The hassle of history
It has been named Shanghai's third best cultural and historic street and boasts 21 listed historic buildings and residences of former celebrities. After Duolun and Wukang roads, Shaanxi Road is one of the city's prime historical treasures, a picture of old and new China.
In 1942 Eileen Chang, one of China's best-loved writers, lived in apartment 60 on the sixth floor of the Changde Apartments near Shaanxi Road North. Chang wrote some of her most famous works here and the old elevator, light shades and long corridors haven't changed for more than 50 years. Fans who visit here can pause and dream of their beloved writer sitting on the balcony and looking out on the world.
But a clash between the fans and enthusiasts for the past and the residents of the present has been causing strife.
A dilemma
Recently two young visitors had been waiting outside the Changde Apartments trying to sneak in with residents. But when they eventually slipped inside they were bailed up by three angry middle-aged women who demanded loudly, "Who are you? What do you want? What are you doing here?" The young couple were tourists from Hubei Province and big fans of the writer.
A woman doorkeeper eventually arrives and with a serious look on her face saw the youngsters out into the street. "This is a residential building and is not open for visitors, please leave." One of the literary fans was a girl surnamed Jiang and told the Global Times later: "I love Chang's writing - it embodies Shanghai-style elegance and delicacy. We just wanted to have a look at her former residence."
A resident surnamed Xu explained that dozens of tourists turn up at the building every week wanting to look over the place but this wasn't fair on the residents. The constant coming and going of tourists disturbed the people who live there.
There are 48 households in the Changde Apartments and residents usually put a sign out the front: "Private apartments. Please do not enter." However the sign was taken off a few days ago during a cleanup. "We hope the government will give us a proper brass sign that we can keep outside and make sure everyone reads it," Xu said.
The two young Hubei tourists have had an unhappy visit to this part of town as well. "We tried to visit several of the historical buildings on Shaanxi Road North, the ones with the brass plaques which identify them. But we didn't get into one."
Only one is open
There is a reason for the gap between the desires of the tourists and the reality of the situation on the road: of the 21 historic places listed there, only the Moller Villa, now a hotel, is open to the public.
Qian Wei is the vice director of the Jing'an District Research Institute of Culture and History and said that of the 21 historical buildings on Shaanxi Road North, seven are being used by government departments or private companies, and the remaining 12 buildings are residential.
"To protect the residents' privacy, the 12 buildings are not open to the public, and the seven historic buildings housing government departments and private companies are only open to specially arranged group tours like students at certain times," Qian told the Global Times.
Built in early 1914, Shaanxi Road North was originally called Seymour Road and was noted for its stylish homes and gracious atmosphere. The Shanghai writer Cheng Naishan once wrote: "Shaanxi Road North is quite beautiful … when I once lived near the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, it felt like Seymour Road (Shaanxi Road North) when I walked around."
The Ohel Rachel Synagogue at 500 Shaanxi Road North was built in 1920. As the earliest and largest synagogue constructed in Shanghai, it was the only piece of architecture in Shanghai that was on the watch list of the World Monuments Fund in 2002 and 2004. The building was the center for the more than 20,000 Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai during World War II.
Today the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission manages the site which is kept closed to the public.
"Many visitors have tried to come in here. Some foreigners even said they had been born here and wanted to look around again," the gatekeeper, named Sun, said.
Plays the bad guy
"The rules are that this building is not allowed to accept personal visitors so I have to play the bad guy and keep people away."
Renovated for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, now the building is only open to Jews on Jewish festivals like Hanukkah, when nearly 300 attend services.
"The tourists complain a lot - some even try to bribe me to get in. I feel sorry for them. They just want to experience the history of the place. But I haven't the authority to change the rules," Sun said. "These buildings are miniature reflections of Shanghai's culture and history and there should be no reason to keep people out. Although the government said it had named these heritage sites this means nothing if people can't get in. The government should open these places to the public."
Because most of these historic sites are now used as workplaces or residences it would be impractical for them to be opened as tourist attractions but, Qian said, people who are interested can still visit the Moller Villa and look around the Grace Church, which opens for services on Sunday.
"These buildings don't belong to the Jing'an district, so the district government has no right to ask companies or government departments to open their offices for tours," Qian Wei said.
The difficulty of balancing historic buildings and reserving privacy for the residents or businesses that use them is not isolated to Shaanxi Road. The old water town Zhouzhuang in Jiangsu Province attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year. Most of the residents welcome the visitors because they bring money into the town but some visitors have been complaining about the town becoming commercialized and touristy.
In a bid to solve the dilemma, the Jing'an district government has taken over a house at 600 Shaanxi Road North where it showcases historic photographs and films of the road and the buildings. Yang Jiguang is the director of the Jing'an District Research Institute of Culture and History and said, "This center exhibits items and pictures from Shanghai of the 1920s and 1930s. We also have exhibitions of old Shanghai household items, watches, clocks, old locks and keys."
Enthusiasts can look inside some of the buildings at the website http://www.jinganmuseum.com. "We took pictures of the interiors of some of the buildings to compensate a bit for the people who can't actually go inside," Qian said.
Tours restricted
Group tours for students or the like can be arranged but these are restricted to certain times and only to three or four buildings.
Once known as "Expatriate Street," or "The Street of Celebrities," Shaanxi Road North still looks as it did decades ago, which is rare for a downtown road, according to Xue Liyong, the vice chairman of the Shanghai Geographical Names Association.
Though the buildings look intriguing from the outside, that is where Qian Wei suggests visitors remain. "To give tourists a better sense of atmosphere we are gradually replacing many of the businesses along the street with traditional Shanghai style coffee shops and souvenir outlets," he said. The change of businesses in the street would not affect residents who might gradually change their attitudes to the visitors who merely wanted to look inside their homes, he said.
