Shanghai ChitChat 001: What’s On Your Blacklist?

Shanghai ChitChat 001: What’s On Your Blacklist?

Living in Shanghai, you must have been amazed by its magic—a fast and convenient life, fancy and fashionable people you see everywhere, trendy bars and restaurants, endless exhibitions and art shows… But is there any moment when you’ve actually been there, you felt nothing but ’this is over the top and just annoyingly gaudy?

Maybe it’s crowds, sweat and noises at tourist places, sky-high Oriental Pearl Tower and the sky-high price of a lift, more and more wanghong roads dotted with old photographers who never ask for consent before pushing their lenses onto your face, modernly built cultural street which contains no history or culture at all, or a 100 yuan cruise journey on Huangpu River which you can actually enjoy the same with a ferry that only costs 2 yuan…

I’m sure everyone of you has got a unique blacklist for yourself, or maybe for those around you. Today I’m listing part of mine here and explaining my reasons, and I hope all of you can share your list with us!

1. Food/shops at Chenghuang temple

Image from RED

Chenghuang temple is quite like a must-go-to place for those who never got a chance to visit Shanghai. Doesn’t a place like this exist in every other tourist city? Always hustle and busy, always a bit dirty, always lined with small shops who claim they’ve got a secret recipe for hundreds of years and they make the best local snacks, which is obviously a huge lie. 

Image from RED

Oh, almost forgot to mention those souvenir shops where you can always find double or even triple priced modern-styled cheongsam dresses, and same cookie boxes with different price tags. Well, check Taobao, I bet you’d never want to come back again.

2. Yong Kang Lu

Image from RED

Don’t get me wrong. Home to many inspirational cafes and restaurants, Yong Kang Lu is believed to be one of the blocks in Shanghai that can be compared with those cultural blocks abroad. Slow, relaxing, the street has attracted loads of young people. It makes sense — in such a fast paced country, who doesn’t miss that vibe we once got in Europe? But let’s get more real here, now crowded with so-called photographers who seem never bother to ask for consent, is it still cool? A nice afternoon enjoying ice yogurt and chatting with no bother, or a memory filled with lenses that nearly pushed to your face, what would you choose?

3. 1192 Old Shanghai Cultural Street

Image from RED

If you ever see a cool picture taken in this place, keep this in mind: your friend is bragging. This place has nothing to do with coolness (it’s quite remote), or condensed history (it’s surely built in 21st century, surely an indoor place), and very overrated by wanghong (Chinese way of calling online celebrities). Sometimes I do wonder if they’d do anything or say anything to get internet famous. Please don’t bother taking a far journey there, you’d only find that you disappoint yourself. And please remember, when we’re talking about history and culture, we are talking about a spirit of this city, which has been imprinted in the corners of our city life, which has been in air. We do not need a fake place like that, as long as we’d like to look up from the screens, we can feel it, because the sense is everywhere.

To be continued…

So, where is the place that you will never ever go to again, or even warn your friends not to? No matter it’s a bar, a restaurant, a shopping mall or a certain street. Share your opinions with us in the comment area and let’s send the message around! 

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