| Shanghai: Impossible City |
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| Culture | |
| Sunday, 07 November 2010 | |
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FAKE antique homes and other buildings are being built in Shanghai to satisfy the demands of tourists who want to see old Chinese houses and how the people used to live, according to Professor Ruan Yisan.
Replica traditional homes, ancient-times shops and streets and alleyways, Chinese-style gardens and even small factories as they used to be are being constructed – and often so well imitated the originals, visitors did not know they were all fakes, he said.
Pro Yuan that the rapidly-growing number of tourists to China did not want to see cities just with high-rise apartment buildings, skyscraper offices, shiny shopping malls and towering hotels – they could see these modern-day edifices in countless cities around the world.
Tourists wanted to see China’s heritage, the ancient way of life and the type of houses people used to live in, the professor said.
But governments in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities, in the headlong rush from the 1980s to modernise China and to build Western-style high-rise apartments and offices, allowed the destruction of thousands of traditional homes and small shops to make way for the skyscrapers.
So to satisfy the demands of foreign tourists, China -- famous for its fake-brand watches, imitation Gucci handbags and “antique” furniture and artefacts made last week in hidden factories -- has come up with the answer: Build fake antique buildings.
Developers were constructing these make-believe, fairy-story houses not only in Shanghai, but also in Beijing, Hong Kong and Macau.
Professor Ruan was delivering the 2010 annual lecture, “Shanghai: Impossible City” to the Meridian Society, which promotes Chinese culture by fostering better understanding between people of Chinese origin and those from other ethnic backgrounds, both in the UK and worldwide.
The professor was welcomed to the packed-out event in the Royal Institute of British Architects in Portland Place by the Chairwoman of the Meridian Society, Wenlan Peng, a distinguished broadcaster and cultural ambassador between East and West, who has made highly-acclaimed television documentaries about China.
Wenlan said: “I have been trying to bring Professor Ruan to London to talk to Meridian Society members, architects and others interested in Chinese culture ever since I first heard many years ago about his work and dedication to preserve the building heritage and sites of China”
Professor Ruan, China’s leading expert on the conservation of historic cities and the preservation of traditional buildings and heritage sites, holds many key urban planning posts and is President of the Ruan Yisan Heritage Foundation.
He said: “Greater importance is now being attached by government leaders and urban planners to the preservation of landmark Chinese homes in Shanghai.
“Heritage sites have been drawn up and many old buildings have been listed, not to be demolished by developers wanting to build yet more high-rise apartments and offices.”
During the Q and A session, I asked Pro Ruan what the teenagers and even children thought about the preservation of traditional homes and other historic sites.
“It is true that younger people prefer to live in modern new homes in skyscrapers,” he said. “There is much more space for them, compared to traditional dwellings. And, very importantly, sanitation is much better.
“But when they are older, today’s young people will wonder how their parents, their grand-parents and great grand-parents used to live, the style of their houses and the way they lived. That is why we must preserve traditional homes and other buildings.”
Alfred Lee
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