Guanhu (官湖) and Shayuchong (沙渔涌) Villages are within walking distance to each other along the Dapeng coastline. Guanhu is the village that has developed Jiaochangwei. A small settlement at the mouth of a river, Shayuchong is undergoing a complete renovation that is reminiscent of the horrific universidade paint-overs. Both villages are in various stages of redevelopment. And in the details I trace Shenzhen’s complicated preservation ecologies, where beauty, kitsch desires, and too much money take strange and curious form. Impressions from today’s walk, below.
Author Archives: Mary Ann O'Donnell
listening to baishizhou / 白石洲寻声
Tomorrow afternoon, Handshake 302 collaborates with Future+ to explore the Baishizhou soundscapes. The workshop program begins with an hour-long tour to collect sounds and a 1.5 hour sound workshop with resident artist Zhang Mengtai. Meet-up at Baishizhou Metro Exit A.
luohu trivia
Stumbled across a bit of Luohu trivia that suggests that cross border licentiousness has been promoted on both sides of the border as a means of generating profit. According to the Industrial History of Hong Kong Group,
The opening of the “Shum Chun Casino” in 1931, provided one of the only new areas of passenger growth [for the Kowloon-Canton Railway]. By 1934 passengers visiting the casino were a major portion of the cross border revenue until its closure on 1st September 1936. The impact of the casino’s closure was such that there was a shortfall in the last four months of the year at round 30% of the net operating revenue.
baishizhou, otherwise.
It is one of the ironies of publicity that site and time-specific artworks are regularly transformed into texts. On Sunday, September 31, for example, resident artist Zhang Mengtai held an open house in Handshake 302. He built an amplifier that transmitted sounds he had collected in Baishizhou and then compiled into a soundscape. Abstracted from the noisy jumble of handshake allies and crowded streets, the honking cars and migrating dialects that Mengtai recorded seemed delicate, almost lyrical in their evocation of Baishizhou. We were entranced. But this text is not that experience. Continue reading
hubei: recognizing “value”
The current focus on preserving Hubei Old Village obscures just how much Special Zone history and everyday life will be demolished to make way for the new China Resources development downtown. What’s at stake are competing understandings of what makes a good life for whom and who gets to decide the form and function of the city. Continue reading
dalang commercial center
Off the beaten track (or at least a 15 minute bus ride from the Longhua subway station), Dalang remains one of the manufacturing centers of Shenzhen as well as one of the few spaces where it is still possible to see container trucks of various sizes trundling about. The landscape itself is a dense mix of industrial parks, proper urban villages, collectively held property, and limited public and commercial property. In other words, the area retains much of its morphology from when Longhua was officially a market town (镇, 1986-2004) and the entire area was developed through rural institutions.
Baishizhou Soundscapes
Sunday afternoon, 4:00 at Handshake 302:
To truly listen, we must first become quiet, creating a silence proper to ourselves. When quiet, you will hear the sounds of nature. At that moment, the sound flows, and nothing remains but a trace of memory. Silence is itself the opportunity to reflect on what it means to hear.
Listening is not just a question of hearing the music, but of listening to the natural voice, which includes static. Problems come; where does the static of life come from? Why does it appear? The unavoidable sounds of daily life constitute different experiences.
During this workshop we will share sound—its creation, its documentation, and what it means to listen. We invite each participant to quiet their minds and truly listen. The screaming child and your screaming mind: are these sounds the same or different? The rustling wind and a little girls giggle: do they play your heartstrings in the same way? Listen to the soundscapes of Baishizhou and hear your heart. Beat.
interview with huang weiwen!
Happy to have my interview with Huang Weiwen, “The Urban Planning Imaginary: Lessons from Shenzhen” included in the recently published, Shenzhen: From Factory of the World to World City from the International New Towns Institute. As you can see from the index, contributors include many folks who have been involved in thinking about, debating, and planning Shenzhen.
hubei: shenzhen identity comes of age
Those of you who have been following Shenzhen media are aware that Hubei Ancient Village (湖贝古村) has become a touchstone in debates about historic preservation, pubic participation in establishing urban planning values and goals, and the place of “life (生活)” in high-end rent districts.
Handshake 302 interview at China Residencies
China Residencies interviewed Kaiqin and me about the ongoing residency at Handshake 302. Check out the interview and learn more about creative engagements with and in China.
Shenzhen Noted 