Telling tales of Shanghai
- Source: Global Times
- [08:41 August 17 2010]
- Comments
Tess Johnston. Photo: Courtesy of Tess Johnston
By Chris Chagnon
Opening the door of her apart-ment in a renovated building in the former French Conces-sion, Tess Johnston, 79, shows the way to her living room/work area. Al-though it is not a small room, the large painted antique Chinese cabinets, desk covered with piles of books, old maps and notes for an upcoming book she's writing, and the general menagerie of pictures and antiques accumulated over a lifetime living around the world, giving the room a cramped feeling.
Johnston, who is from the US, offers a seat in a simple wood-and-leather chair and disappears to another room. A moment later, she returns with a glass of sweet tea to fight off the August heat. "This isn't even everything; there's even more in my library," she said with a soft drawl as she offered the tea, both of which are native to her home state of Virginia.
After a life-long career as a Foreign Service Officer with the US State Department, Johnston has spent her retirement in Shanghai, working on her own as a researcher, tour guide, lecturer, editor, and writer. She is best known for her prolific writings about architecture in Shanghai, and has published 15 books on the subject in conjunction with local photographer Deke Er.
Her experience has made her something of an expert on Shanghai as she has witnessed both the city's remarkable growth and the price it has paid for its development over the last three decades.
A lifetime abroad
After graduating from the Univer-sity of Virginia, she began a career as a foreign service officer. She served in Germany, France, Vietnam, Laos, India, Iran and China.
In 1981, she was posted to Shang-hai and the gritty but unique city quickly grew on her. Long fascinated by architecture, the mixture of Euro-pean architectural styles, the unique local shikumen housing and constant changes captured her imagination.
"My two favorite cities in the world are Berlin and Shanghai, and that's because of how dynamic they are and how much I've been able to see them change," Johnston told the Global Times.
She compared Shanghai with post-war Berlin because of the rapid devel-opment she witnessed while living in both. "Berlin was my first posting in the Foreign Service. When I first got there, it was a city still largely in ruins, but over the years there I saw the buildings rebuilt and industry begin to spring up rapidly."
Nonetheless, the rapid development of Berlin pales in comparison with Shanghai.
"When I first arrived here, everyone was still wearing Mao suits. There were virtually no cars; today, I can't step out into the street without almost getting hit by an Aston Martin or a Lamborghini," Johnston said. "I used to have a car and driver provided to me by the consulate. I used to ride around and splash the people waiting at the bus stop; today I'm getting splashed by a luxury car while I'm waiting at the bus stop."
