Using phones to order food in restaurants has become commonplace. There is no longer direct interaction with waitstaff, unless in a high-end restaurant. Otherwise, most workers in restaurants are now food servers and cooks. Other areas where phones are necessary (and have been for a while): health forms when crossing the border; paying bills; making healthcare appointments, and; finding one’s way around the city. I don’t know that I’ve seen a paper map for sale (outside of proper bookstores) in years. Used to be, every kiosk sold maps that were constantly being upgraded. It strikes me how difficult it is to navigate the city without a smart phone, even as it is more difficult to use many apps without an identity number. Indeed, I sometimes wonder how much of what I take for granted is a result of opening accounts before they were all consolidated via phones and identity numbers.
peeping
So the Nantou venue of the 2023 UABB finally opened on August 16. Rumor has it that the reconstruction of several handshakes was delayed. And delayed. And delayed. But. The results hover at the edge of critique, where showing is itself already taking a position, especially as what we can show and how it can be shown have been increasingly restricted. What I came away with was a sense of how windows function in tight, crowded spaces. We catch glimpses of our neighbors and strangers on their way, peeping across (necessary?) divides. Impressions of a walk through official biennale and adjacent spaces, below:
bagualing, food street
Many of you probably wonder: what happened to Bagualing, the other industrial park in Shangbu Management Zone? And it’s true, so much has been made of & off Huaqiangbei that we forget: the 1986 master plan called for two industrial parks in Shangbu and like Huaqiangbei, Bagualing changed the world as we knew it. And by we, I mean those of us born in the 60s and 70s . For roughly two decades (let’s say ≈ 1990-2010), Bagualing was the printing capital of the world–books, books, and more beautiful books were printed there. In the States, you probably encountered these books via the discount warehouses that sold cheap books either by mail or in large downtown spaces. Chez Shenzhen, especially in the naughties, Bagualing was a great place to shop and purchase a Korean manga or a French novel. Of course, architecture, design, and art books were everywhere, in every language, and could be had for 30 or 40 rmb. Good good days, no more.
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village·culture
Like many events in Shenzhen (and yes I’m looking at you, UABB), the china international cultural industries fair was first held in central areas in the inner districts and has subsequently expanded into the villages. Indeed, many of these events are now explicitly used as venues to reimagine development or even urban planning. This past weekend, I participated in two such events. One was held in the New Who Art Village (鳌湖/牛湖) and the other in Jingkou Experimental Center (迳口).
Continue reading同组: unified rentals
A few weeks ago, there were protests in Baimang (白芒) Village about the new “unified rental” plan. (Perhaps “consolidated” would be a better translation?) In a nutshell: the government will become the only second landlord in a village, upgrading rentals and then renting them out, preferably to college graduates. The protests came about (as in Baishizhou four years ago) because the forced eviction notices came out in late May early June, which is test month. Students and their families were being evicted after intake for the 2023-24 school year had finished, meaning that many would not only loose their homes, but also their place in school. Also as in Baishizhou, the new plan threatens family life because there are few places where families can live together and send children to school. At the moment, the village is going through a “cooling down” period, but it seems that once school is out, the process will proceed.
Sigh.
Located in what used to be a huge swathe of lychee orchards, Baimang is primarily a residential village, where commerce is geared to the everyday needs of renters–small markets and shops selling plastic household goods. At the center of the village are old village buildings, including an ancestral hall and two towers (碉楼). These row houses are surrounded by several generations of new village housing–concrete villas and tiled handshake buildings. Once one of the second line border villages, Baimang is now within Nanshan District’s “Innovation Corridor” and offers relatively easy commutes to University Town and High Tech Industrial Park.
后海大道X蛇口新路 the houhai avenue X new shekou road intersection
The history of the city is underfoot and can, when the light is clear, old waters shimmer into awareness. Twenty years ago (give or take) Houhai Avenue and New Shekou Road met at a 90 degree angle. To the northeast was the entry to Dongjiaotou Port, where sand, building materials and “unauthorized stuff” were brought in. The port entry faced a gas and oil supply station, which was located at the northeastern foot of Shekou Hill, behind the hill, away from the water, where there were docks for ships to anchor.
Today, I noticed the intersection is an intersection. Both the entryway to the port and the gas supply station are under construction, as is the former dock area. The northeastern and northwestern corners of the intersection remain unchanged and thus are showing their age. In the northeastern corner is the Shekou #4 pump station, which was built as a work unit compound. In the northeastern corner is an older Shekou administrative building that looks abandoned?
Point du jour: the intersection is an uncanny reminder of the coastline that is no longer. Walking west along New Shekou Road, you enter that once-upon-a-time coastline. At Wanxia Road, you turn north to enter Wanxia Village and south to enter Fishing #2 Village. A few meters ahead is Old Shekou Street, follow it west to the Industrial Zone. Below, pictures of the intersection four corners. Imagine salt in the air, the approach of ships, and workers on bicycles navigating muddy roads…
images from cloud city
It’s been a few years since I roamed Liuxiandong （留仙洞), which was an industrial area and then (briefly) a creative area. I remember in 2006 or 7, it was so cheap to rent that artists were renting several hundred meters for a few 1000 a month. Now, however, it is cloud city, a large Vanke project that looms on the horizon like a rendering.
curate your own shenzhen walking tour with handshake 302!
Handshake 302 is starting a three-week program to train and encourage people to develop their own walking tours of Shenzhen. Thank you Partnerships for Community Development for your support.
迪玛希 qudaibergen
So, six years after his appearance on “歌手 (The Singer),” I finally saw the youtube of Dimash Qudaibergen’s performance of Vitas’s “Opera 2.” Where have I been? His voice. His presence. And yes, his anime vibe. Seriously. If this was the kind of globalism with Chinese characteristics that Belt and Road was about, I’ld be walking the walk. But. Today, I’m grateful for the convergence of events that brought “进口小哥哥 (imported bro)” Dimash Kudabergen to Hunan TV in 2017.
Please join us in Guangzhou!
The conversation will be about beginnings, middles and endings; how do participatory art projects create a sense of time? And what’s that got to do with the history of Shenzhen and its speedy development? Inquiring minds want to know.
Shenzhen Noted 