Shanghai is an international metropolis, known as the "Magic City". Here are some famous essays about Shanghai, which will give you a taste of the charm of the Magic City!
I've only been to Shanghai twice.
The first time was five years ago, on a business trip. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get a good look at it, but I'm sure I'm going to be able to get a good look at it.
Maybe it's the stereotype of a cosmopolitan city in my mind that has been around for a long time, and to be honest, the first glimpse of Shanghai gave me a very bad impression.
At that time from Ning to Shanghai, for convenience, take the luxury bus. The car to the station, is in the middle of the city location, get off is full of cottage, dilapidated, the only vitality is the roof of the pigeons in the whistling circle.
Doubtful, is not to the old Beijing courtyard? The courtyard, although dilapidated, has a strong local flavor. If it is, it's just that the Shanghai bungalow is not a quadrangle after all.
So, the image of the metropolis, did not feel at all.
Look at the city, five or six-story buildings abound, the expected high-rise buildings can not be seen. On the balcony, windows everywhere fluttering clothes, such as when the universal flag. At that time, I thought, I only know the Bund has a universal building, I do not know Shanghai has a universal flag! I saw garbage all over the streets and sewage flowing. The first thing you need to do is to get a good look at the city's history and its history.
The first feeling, do not like Shanghai.
The second time to go, because of the time, specializing in strolling around the scenery of good places, to the Pudong area, see the Huangpu River, only to feel the charm of Shanghai.
The Oriental Pearl Tower is naturally the first symbol. The first thing you need to do is to get up on the top of the stairs and look down on the earth, so-called cityscape at your fingertips. The whole of Lujiazui high-rise difference, lined up, showing the style of the metropolis. Adjacent to the Jinmao Tower, towering in the sky, the top floor of the skydiving competition, colorful parachutes such as flowers in the air, Xu Xu floating down, very nice.
Riding on the comfortable and elegant maglev, speeding along at high speed, I paid attention to the speed display, reaching 430 kilometers per hour. This is said to be the only commercially available maglev train in the world. As we sped along until Pudong International Airport, we entered the bright and spacious waiting hall, and were greeted by two air hostesses dragging their suitcases, who were returning gracefully.
In order to enjoy the prestigious Bund at night, I stayed overnight in the neighborhood. When the lights go out, the old Bund building, the lights are colorful, intertwined, bright and magnificent, really feel graceful and magnificent.
Seeing the modernized side of Shanghai, one can appreciate the metropolitan style. But when I think of the first impression of Shanghai, I always feel a little regret.
Perhaps, the first time I saw only the appearance of Shanghai. Shanghai is the leader of China's economy, the prosperity of Shanghai and affluence, Shanghai people's shrewdness and superiority, has long been known. In particular, the development of Pudong, the great changes, is also recognized.
But can not ignore the fact that the construction of the most beautiful place, most of the face project, are those who can pass through the place of the higher leadership, foreign guests can see the place, a variety of reasons of course, is more everyone understands.
Many civilians live in the place, even if again garbage everywhere, the environment and then stink, often do not get a timely solution. Of course, this is not a problem for Shanghai, but for the whole country.
When the city's inner-city shantytowns are built on both sides of the Huangpu River, Shanghai will be a truly cosmopolitan city. Piano through a glance of the flavor of the passing years, like an ancient black coffee cup, clear and cold, the flotsam and jetsam Yongrong. Outside the window of the day, the weeping as a nostalgic, heavy rain pouring and diarrhea, after a spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Time keeps changing, the Department of eh gray brick house, in that snow-white wall, written in a big red word - demolition. Soon after, the imprint of time will disappear, and with the joy of childhood, boiled into a bowl of rich and fragrant millet porridge, has not yet had time to feed into people's mouths, but has been knocked over in the clear river. The piano has been in the house for a long time, accumulating a thin layer of dust, leading to the attic of the wooden ladder, step on it will make a creaking sound, tiny particles in the sunlight of the skylight fluttering, like a Sung Dynasty pear blossom rain, with freshness, chanting with the obsolete, and ultimately, is the past.
I thought I would be able to see that beautiful woman again, wearing a moonlight-white cheongsam, pulling a dignified bun, holding a lazy cat, walking down the stairs with a light smile, and in an instant, the picture disappeared, and then how to think about it, but also can not find it. Another shake of God, see that good life in front of the black piano, light music spirit from her white fingertips under the jump out, seems to give this old house filled with a heavy color. Smiling, people and disappeared, leaving the black piano alone sighing. The old Shanghai phonograph recorded this song, but the person who played it is no longer there.
