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October 20, 2005
Shanghai Living Photo exhibition
I had the pleasure of attending Shanghai Art Gallery today to look at an amazing collection of pictures by Hu Yang.
A very educational and moving experience indeed, Hu Yang basically documented the lives of Shanghai residents, interviewing and photographing 500 families in their homes. From poor migrant workers to expats to billionaires, nearly all of Shanghai is represented.
Sun Bingchang (Shanghainese, Retired Worker)
I didn’t have anything to do after my retirement, and therefore, I started this home hotel business and provide a place to stay for those people who come from other provinces and don’t have much money. I help the children in depressed areas with the money I earn. I miss the national leaders of the previous generation.
Some of the pictures are very moving and made me think about a lot more than my own reasons for being in China.
He Minghua (Shanghainese, Retired Worker)
Life is ok except the housing. Our son is 25 years old but lives with us in this house of 16sq.m. How could he find a girldfriend and get married? We are both blind and have no expectations for our life. The house is in disrepair and we suffer from rainsorms, which always flood the furniture and friedge. We are both retired and our son doesn't have a stable job. The bak refused to provide us a loan for an apartment because of our low income.
Chen Longzhen (Shanghainese, Retired Worker)
I go sellling small articles at 6 o'clock every morning, trying to earn some money for late years, and come back at 10:30 to cook lunch. We feel helpless for our son. I always like to speak honestly, so the most we want is a larger apartment. Blind people can't live long because we can't see and have complaints inside.
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LI You (Shanghainese, Corporate Staff)
I work in a foreign company and have a lot of pressure. The only thing I want to do after work is to have a bath for two hours and then watch a DVD. Besides, I'm an amateur writer on the Internet.
If you are in Shanghai you should try and visit the event, otherwise there is a full online gallery which I highly recommend viewing.
Posted by shak at October 20, 2005 11:43 PM
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Comments
Shak,
Thanks for posting this. It shows the dichotomy of commercialism and China at the moment.
Definately thought provoking!
Questions? I have loads. Answers? A touch harder to come by.
Posted by: Jason Duke at October 20, 2005 11:20 PM
I wanted to post a comment on the story above, concerning the book launch, but I couldn't find the link...
I'm in Beijing and am seriously disillusioned. However I'll try to check in on your blog more often now that I've found it. I've linked to it on my links page. When I get my Mac back maybe I'll throw a little more traffic your way somehow. Not that I have all that much traffic to give away, but it is the thought that counts.
Here I am going out of my way to help people again. I've got to stop doing this. It only seems to leads to me getting hurt and suffering.
Posted by: Muskie at October 22, 2005 12:09 PM