Jing'an Moments (February 2019)
Imperial celebrations
An interactive exhibition that allows visitors to immerse themselves in the holiday celebrations of ancient royal families in Beijing’s Forbidden City was held this month at the CITIC Pacific Plaza on Nanjing Road W.
Advancing technologies such as real-time expression recognition and 3-D projection were combined with historical artworks preserved in the Palace Museum.
People could use their hands to “make a snow lion” on a screen, inspired by a Chinese painting that depicts Qing Dynasty Emperor Yongzheng. Facial expressions were captured by cameras and projected onto the faces of the two “Chinese gate gods” on a screen.
Products of the Palace Museum were also on sale.
Feast for sanitation workers
Jing’an Party chief Lu Xiaodong celebrated the Chinese New Year’s Eve by dining with 120 mostly migrant sanitation workers.
Across the city, sanitation workers sacrificed trips home to see families and remained in Shanghai to keep the streets clean. District officials arranged the dinner for them.
“I’m so happy to have had dinner with my colleagues,” said Xiang Jun, a migrant worker from Anhui Province. “It was filled with warmth.”
For Xue Wuliang, his wife Wang Sujing and their son Xue Jiabao, who hail from Henan Province and all work as sanitation workers in Jing’an, it was the first time they sat down to the annual reunion feast in Shanghai.
Holiday floral decoration
Jing’an was awash with floral displays for the recent Spring Festival holiday, thanks to the district’s greenery authority.
Public venues were decked out with pots of flowers and other floral displays, often illuminated.
To celebrate the Year of the Pig, installations of cartoon pigs were placed at several intersections and in the square of the Shanghai Railway Station.
Garden gets new look
A roadside garden has reopened to the public at the intersection of Xinzha and Xinchang roads after an overhaul of landscaping.
The garden was built some years ago, but the shrubbery wasn’t well positioned, making it difficult for people to walk through. Some of the plants were ill-chosen for the site. Renovation started last year.
More than 150 camellia bushes have been planted, and a mini-wetland was created on a small pond.
Traditional medicine clinic
Leiyunshang, the 300-year-old traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy and clinic, opened a new branch in Shibei Hospital on Wenxi Road this month.
It occupies the fourth and fifth floors and is similar to the pharmacy’s flagship store in the Jing’ansi area. The décor is in the style of a traditional Chinese house, with carved beams, wooden ornaments and Chinese paintings.
The new branch is expected to serve about 500,000 residents from surrounding communities. It will hold public talks on health and promote the traditions of time-honored medical treatment.
Cheaper, smarter workouts
A low-cost, “smart” gym has opened in the Gonghexin Road subdistrict.
Users scan a QR code to enter to the gym. They can digitally ascertain how many people are using fitness equipment and whether special sports activities are being held. Payment is also digital. The gym charges 2-8 yuan an hour, depending on time and day.
Mao home popular
A former residence of former Chairman Mao Zedong has attracted nearly 75,000 visitors since it reopened to the public in January 2018.
The first floor of the two-story house at Lane 120, Maoming Road N. is part of the Jiaxiuli shikumen community built in 1915. Mao and his family stayed there for six months in 1924.
The building, listed as a protected heritage site, first opened to the public in December 1999 as a memorial to Mao. It was closed in 2015 for renovation. Traditional shikumen elements were restored, including wood shutters and carved stone lintels. The interior was upgraded to include new exhibits about Mao’s life.