Early in the morning, woke up in the sunshine, halo rubbed in the curls of hair, bare feet stood by the window, a fog on the Bund, as her eyes did not focus on the astigmatism. The silky nightgown reached her ankles, flowing naughtily to kiss a patch of snowy white around her feet as she walked. The strong scent of coffee suddenly roused the nerves, it was better to be a lazy mortal, not so tired, so exhausted. She looked at the distant mountains exhaled a breath of cloudy air, hung a smile.
Paper drunk, the old Shanghai in front of the Baiemen, the golden lights proclaimed its belonging to the old Shanghai, lights and wine, the old Shanghai is a city that never sleeps. The old Shanghai will not be tired, but the heart will be tired.
The worn-out piano presents a kind of bleakness in front of your eyes, and the once-fascinated life has colored the piano with a coat of splendor. A sense of bitterness from the bottom of the heart, trekking to my heart, meandering in my eyes.
A tear smashed down and bloomed a decadent flower in the soot, but it bloomed until it was tea-poor.
With Mo Yan's "Gaomi Township", Lu Xun's "Lu Town", San Mao's "Sahara", Shanghai has always been a favorite of many writers. Shanghai has always been preferred by many writers. But after all, each writer's style is very different, and the city under his pen, even if it is the same, has its own characteristics. However, because of this, it is difficult to feel what Shanghai, the city that is so popular today, is like without a long reading journey.
A Moment's Bells Are Released
"The sun has just gone down over the horizon. The soft wind blew on the human face ...... high on the roof of a house and unusually large neon tube advertisement, shooting out a fire like red light and jagged green flame: Light, Heat, Power! At the beginning of "Ziyou", Mr. Mao Dun shows the modernization of Shanghai in the 1930s in front of the readers: skyscraper buildings stand on both sides of the street, towering into the sky; street light poles rise up from the ground one after another, endlessly; all kinds of traffic exchanges between the southeast and the north-west, hurried and chaotic. ...... It seems as if the old Shanghai we know is full of red wine and green lights, filled with The sound of music, dispersing a rich sweet aroma.
Such Shanghai, is the gorgeous Shanghai. The capitalists in the city are living a life of luxury, but they are also afraid of "bankruptcy". "The first thing I'd like to say is that there is no wind at all, and the sky is full of gray clouds. The sky was crowded with gray clouds, stagnant and motionless. The yellowish sunlight showed its face once in a while, and then quickly evaded it." This description in the text gives another human flavor of the old Shanghai city. It carries the struggle between the national bourgeoisie and the bought bourgeoisie, and is y worried about the national capitalists in the storm, but still it is also powerless to do anything about the devoured national capital industry. Moreover, even if the national bourgeoisie within a city could save the day, it could not change the devastated face of old China, which was in a state of decay, waiting for a new one. Because it can't, Shanghai is often viewed as a microcosm of modern China, or rather, Shanghai is not only representative of Shanghai, but also representative of Chinese society in the 1930s.
Finally, at the sound of the midnight bell, Wu Sunfu, representing the national capitalist class that had lost the battle against imperialism, left with his family, heartbroken, in a place that had given him both hope and despair. Did Shanghai abandon them, or did they abandon Shanghai? This question was already cleared up the moment the clock struck midnight. Not to mention that a prosperous and lively old city like that, ushered in and sent off the history of the hasty passers-by, naturally calm as before.
A generation of the city by the waves
Coming from a deformed family in Shanghai, where feudalism and the West were intertwined, Eileen Chang learned about the uniqueness of the utilitarianism of the Shanghai people in the foreign markets, worldly-wise, sophisticated, and intelligent. So, because "to be famous before it's too late", pity her Shanghai, but also easily let a talented woman very talented fire. Her work in a moment such as stormy general out of the sky, big pearl small pearl fall jade disk-like pomp, so that all the Shanghai people shocked.
Let's not talk about "The Golden Lock" in which Cao Qixiao, a member of a marketplace family, turns cold and heartless after entering the Jiang residence, and don't lament the story of "Fragrant Fragments", which is told with the exhaustion of the incense burner after burner, but "Love in a Fallen City", which is the course of a woman who let people see all of the old Shanghai women's resilience, but also her heartache. "She is just a selfish man, and she is just a selfish woman. In these times of war and chaos, there is no place for individualists, but there is always room for an ordinary couple." Bai Liusu and Fan Liuyuan, a sensational and legendary love, ends in the smoke of the Japanese bombardment of Repulse Bay with Fan Liuyuan's departure and return of the two of them to make love. However, the ending of the novel seems to be a happy one, but it is actually drenched in bleakness. Hutong, the moon, mosquito incense, mirror, empty room and other tragic imagery filled the article, but also the pathos of the woman in the old-style big family.
