Shanghai Street View: Passing Parties
This week’s Street View centers on Xuhui District, where 2 major developments spotlight how rapid changes are creating headaches for some residents and undermining businesses that were formerly thriving. The first development sent shockwaves through the expat party-going crowd, as Xuhui’s top official announced plans to shut down most of the bars and restaurants on the trendy Yongkang Lu in the former French Concession area.
The second item saw Xuhui announce major redevelopment plans taking place for the several former computer malls in its central commercial district. This development has actually been coming for a while now and isn’t just limited to Xuhui, following the decline over the last few years of these colorful but somewhat unruly malls selling everything from computers and cellphones to their components and accessories. Most of the vendors in these malls have fallen victim to e-commerce, which offers a similar range of products at lower prices and more convenience.
Both stories more broadly underscore how rapidly changes take place in our city, where a quiet leafy street on one day can turn into hipster central in just a year or two as happened on Yongkang Lu. At the same time, today’s hot ticket can easily become passé in just a year or two, as the case with the dying computer malls so vividly illustrates.
Such changes also occur in more mature markets like the US, though at a much slower rate. That’s because strict property zoning laws would never allow a residential street like Yongkang Lu to transform into the trendy commercial area it quickly became. Likewise, traditional retailers are far better established and better-run in the west than in China, and are coming under pressure at a far slower rate from emerging sectors like e-commerce.
Party Ends on Yongkang Lu
Within the expat community, the bigger of the 2 headlines was easily the news that saw Xuhui’s top official Bao Bingzhang announce plans to abruptly close most of the lively bars and restaurants on Yongkang Lu this month. Bao cited excessive noise, as well as unruly traffic and general safety concerns behind the move that will effectively shutter one of the city’s most lively party districts for young expats.
The street made headlines with its rapid rise around 5 years ago, when it transformed in a very short time from a quiet residential area that once housed a wet market. The rapid change and accompanying noise and other congestion irked the many older residents living in the buildings above the street, leading to colorful clashes in 2013 when some began throwing water from their windows to try and dampen enthusiasm of the partying crowds below.
As an occasional visitor to the area, I can sympathize with both sides. But frankly speaking, this particular conflict never would have happened in the west because such older residents would never be living in an area zoned for commercial use. As an expat I’ll miss the liveliness of Yongkang Lu. But I’m sure the street’s older residents are out having their own celebrations over this latest decision, perhaps with some extra dances in the park or over cups of hot tea and biscuits.
Next there’s the computer malls, which have been dying a slow death over the last 2 years coinciding with the equally rapid rise of e-commerce. While they were detailing their plans to kill Yongkang Lu, Xuhui officials at another event were discussing their plans for a separate rebirth of these malls that were once a primary draw for buyers to what was once Shanghai’s hottest shopping district.
Among other things, the Buynow Mall’s Metro City branch will clear all of its electronics business by October, and the Pacific Digital City next door is being overhauled to make way for a recreation and entertainment complex. I recently visited the malls in search of some computer parts, and was surprised to see that all the mom-and-pop vendors on the upper floors were already gone and the only thing that remained were official shops operated by big PC and smartphone brands on the ground floor.
Perhaps that shows how antiquated I am, though even I have become a fan of e-commerce and other online transactions after my discovery of WeChat wallet and its various mobile offerings a few months ago.
One of my earliest impressions on arriving in China in the 1980s was the Buddhist philosophy that says change is inevitable, and many of my friends’ beliefs that we should embrace such change and not resist it. That philosophy is certainly quite applicable for today’s Shanghai, and I often write in this column about things like the disappearance of old markets and explosion of new trends like take-out dining apps. Still, the rate of change does seem a bit overwhelming at times, as illustrated by the rise and fall of Yongkang Lu in just a few years, and the only slightly slower rise and fall of the Xuhui computer malls.
