Sensual City Studio

EIGHT

“Luck” is probably the best translation of the word for “eight” in Chinese culture.   It has many interpretations and can be used in many different ways. For example:Bā   sounds like the word for prosperity and wealth. In different rituals, one can use the power of the number eight in a date to multiply good fortune.
There is also a visual resemblance between the digits “88” and 囍, the shuāng xĭ,   meaning “double happiness”. Furthermore, when turned on its side, the number eight resembles the mathematical symbol for infinity.  My impression, therefore, is that eight is the number of infinite luck and happiness.
The number eight is viewed as such an auspicious number that even being assigned a number containing several eights is considered very lucky. Chinese people devote a lot of money and effort to having the figure eight in their telephone numbers and car registration numbers.

喜  (xĭ) means « happiness ». 喜 + 喜 = 囍 (shuāng xĭ) – DOUBLE HAPPINESS

Double happiness has a beautiful connotation in Chinese. It is the addition of single entities and its conversion into a double entity. Being double happy became a common expression symbolizing love, since love multiplies when it is shared.
It can be found on nearly every kind of item: rugs, clothes, fabrics, matchboxes, ceramics, doorbells, invitations, teaware, jewellery, cigarettes… These items are placed everywhere, and are essential items for any weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and New Year celebrations.
However, the moment when I really came into contact with this notion was when I solved my first dilemma on arrival in Shanghai, namely the question of what to smoke. At first, I tried the Western cigarettes, which didn’t taste the same as back home – too strong. Later on, I chose the packaging that appealed to me most: a golden packet with the Shanghai TV tower on it… it later proved to be a nice souvenir for friends, but not something to be smoked.
Afterwards, I start asking others and observing what the Chinese would smoke. There were so many different brands, but one caught my eye: a white packet with two red stripes at the top and bottom, with this 囍 symbol in red – a symbol that I had seen somewhere before… the double happiness symbol. It was not as bad as others I had tried before, but after a long night I would lose my voice for a while; this double happiness seemed to be double strength, too. Indeed, it turns out it has 15 mg of tar per cigarette, compared to 10 mg for a Marlboro Red.
After doing some research, I discovered that this cigarette used to be called “Happy Days”, and its literal translation “Red Double Happiness” is a truly Shanghainese cigarette brand created in 1906 by what is not only the oldest but also the biggest tobacco company in the People’s Republic of China.

GREY

Grey is an omnipresent colour in the city. It is the colour of the sky as seen by the citizens of Shanghai. It is the background of most pictures, regardless of the weather, the season or the time of  day.

CHILLIES

My friend arrived and I was keen to show her around: the street food first of all, available on every street corner, and then we decided to try a new restaurant located at the top of a tower. That way, we would be able to discover Shanghai from every direction. Steffi loves spicy food, so we went to a Sichuanese restaurant. In the entrance, we could see chillies hanging from the ceiling, all bright hues of red. Finally, her dish arrived: it was a bowl full of chillies, and not much else, as far as we could tell. We ordered rice. And then she went for it. It was magic; she didn’t go red, or anything like that, and she ate every last morsel.
Shanghai is a metropolis that is very proud of the fact that embedded within it are all the secrets of this bountiful culture. Everywhere you sit in Shanghai, you have the opportunity to learn not just about the city, but also about China and the rest of the world. Shanghai is the head of the dragon, and it attracts anyone who wishes to discover it.