The Shanghai of Zhang's brushstrokes, with a situation very different from her destiny, still bravely persuades us to chase the waves of life. Such Shanghai is tough, and in addition to toughness, but also give people melancholy sadness.
A lane to save access
With Eileen Chang's heavy bleak Shanghai is different, in the minds of some writers in Shanghai is elegant.
The writer Mu Xin's "Shanghai Fugue" is a strange and bizarre text, but it gives people a sense of elegance and refined images. The most impressive paragraph is his discussion of the cheongsam, from the style to the material, and then from the buttons to the decoration, everything. Thus, in the old Shanghai people, each type of cheongsam total **** no thirty pieces, that is shabby. Such exquisite Shanghai, as well as the old Shanghainese people on the life of the examination, is also called people breathtaking.
Similar to the wooden heart, there is the writer Wang Anyi penned the old Shanghai "alley culture". Cultured old gentleman living in the end of the alley, wearing a white shirt with a plaid `Western-style wool coat, shirt collar can never be turned outside the sweater, shirt buttons must be buttoned to the end, otherwise it is not in line with the rules. Only so neatly dressed, only dare to carry a birdcage around walking birds, sitting in a wicker chair to read the newspaper or to the banks of the Huangpu River to find old friends to drink a cup of afternoon tea.
In China, only the old Shanghai people can be inherited to adhere to this kind of rigor and seriousness, and the situation is also really not the old Shanghai leisure.
Once Upon a Time
Looking at the "Small Times" series, which is a gimmick that touches the hearts of the 90s, I was y disappointed that all the glitz and glamor is built on a pompous surface, with men and women of all colors walking around under huge billboards, writing about the rush and chaos of life. In addition to the label of "modern metropolis", this kind of Shanghai is devoid of the deep soul that Shanghai as an old city should have.
So, I thought that there is no modern literature that can handle the spiritual diversity of Shanghai, but suddenly a "Flower" came to my eyes. Instead of the "legendary" style of Eileen Chang's writing, it is written in a "story" style, which makes people feel as if a floating world painting of Shanghai is floating before their eyes.
The novel is invariably about the edges of life - the mouths of people, the mouths of stories, everything that has never been mentioned on the stage of the vulgarity of life. All conversations and actions are told in the soft Shanghai dialect. Although the characters in the novel do not reveal their hearts, and meet and leave by chance, they show the real Shanghai. And even because of this, Shanghai becomes more dynamic and bright. Whether it's the conversation between Bao and Betty on the rooftop about "Shaoxing grannies are the worst" when they were young, or the upright high-backed piano with a soul in Betty's heart, which is as stable and sophisticated as a tall black horse, or Tao Tao's words in Xiaoqin's diary late at night, everything is so commonplace, but so reflective of Shanghai's calmness and equanimity.
The entire novel is a rambling account of the daily life of Shanghai's small citizens. It's as if every aspect of life can't provide a sense of meaning. People are sad in the end, like a flower that withers in the end and can only maintain its composure. And Shanghai, that old city of history, quietly witnessed all the vicissitudes of life, and peacefully ushered in a new batch of passers-by and the era that belongs to them. The fragrance of the rich flowers is transformed into a soul that accompanies the rise and fall of Shanghai.
The sixth grade graduation, finally liberated, mom took advantage of this free time to take me out to play.
With curiosity to Shanghai, the first to run to Asia's most - Oriental Pearl Tower, which is the world's third, Asia's first tallest building. 467.9 meters high. It is one of the landmarks of Shanghai. I took the sightseeing elevator with my mother to the second sightseeing ball. There is a sightseeing telescope in it. You can use it to enjoy the night view of the Shanghai Bund, there are many souvenirs, I randomly picked two Shanghai World Expo mascot Haibao. One to keep as a souvenir, the other to my brother to take back.
The next day, we went out shopping, a skyscraper into the eyes, as if the coastal soldiers to protect Shanghai. Walking to the Shanghai Wax Museum, in which there are a lot of wax statues, in the entrance, I saw the wax statue of Yao Ming, at first I thought it was Yao Ming to do good to the wax museum to buy tickets na, closer to see realized that it is the wax statue of Yao Ming, 2 meters 29 Yao Ming wax statue, like the real thing. Walked into a look, the world's celebrities are all in my eyes. The heart started a question: "How did the producer do ah, with a mold carved out the same.
