The Oriental Pearl, Disneyland, the Bund, the old City God Temple, the Shanghai Center Tower (China's tallest building, 632 meters
If you look closely, you will find that these are all modern landscapes, very few ancient landscapes. What is the reason for this?
Compared with the prominence of modern Shanghai, ancient Shanghai was not dazzling, belonging to a fringe area of Jiangsu Province, which was called Huating County at first, and later Songjiang Prefecture.
In ancient times, the central area of Wu culture had been in Suzhou and other cities around Taihu Lake. To this day, the Suzhou dialect is also regarded as representative of the pure Wu language.
The Pearl of the Orient, which is still under construction, started on July 30, 1991, and was completed on Oct. 1, 1994
Among the four first-tier cities, Shanghai is no match for Beijing, the ancient capital of many dynasties, or Guangzhou, the commercial capital of the past 1,000 years, but it is older than the youngest of the young, Shenzhen.
Shanghai's rise began after the opening of the port in modern times, and in a not too long time, became China's first big city. And, now more than a century later, the boss's position has remained unshaken.
After the founding of New China, the pace of change and development in Shanghai was not as fast as it should have been in order to pursue stability. However, after the start of reform and opening up, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the south quickly took off. Finally, in 1990, the top decided to develop Pudong, and in 1992 established the Pudong New Area, Shanghai finally also took off!
Coincidentally, at this time when the old and the new were changing, a Dutch photographer named Robert Van Der Hilst (1940-) photographed Shanghai between 1990 and 1993.
Robert Van Der Hilst in Shanghai, 1992
Robert Van Der Hilst's assignment was to shoot a cover story on the city for the French edition of Vogue magazine. His first photographs of Shanghai, released, provoked such a strong reaction that over the next three years, Hewster came to Shanghai a total of seven times to photograph the city.
Robert van der Heuster later recalled that when he came to Shanghai in the early 1990s, the locals were plainly dressed and thin, and you could tell the difference between locals and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan businessmen on the street. But now, there is no difference.
Let's take a look at Shanghai as photographed by Robert van der Heuster between 1990 and 1993.
Shanghai seems to be more elegant when the grandparents are dancing in the square.
Shanghai people were using Big Brother in the early 1990s, as this young man shows off.
An ordinary family in Shanghai's old town in the early 1990s, living in less than ideal conditions.
Shanghai people are more petty and westernized, pictured here are people learning cello.
Shanghai in the 1990s still had a lot of roadside payphones, which cost 50 cents a minute.
In the early 1990s, Shanghai already had KFC. I'm from Jiangxi, Nanchang had KFC only in 2002, a whole decade late.
Shanghai old city, a grandmother, I do not know what is busy? So much smoke.
People burning incense at a temple.
A construction site, supposedly a bridge under construction. Is it the Yangpu Bridge?
Shanghai's working girls, pictured in the early 90's, are they retired now that 30 years have passed?
A group of fashionably dressed young people on the Bund in Shanghai.
Shanghai locals, did they bathe like this in the 90s?
Another boss, using a big brother, a symbol of wealth back then.
A well-dressed teenage girl, taking pictures with a dual-lens reflex camera. I didn't see if it was a foreign Rolleiflex or a domestic seagull camera.
It's supposed to be a hair salon, right?
It seems to be a KTV, and a couple of young people are dressed fashionably.
A showy beauty, I wonder where?
Near a construction site, a ground stall with balloons.
What kind of dancing is this? A disco?
A young, stylish beauty, sitting at a table.
An ordinary Shanghai family in the early 1990s, with a color TV and a portrait of an ancestor.
Camera advertisements on the streets of Shanghai were then translated as Olympus, before being renamed Olympus. Unfortunately, a few years ago, the brand ceased to exist and was bought by a company called Heart of Austria.
A pair of well-dressed beauty queens. The clothes wouldn't be out of style to wear now, but the architectural decorations in the background still have a 90's flavor to them.
Two young men resting on the banks of the Huangpu River.
A bridge under construction, not sure which one.
A billboard on a construction site in Shanghai in the early 1990s