanghai Walled City. That was two years before the relocation. We got a vague hint from Katya Knyazeva's fabulous book that something interesting is hidden there. Working with ancient maps and talking to residents can give thrilling results in the ( Read more... )

Qúxī Road/瞿溪路 is a bustling downtown shanty town with shops selling local snacks and a wet market. Much like much of our downtown used to look like.


( Read more... )

In the last two posts, we went to see if something remains of the notorious Also A Garden (也是园/ yěshì yuán). To see how hopeless the task is, let's use satellite imagery and historical maps to go gradually back in time as much as we can.

Lane 59 is marked in red, with the pin on the cosy yard we found the lady singing "恭喜你发财 / Wish you wealth!".

( Read more... )

( Read more... )

In its heyday, Shanghai Walled City was rich in lush private gardens. Few of these survive to our day though. Zǐyuán or Catalpa Garden (梓园) on 77 Qiáojiā Lù is one of the few still standing.

Wáng Yītíng (王一亭, 1867-1938), the creator of the garden, was a man of many interests. He was known as a philanthropist, painter, devout Buddhist,  active ( Read more... )