Sensual City Studio

A SHANGHAINESE DAY 1

Anything can happen anywhere in Shanghai. Within its flat landscape, ideal for cycling, are superposed numerous layers of matter, human realities and emotions – a landscape that can be easily broken down or built up in this metropolis, where motion is the only constant, and where the juxtaposition of time, space and its actors are agents of both the city and its motion  .
Everything moves. Lynch said that there are static parts of the city and there are mobile ones: citizens. However, here in Shanghai, the static parts disappear, are relocated, recreated, created, all at once. In a very short period of time, you can find yourself living in a different city, without having crossed any threshold.
The mobile parts, actually, are the parts that are most adaptable and which embrace change, as something that was meant to be. The citizens circulating around the city sometimes view the place they live as a small town: a town where everyone knows their neighbours, the stallholders on the market, and their evening dancing partner; a village within the city, where some of their family members moved to join them in an effort to make their dreams come true; a village where I can be myself – a Shanghainese.

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.

TELEVISION

Of course, one of these lives on display could be mine, too, as I live in one of these towers where there is no need to hide. I used to live in a lilong, though,which taught me to understand that this whole city is mine, and that we all form it, create it and make it breathe together. No need to hide. My window becomes the best possible TV, a screen showing what is happening here and now. At home, I just want to watch the city passing by my eyes.

A SHANGHAINESE DAY 3

Before going out again to play mah-jong or carrom with three other neighbours, under the pleasant shade of the plane trees, I fetch my grandson from school. His parents arrive shortly and we all eat together, and perhaps a neighbour drops by, too. I enjoy that very much, as the more of us there are, the better we eat. I don’t like anyone to be hungry, so I get the large table out, to accommodate all the little dishes I’ve prepared. Then it’s time to watch the sunset. We eat, smoke and chit-chat. Now, the golden time begins in Shanghai. My family will take an evening walk in the park, probably already in their pyjamas, because Shanghai is our home, and we don’t relate completely to the notions of private and public. We’ll go and listen to the new open-air karaoke singer that everyone is keen to see and enjoy. He grew up in a lilong that no longer exists. Finally, I’ll go to meet my dancing partner, but, before that, I shall buy my grandson a notebook from a friend who has been selling them on the street corner for the last two weeks. She sets out her merchandise between a guy selling LED kites and another guy selling colourful socks. Later, I’ll go to sleep; tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Let’s hope the temperatures hold up tomorrow.

KITCHEN 2

Walking around Shanghai, it is easy to become obsessed with discovering every street, looking into courtyards, taking pictures and videos of everything, literally everything. Each layer of the city, each smile, each movement of each living being and object, combined with the abstract   aspects of this city, all makes you   drift. Soon enough, you fall in love with their food, present in every corner of the city, so ingrained into their culture. Then, as you move around, you suddenly realize that kitchens in China actually belong outside the house. When I asked why, my Chinese friends would simply reply, “It is dangerous to cook inside; Chinese food is made to be cooked outside.” I keep walking, further and further, and let myself be absorbed by this city, which I start calling home.