Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2017 | Page 25

The Story of the Old House in Shanghai
Regents Primary School of Shenzhen, Wang, Mary - 10
S
peaking of Shanghai, I think of Shanghai style and its residential buildings in Shanghai, and the first is "lanes".
This is permeated with the characteristics of Shanghai architectural patterns.
Alley, not just in Shanghai, in Beijing, is called ‘hu tong’, in Guangzhou, it is called a lane. In fact, no matter you call it
a lane,or an alley....... Shanghai is different from other cities. Moreover, it also has a unique amorous feelings. According
to time sequence, construction of Shanghai’s residential building can be
divided into five stages: Shanghai lanes, old
Shikumen lilong, new lilong, garden-like lilong and apartment-style lilong. Lilong, as given by the Shanghai style
culture is a kind of spirit different from other Chinese cities.
During the late 19th century, foreign invaders opened up Shanghai and brought with them warfare and western culture.
So its ways of life had gradually become more westernized. The traditional life of a big family living in a traditional
courtyard was broken. Instead, immigrants and small families were living in shikumen. So shikumen was born, shikumen
was different from traditional courtyard, though its internal structure is still Chinese in style, its external terrace type
structure such as bridge gallery is influenced by western architectural settings. Because this kind of houses has a stone door
frame, it is called "shikumen".
At the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, with Shanghai’s urban expansion and rising
population, the demand for housing had greatly increased. So the new shikumen houses replaced the old shikumen with
copper iron grating, for good sunshine and ventilation. The height of its wall was greatly reduced and enclosed patio into
open small garden. From closed to open building space form, architectural form with western adornment is given priority
to, rarely in the form of traditional Chinese.
In the 1920’s, with the end of the first world war and a rapid population growth, again shikumen could hardly satisfy
the increasing demand of housing for its people, so the western modern lilong of Shanghai seemed a solution. In the 30’s,
shikumen residence was replaced by new lilong, and internal functional division of the new lilong was also becoming
clearer. At the same time, there was a further reduction in the walls of the houses.
In 1937 after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, with the rapid development of modern lilong, middle class were
demanding a higher quality of neighborhood. So garden-like lilong had become more fashionable. The front of the
house had a large green space which was
completely open, no longer like old shikumen lilong walls.
Shikumen gradually fell out of favour where people lived, but who would have thought that now shikumen is back
again, not as a house but in a different form. It has become a historic symbol of Shanghai style architecture.
In addition to lanes building, there is the garden villa. From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th
century, garden villa became "Shanghai style". The corners of the various styles of garden villa in Shanghai, more or less
concealed the memory at that time. Today, when we wander over the clove garden, Shuhe village, new Xinhua villas and
other places, we can still imagine 60 years ago, they were in Spanish style, English countryside style villa in Shanghai’s
amorous feelings. The current era of garden villa seems to be making a comeback, but they do not have the meaning of
that era.