Shanghai Street View: Moldering Markets and Costly Choppers

News of the looming closure of one of Shanghai’s oldest wet markets is once again casting a spotlight on the issue of traditions, and their place in our city is it tries to balance its move into the future while also preserving some of its past. At the same time, a separate story about a new helicopter tour of some Shanghai’s famous sights is igniting another controversy over the high prices for a type of attraction that is clearly part of our city’s future.

These 2 stories nicely summarize the many conflicts between old and new that seem to grip our city on a daily basis. One thing I love about my adopted city is the huge contrasts here that often see people living in very basic conditions on the same streets shared by state-of-the-art high-rises.
These older buildings are represented by the Tangjiawan Wet Market, the city’s oldest such market that is slated for demolition this summer. The younger jet-setters are represented by the new helicopter tours launched this week by Shanghai KaiJet General Aviation, which will cost 5,000 yuan, or about $800, for a ride lasting just 35 minutes.

Let’s start with the Tangjiawan market on Fuxing Road near Shaanxi Road, which was probably quite state-of-the-art when it opened in 1903. But the building and lively market it houses have become outdated in modern Shanghai, and are set for a date with wrecking ball in August to make way for a new apartment complex.

The market itself doesn’t look that remarkable despite its old age. Instead most of the chatter over its demolition centers on the rapid disappearance of this kind of venue that has been a fixture in the city’s urban landscape for more than a century. I’ve previously written about the disappearance of similar fixtures like public bathhouses, and see such changes as the result of changing consumption patterns.

These older institutions represent an earlier era when many people lacked indoor plumbing and refrigeration at home, and thus relied on things like wet markets and public showers to fill very real needs. Nowadays the main clients of wet markets seem to be retirees who are very price sensitive and have lots of time to visit these places that are often less convenient than newer supermarkets.

I do expect that many of these markets will and should continue to stay in business as long as they fill a real need, but that they may ultimately die out as the older generation disappears. To maintain some of that part of the city’s history, local officials might look to some things that western countries have done. Those could include setting up outdoor farmers markets specializing in organic food, and renovating some older markets to become tourist destinations that include simple restaurants and more upscale products.

Then there are the helicopter tours, whose longer-term viability could also be jeopardized by their high prices. The city’s first such tours will take passengers on whirlwind trips where they’ll get a unique view of sights like the Huangpu River and World Expo site.

While much of the buzz has focused on their high prices, I’m personally impressed by the simple fact that this kind of tour is happening at all. That’s because China has been very careful about allowing civilian use of its air space, and even most commercial flights now have to stay in very carefully delineated zones. The stiff restrictions contrast sharply with places like the US, where many hobbyists learn how to fly small planes and helicopter tours are a regular feature in many natural and urban landscapes.

This kind of helicopter tour would have been unthinkable just 3 or 4 years ago, less because of costs and more due to the air space restrictions. The fact that Shanghai has managed to loosen those restrictions was almost certainly the result of extensive efforts by local officials, who should be commended for making more of our city accessible to ordinary people.

In this particular case I do agree that the price is a bit high, and you won’t see me signing up anytime soon for either the 35 minute tour or the shorter 15 minute edition, which costs 2,500 yuan. But these tours certainly qualify as a luxury item and not a must-see city attraction, and therefore the market should be able to set prices accordingly.

At the end of the day the service may fail to find a big enough audience to survive and end up folding. But at the very least it represents a positive jump into the future as Shanghai tries to transform itself to a city with 21st century attractions while maintaining some traits from its past that are the foundation for its unique character.