Bulldozers can rase a memory lane but they can't erase happy memories
Steven Ye moved out of his old home in a lane along Changle Road some 30 years ago, but he still returns from time to time to indulge in a bit of nostalgia. Soon he won't be able to walk down memory lane.
The lane is part of a redevelopment area where a housing complex and more than 30 businesses in the northwest corner of Changle and Xiangyang N. roads will be demolished.
"I was born at the nearby Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, and lived in the lane until I was 20," Ye told Shanghai Daily. "I can say that the years I spent on Changle Road were the happiest in my life."
Steven Ye in his old home
The Changle Road of today is nothing like Ye's memory. When he lived there, there were no bars or nightlife appealing to party animals. Instead, it was a neighborhood of grocers, cigarette vendors and breakfast stalls. Life was simple, mediocre even, but it was a tranquil life.
That's not to say that living conditions were ideal. Ye, his parents and elder sister shared a 14-square-meter room in a three-story house, with no private kitchen or bathroom.
"The neighbors were very close back then, and many of them were our classmates," he said. "We often played together after school, and I keep in touch with some of them even today."
The lane on Changle Road that Ye once lived for the first two decades of his life.
Ye said his parents and sister died in recent years, leaving him lonely and missing the old home even more.
"Now I often dream of my parents and sister, and how happy we all were in the old home," he said. "And when I wake up, I realize they're gone. And now the old home will soon be gone, too. It feels sad."
An old photo of Steven Ye (right) with his late father in their old lane home on Changle Road
Many of the old homes on the lane used rustic ladders to reach lofts added to create more living space.
Business owners in the area share the pain of uprooting. Many of them prospered as Changle Road evolved into a nightlife landmark in Shanghai several years ago.
The 624Changle bar was undoubtedly a star of the block. It has now moved to a new location on Shaanxi Road S. The sealed frontage of the former premises is covered with heartfelt messages left by loyal patrons.
624Changle was one of the most popular bars in the block. Its now sealed frontage is covered with messages from patrons.
The bar is owned by a couple who go by the nicknames Lao Huang and Sister Ying. They operated on Changle Road for nearly 30 years, starting from a fruit and flower shop before becoming bar owners.
"I credit social media for our soaring popularity in late 2018," Sister Ying told Shanghai Daily. "I remember one rainy night when a man in his 20s came into our bar, ordered a drink and uploaded a post about it on the Xiaohongshu (Red) platform. He was no big influencer or anything like that, but the post somehow attracted more than 10 million clicks. The next night, we had more customers."
Sister Ying at the old 624Changle
Popularity bred popularity. The bar attracted bigger online celebrities, and with its bigger profile, the surrounding area became a new fun zone in Shanghai.
Sister Ying has kept every photo taken of the couple and patrons. The pictures covered the walls and ceiling of the old bar in an iconic décor that is being transferred to the new location.
"There are stories behind each and every picture," she said. "Most of them are not dramatic. They are very ordinary – like a patron buying us a roast duck in return for a favor we did her – but they are heartwarming."
The ceiling covered with photos was an iconic feature of the old 624Changle site (above). Its owners are now transferring that bit of nostalgia to the new venue (below).
But nightlife popularity also brought problems.
"Residents nearby sometimes complained that we were too loud," Sister Ying said. "With the move, that problem is solved. We are no longer near a residential neighborhood anymore."
The popularity of the bars along that stretch of Changle Road fed other businesses in the area. The Gelato Manuela near 624Changle used to stay open until midnight on weekends because it wasn't uncommon for bar patrons to want an ice cream to top off an evening on the booze.
"We were a relatively young shop on the street, here for around three years," said Cherry Zhou, operator of Manuela. "I loved the atmosphere of the street, always vibrant. We're looking for a new location, but I will definitely miss the old days here."
Nightly crowds outside 624Changle bar once triggered the trend of "standing-up drinking" on a road that became a popular gathering venue. (File photo)
Turn the corner on the northern side of Changle Road at Xiangyang Road N. and an entirely different scene greets you.
Here sit traditional old-style snack shops, with no pretense of being fashionable or fancy. Shops here offer inexpensive breakfasts and lunches popular with locals.
Chen Dongmei has been operating the Xiangle Steamed Bun House there for 26 years – a venue where nearby residents routinely went to buy buns and soybean milk before going to work.
"The red sign board of the shop seems to have been there forever," said 70-year-old Wang Ying, who has been a regular patron for almost as long as the shop existed. "I love their meat-stuffed steamed buns. I hope they'll find a new shop soon."
Chen runs the shop with her family. She said when she first arrived in Shanghai from her native home in Anhui Province, Changle Road was far less busy.
"How time flies," she said.
The Hele Snack Bar was a popular venue for area residents to get reasonably priced food.
Finding a new location hasn't been easy.
"Rents are increasing in the area, but we don't want to stray too far from our loyal customer base," she told Shanghai Daily. "We'll just run the old shop for as long as possible."
Not far from the steamed-bun shop is Hele Snack Shop. It has two shopfronts – one for dining in and the other for takeaway and the kitchen. The dining area has closed for good, but the takeaway service is still hanging on.
The shop's potstickers, or fried dumplings, have been praised online as the best in Shanghai. Shop owner Ye Dawang is from the same town in Anhui as Chen.
"I came to Shanghai several years after Auntie Chen, and we became very good friends," Ye said.
The snack shop is also looking for a new location.
"It's hard to say goodbye," he said. "Yet, the business will continue. We need to find a venue where we can sell a whole pan of potstickers within half an hour because they only taste best fresh from cooking."
Steven Ye said he has no idea how his old neighborhood will look after redevelopment.
"I hope it will be a community for everyone," he said, "full of restaurants and shops with wallet-friendly prices. Maybe some of the old residents can move back one day. As a city, we need to keep some old memories."
Lao and Sister Ying said they are doing well at their new bar venue.
"Old patrons are coming back, and we are making connections with our new neighbors," said Sister Ying. "We think we are off to a good new start."
