Taikang Lu
(Lane around Taikang Lu, Shanghai)
Taikang Lu (or Taikang road) is a artsy district of Shanghai and like much of Shanghai, it feels a little European. We spent most of Saturday afternoon around this maze of tight lanes, just browsing the shops and peeking into windows. There seem to still be residents in these old houses, but many of them are now little coffee shops or cramped shops; some selling vintage watches and glasses, cupcakes, rugs, clothes, candles, honey, t shirts, or simply stockpiling Mao Zedong or communist related memorabilia. Apparently figurines or pictures of Mao have become as revered as the golden lucky cat you often see in Chinese restaurants, waving it’s arm in greeting. The reason for this may be that ‘mao’ also means cat in Mandarin, but with a different intonation, and perhaps that they are both waving? However, he seems to have won favour as a kitsch icon for a new Chinese generation, and of course for westerners.
You can see the power lines running next to clothes lines and the fans of the air conditioning machines in the background. The new, smart boutiques are cheek by jowl with homes and derelict spaces full of rubble. It has the feel of a fun, relaxed place that will be something great a couple of years into the future. There were people crawling all over these lanes most of the time, but in comparison to the other tourist areas, this is quiet. This was one of the places I liked more – the shops sold handicrafts and we even met a couple of designers with their own little shops. Certainly something for *pipless jam to be thinking about…