Out of the wax museum, came to the Huangpu River, we sat on the sightseeing boat, in the sightseeing boat took a beautiful picture, recorded a video. Looking at the river, the river water playing waves, as if many many people are playing human waves.
On the third day, we came to Puxi, which is even more beautiful, with rows and rows of buildings and nice Shanghainese people. Puxi is the core area of Shanghai, there are many attractions, such as: the Bund, Lujiazui, the old City God Temple, People's Square, Huaihai Road Commercial Street and other famous attractions. At night, I walked on the People's Square, the lights led starlight spell out a night, gorgeous desire to flood the streets, the square speakers Woody play a certain chart, the beautiful song evoked memories of my childhood.
In these days of traveling, the heart sprouted a desire, Zhang Da again to Shanghai to see the beauty of Shanghai.
I love Shanghai, love in this beautiful Shanghai.
At three or four o'clock in the morning, Shanghai is revealing the fireworks of prosperity. I took the wrong train, got off at the wrong station, and entered Shanghai by mistake. Suddenly, I felt that even the air in Shanghai is so disgusting. License plates, road signs and so on are all pouring out to me - Shanghai. In the sound of footsteps, exchanges and rustling busy, the sky of Shanghai gradually brightened and brightened. It was not the warmth of the sky that caught my eye, but the new polished building materials and the abstract and rational lines of the buildings. It's like a huge canopy for the current era of theater. I heard someone say that Shanghai people always love to live a concrete and careful life. So I organized myself and got ready to go. Destination: none.
If you want to know, know a city. Please prepare coins. Only public **** cars introduce strangers to, get to know the city.
Shanghai in August is like the "Long Hate Song" written by Wang Anyi, which summarizes the love and hate of Shanghai's men and women. And then there are the enchanting little women of Shanghai, like the exquisite Shanghai life in general. Wang Anyi's "Song of Eternal Hatred" does not focus on Wang Qiyao. Rather, she wanted to write all the prosperity of Shanghai through the twists and turns of Wang Qiyao's life without lack of romance, and those loose prosperity is embedded in Wang Qiyao's loose and sentimental life. Her hands and feet all testify to the prosperity and sophistication of Shanghai. Regardless of how the big world outside changes, Wang Qiyao has the elegance of chatting in her own small world, and the calm interest of tea tasting.
The prosperity of Shanghai lies in the temperament of the city itself and the cultivation that has been precipitated by the vicissitudes and splendor of the city.
For many people, the feeling of the Bund is a cluster of buildings on TV and in pictures. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to find a way to get a good look at the Bund, but I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to get a good look at the Bund, and I'm sure you'll be able to find a good look at the Bund. To be honest, listening to their words, I am indeed very disappointed, of course, I also know that, for them, and the other side of the Pudong bright compared to the Puxi those gray buildings inevitably look too shabby. Shanghai is a modern metropolis, which is reflected more in the Xujiahui and Pudong high-rise buildings, rather than the gray Puxi buildings. Even if someone to appreciate, more also from a distance to see the complex of buildings they constitute, from their feet past the tourists, unfortunately, almost all of the footsteps are in a hurry.
The Bund is beautiful at night, when the curtains hide the grayness of the facades and the lights make the buildings crystal clear, but I prefer the buildings during the day. Always dreamed of their own in the sunny afternoon shopping street, but stroll the Bund but not this luck, either with other people to stroll, accompanied by other people can only let themselves follow the footsteps in a hurry, the only a few times alone to stroll on the Bund, but it is always raining, wet taste is indeed very difficult to put the interest of the stroll suddenly less than half, but those buildings have never lost its charm.
The favorite thing is to stroll along those buildings one by one. In the photo of the short building in that moment taller, and the gray facade gives people a sense of extra solemnity. Those thick columns, let a person look at the heart of the solemn rise in respect. No wonder the Greeks in the temple to use columnar structure. Than the short steps of modern high-rise buildings, fast elevators, those buildings high steps to add a few more points of calm and solemn, and those Chinese temples have a lot of stone steps have a different kind of similarity. And those with "Shanghai's excellent modern architecture" sign is also something I must read every time, in addition to understanding their history, but also to learn to feel these buildings need to be carefully observed by their own experience in order to see the experience of the wonderful. For example, the HSBC that the tail was cut a knife of the bronze lion; some of the eaves of the carving, portrait columns, if you do not tilt his neck hard to see the eyes of the acid is by no means see; and then the Bank of China Building.
