Laoximen 老西门
In early December 2017, we heard that residents of Laoximen (“Old West Gate”), one of Shanghai’s oldest communities, had been given a deadline of December 17, 2017 to move out. This was a neighborhood we had been visiting for 20 years, and we knew what would be lost. So we quickly organized a pop-up tour on December 9, where we encountered a neighborhood on the move, with residents carting away their belongings, vultures selling left-behind treasures – everything from gravestones to vintage qipaos – and exquisite architecture with a century’s worth of stories within. That first tour sold out, so we added another one. And another. And yet another. Today, Laoximen is our most popular tour in the 22 years of Historic Shanghai’s existence, with every single one sold out.
Why?
In our fast-moving city, neighborhoods get demolished all the time, but Laoximen is special. Although most of the buildings here date from after 1912, a community has existed in this enclave inside the old the Chinese city wall since the 16th century. The lanes wind, wildly at times, creating a sense of adventure, and most of the elderly residents have lived here their entire lives. The stories of a hundred years are written into these walls and into personal histories. This was the Chinese city, yet western influences – from Jesuits to Art Deco architecture – remain. Exquisite details speak to the wealth and prestige of the families who lived here, and the names of the streets and the lanes tell their own tales.
Chinese New Year 2019 was supposed to be the final move-out deadline, but the construction walls went up only during Chinese New Year 2020–the year of COVID–and the demolition crews moved into the vacated residences. But even though Laoximen is emptier than we’ve ever seen it, with so much boarded up, some residents are still negotiating, and there is still life in the lanes, as it morphs yet again. The man who keeps the talking mynahs is still there, the gifted gardener whose plants trail across the lane, is, too, and so is the man who makes erhus. But at some point – and who knows when, exactly – the doors will close and Laoximen will be redeveloped. We’ll do more tours between now and then, for as long as we can. Because this is such a beautiful and important part of Shanghai’s history; because each time we go, we learn something new, and because we want everyone to see it before it’s gone.
Lest we forget, we share some of the articles and photographs that have been written in the interim about Laoximen.
Special thanks to Katya Kynazeva, author of Shanghai Old Town: Topography of a Phantom City (vols 1&2) whose deep knowledge of the area, books, and Treasure Maps of Laoximen have been invaluable in our explorations.
Shanghai Old Town: Topography of a Phantom City. Volume 2: The Walled City by Katya Knyazeva & Adam Sinykin
Both volumes feature incredible research, history, and photography of the old Chinese city, much of already gone, but volume 2 includes the part of Laoximen that we visit.
ShanghaiWOW, November 24, 2017
“West Laoximen Set to Be Demolished” – the news item that started the “Farewell, Laoximen” walks
Katya Knyazeva’s Blog, December 5, 2017
“Laoximen Treasure Map 1” (links to Laoximen Treasure Map 2)
“Demolition of Laoximen: Shanghai’s best link to its pre-colonial past”.
John’s Little Green Book: Stories from China’s New Cultural Revolution, January 24, 2018
“Heartless”
Time Out Shanghai, January 26, 2018
“Photo essay: explore old Laoximen before it’s demolished”.
Xinyue Zhang, YouTube, Feb 10 2018
“Recording the city: The Laoximen’s Demolition”
South China Morning Post, May 1 2018
“The run down lane houses of Laoximen are the latest to fall to the wrecker’s ball in China’s biggest city, where fans of its old buildings hope more can be done to renovate those worth saving so residents can stay put and live better.”
Inkstone, May 2 2018
“A Shanghai District falls to the wrecking ball.”
That’s Shanghai, May 25 2018
“Snapshots of Shanghai’s Disappearing Laoximen Neighborhood”.
Sixth Tone, February 5, 2019
“In Old Shanghai, A Last Spring Festival Before the Bulldozers”
SCMP, March 4, 2019
Video [VPN needed if viewing in China]: “A Classic Shanghai Neighborhood Existing on Borrowed Time”
The Guardian, July 18 2019
Vanished Neighborhoods: The Areas Lost to Urban Renewal
