Lu, Hanchao, “Away From Nanking Road: Small Stores and Neighborhood Life in Modern Shanghai” (1995)

Title : “Away From Nanking Road: Small Stores and Neighborhood Life in Modern Shanghai”

Author(s) : Lu, Hanchao

Year : 1995

Type : Journal article

Subject : History

Keywords : social

Journal : Journal of Asian Studies

Volume : 54

Number : 1

Start page : 92

End page : 123

Language:Name : English

Support : Print

Abstract : Of all Chinese cities, Shanghai has been the most exposed to Western influences. This has led many scholars to try to dissect the impact of Westernization or modernization (for the two are often treated as synonymous) on the city. A study of the common people in the 20th century reveals that the Western influence was often not very pronounced in the ways they ordered their daily lives, planned their neighborhoods, designed their homes, and handled consumer transactions. The small neighborhood stores of Shanghai, which supplied local needs for rice, hot water, food, and other sundries, were derived from a traditional Chinese pattern known as the lilong. The author looks in detail at the nature of these neighborhood shops, what they sold, how they operated, and how they figured in local daily life. While the lilong plan did make some concessions to Western influence, its persistence to this day can be accounted for in terms of its functional value and its ability to conform to the cultural and social patterns and mores of the people.