Since I heard my dad's introduction to the Bank of China building at some point, I've always had a special affection for this building. As the only Chinese-designed building among so many on the Bund, it's always looked at with a strange sense of pride. Like all the other buildings, the current Bank of China building is kind of a grayish building. The Peace Hotel next to it is pink and white and looks elegant, but one always favors the Bank of China building. In the distant photo, the Bank of China building is a bit lost among the many luxurious and grandiose buildings. Even close up, many people have not paid much attention to it. Perhaps because of this, it really proves to be the perfect combination of European and Chinese architecture. See more than a few years ago in Beijing, those who are not Chinese and not foreign "hat" type of building criticism, only to understand the Bank of China building designers of the idea of the wonderful: the top of the hat, just pointed a little similar to the tower, and the main body of the building articulation is the traditional Chinese eaves, the main body of the building is the Western-style, the middle is very cleverly embedded in the Chinese-style The main body of the building is western-style, but the center is very cleverly embedded in Chinese-style openwork windows. There is no abrupt feeling, very harmonious, has been in the Bund complex are not very outstanding. The Bank of China building is the only building I like to lean against the flood control wall to see, this distance can be just those details at a glance in the eyes, far and up close will not have this effect.
Often too many things need to be felt in detail, all the charm of the city is slowly felt in the experience of it.
In the summer, the morning of Shanghai, as its status, the first ushered in the east of the sunrise. Just near five o'clock, my morning exercise run on the riverbank path on the west bank of the Pujiang River witnessed a round of the rising sun rising among the buildings of the city.
After the morning exercise, and accompanied by my partner into a food court in Xujiahui. Crossing into the food court, attracted my eyes is not that colorful pile set into the market of seasonal fruits and vegetables; not buzzing into the ears of the "Wangwoman selling melon" of the solicitors yell; but by the majority of the buyers in the market in the form of shocked. At this time into the eyes of the surging crowd, there are sideburns gray mutual support partners; there are rickety hunchback hobbling to move the old man; there are crutches sitting alone on the horns of the oldest old man. It seems to give me a feeling that this food court is open exclusively for the elderly. I'm in my sixties, but I really look younger here today.
Eyewitness these old people crowded in the noisy food court, everyone sweating, each drooping voice gasping, the heart can not help but a burst of pity and sadness. They are living for themselves? Or are they doing household chores for their children and grandchildren? Anyway, from the helpless expression on everyone's face and tired eyes, I can't see half a sign of a very happy life in old age. Outside the grocery store, a silver-haired grandfather pushed his elderly partner, who had a stroke, under the shade of a tree, urging her not to move and wait for him to come out of the grocery store; a white-haired old woman with a cane hobbled up the steps of the grocery store with great difficulty; and there was even a stooping grandfather, carrying a bag of vegetables out of the grocery store, climbing onto the wheelchair cart with great difficulty. I watched him, to see who is the pusher? But see the old man sat on the car after a few minutes of rest, and there is no push car people, but by his own control of the wheelchair car slowly away from the food court. Looking at his back as he drifted away, my heart inexplicably a burst of pain and fear ......
In the food court, I followed my old partner, she bought me to carry the division of labor. When we slowly moved forward, behind a wheelchair in the oldest old man, patting my legs, with sha mute voice to me for help: "Comrade, please help me get a bottle of vinegar" I turned around to see a wrinkled face like a spider web, white hair sparse grandmother. She wore a light tea-colored glasses, dressed very colorful and neat, a look like the old retired Shanghai know. I hastily took a bottle of vinegar from the shelf and handed it to her, asking: "Old granny! You're still coming to buy food at this age! Where are the children?" Her slightly deaf ears didn't hear me and she shouted back, "No, thank you!" I laughed bitterly, "I'm asking you, where are your children?" I repeated loudly, she slowly said: "I am eighty-six this year, they are gone, all gone! My partner left the year before last, and my two sons and daughters went abroad early ...... They will send me money back every month ......" she said with a proud smile on her face for her sons and daughters. In the face of this widow's smiling face, I have no words to guess, rich is really very happy?
Since ancient times, who is not old, to the old do not have to live. Looking at this full of old people in the food court I worried y thought, the city's young people have gone? His (her) sons and daughters are how? The city is developing and the population is aging. Young people for the cause of the struggle for a living, have no time to take care of the fathers and guts of the elderly is really the reason? In the face of the progress of the times and the gap between old-age benefits, when will we be able to keep up with the pace of reality? I followed my old companion carrying vegetables out of the market, all the way to go all the way to mope, unknowingly nonsense back home ......