Good old ways ... the Old Town district.Credit: AFP
Throat-clearing by the locals aside, Steve McKenna is delighted to explore a resolutely down-to-earth slice of Shanghai.
THE OLD cobbler and I have been staring at each other for a few minutes. My camera is cocked, itching to capture him at work. But instinct tells me he doesn't want me to. That and the fact he has laid down his tools, a rusting tangle of spanners and hammers, sprinkled with battered shoes and soles.
In this pseudo stand-off, no words are spoken and, in the end, I bottle it. He wins. I walk off, without my photo but with his image - that blank, leathery, tanned, creased face - pixilated in my mind.
Moments later, as the pleasant tingle of bicycle bells fills air spiked with the aromatic whiff of beef noodle soup, I hear a sharp, guttural, throat-clearing sound. Glancing around, I spot the old cobbler indulging in the famed Chinese art of expectoration. He then lights up a cigarette, dangles it from his mouth and finally gets back to work.
I stumbled across his neighbourhood purely by accident but, despite its obvious drawbacks - spittle and smoke, say - it was exactly what I'd been looking for; somewhere shabby, grubby, gritty and utterly real, with sights, sounds and smells more captivating and authentic than any other supposedly "old slice" of Shanghai.
Despite being famed for its ultra-futuristic skyline, elegant former European colonial districts and, now, the incredibly extravagant 2010 expo, Shanghai is infused with traditional Chinese elements, which city officials and developers have been busy generating into serious money-spinners.
I'd spent yesterday trailing around spots such as Xintiandi, Taikang Road and Yuyuan Bazaar, enclaves of spruced-up classic Chinese architecture colonised by boutique fashion stores, souvenir shops, glitzy restaurants and Western fast-food and coffee chains.
The old buildings are easy on the eye - especially the quintessentially Shanghainese shikumen tenements; a stylish fusion of Eastern and Western influences - but I found the areas either sterile or crowded with tourists.
My dismay was heightened because I'd been seduced by visions of vintage Shanghai after reading When Red Is Black by Shanghainese author Qiu Xiaolong. Set in the rapidly changing Shanghai of the 1990s, the book follows the exploits of Police Inspector Chen and Detective Yu and offers a fascinating insight into a city in economic flux and the ever-widening gap between rich and poor.
The ramshackle neighbourhood I discover is straight out of Qui Xiaolong's literary world. It lies a few blocks south of another scrubbed-up section of the city, Shanghai Old Street - a stretch lined with red Chinese lanterns, shops selling unfathomable amounts of jade and Buddha statues and hawkers marching around with the same sales pitch ("Watch? DVD? Watch?").
I'm delighted to experience a place with no English sign in sight, no other tourists and a feeling that I'm seeing how the majority of the 20 million Shanghainese still live; their old customs alive and kicking. For two hours I wander, off the cuff and without a map, through twisting lanes and alleys that have been largely cocooned from the turbocharged modernisation of central Shanghai. Noise and pollution levels are far lower and instead of BMWs, Mercedes and spluttering buses, clapped-out mopeds, ancient bicycles and tricycles are doing the rounds.
Architecturally, things are fairly prosaic, with blocks of three-, four- and five-storey buildings somehow cobbled together from brick, bamboo, concrete and steel and plastered with Chinese character signs. Ultra-basic restaurants - ostensibly kitchens with plastic tables and chairs out front - sell delicious, dirt-cheap Chinese dishes, including fluffy steamed pork buns, juicy meat dumplings and wonton soups. The smells are so intoxicating that I stop off at several points to eat.
Along the way, I pass stalls selling fresh fruit, women knitting and sewing, men playing the violin and clusters of second-hand electrical goods for sale, including TVs, microwaves, fridges and washing machines. I can't spot any driers, which would perhaps explain the drying clothes everywhere, fluttering off balconies, door handles and, occasionally, tree branches.
While my wizened cobbler friend is resolutely expressionless, for the most part I'm greeted by smiles, "hellos" or, at worst, quizzical looks.
It's only when I look up and see the glossy high-rise apartments that fringe this enclave or, at one stage, the bizarre red bulbs of the far-flung Jin Mao Tower, that I remember that, yes, I really am in Shanghai.
As I leave this friendly neighbourhood, I can't help thinking that it's living on borrowed time.
Resident relocation schemes - or, in plain English, land grabs in exchange for compensation and relocation - are becoming more common as the government locates and sells off valuable city-centre real estate to developers. Some resist; I heard of one case in which an old man had locked himself in his apartment and lived off pot noodles for 10 days.
For the most part, though, the state, and its rich associates, get their way in their end. My advice for anyone coming to Shanghai and wanting to see an authentic old slice of the city, warts and all, is simple. Come soon - you never know when it'll be too late.
Trip notes
Getting there
Qantas flies to Shanghai from Sydney for about $1180 return, qantas.com.au.
Staying there
Doubles at Astor House are nominally priced from 1280 yuan ($210), although discounts of about 40 per cent are available by booking online in advance. See astorhousehotel.com.
More information The neighbourhood described here can be reached by heading 300 metres south of Shanghai Old Street (also called Central Fangbang Road). Take a left at Xueyuan Road, then get lost as you please. Shanghai's official tourism website is shanghai.gov.cn.
THREE THINGS TO DO
1 Despite its reputation as hectic, Shanghai can be a great place to hop on a bicycle. Head for the wide, flat, tree-lined streets of the former French Concession. There are plenty of spots in which to refuel with a coffee and croissant.
2 To see what's hot on the city's contemporary art scene, head to the 50 Moganshan Road Art Centre, a complex of disused industrial buildings converted into galleries, studios and exhibition spaces. (m50.com.)
3 The area around Renmin Square has fabulous people-watching and a raft of museums, such as Shanghai Museum (www.shanghaimuseum.net). After dark, visit Shanghai Grand Theatre (www.shgtheatre.com).
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