Feng Jing
Lemon:
10 Shanghai soundwalks
5364- 3 Bridges intersection. Crossing Bei Feng Qiao.
5368- 3 Bridges intersection. Crossing Bei Feng Qiao.
Yun Fang:
5375- Walking down Bei Da Jie.
Lemon:
5375- Walking down Bei Da Jie.
Footnotes:
1- The three bridges are Qing Feng Qiao [清风桥], Zhu Xing Qiao [竹行桥], Bei Feng Qiao [北丰桥].
5395- Shi Wang Temple. Turn around and go back to the 3 bridges intersection.
Walks
All audio
Recorded August 2, 2009 at 2:31 p.m.
After almost three hours of getting lost, I finally meet Lemon, her sister, and her boyfriend, Jason at Feng Jing town which is actually about one hour outside of Shanghai. Feng Jing is another ancient water town right on the Shanghai – Zhe Jiang border and its history dates back several centuries.
This small town has gone through some amazing changes. The water town area has been renovated and is more tourist friendly but still maintains its local vibe. Not as many tourists come through here as compared to some other water towns so it is still a relaxing day trip destination. This walk is one of our favorites, not only because it is the only walk we recorded that was outside of Shanghai city, but also because of the playful and animated dialog of Lemon and her sister. They talk of catching crawfish in the stream, eating Xun La Si (roast frog), and falling down stairs – all with a laugh and a smile. The sometimes mysterious alleyways, delightful views, and the easy country life make this a place not to miss.
Their dialect is a bit different from the Shanghainese spoken in the city. More Mandarin words are mixed in with a few local words that may not even sound like typical Shanghainese. It’s a pleasant reminder of how large the Shanghai Municipality is and that there are many amazing places to visit outside of the City.
If you only go on one of the walks, make this the one.
Additional photos can be found on Superjason’s Flickr page:
[24:04] [Photo 5375] No, not my elementary school, my junior high. I started here from pre–junior high to 9th grade. Only my pre–junior high and 7th grade was in this school.
This is a very old school, almost 50 years old. Our father and a couple of our teachers all graduated from here. After college they came back here to teach us, perhaps because they felt nostalgia for their old school. Remember the school’s 60 year Anniversary when I was in grade 10? It was such a big deal.
In front of us is the road I passed by everyday when I was in elementary school. I saw the old town slowly developing from 7th grade to 9th grade. All the houses and the piers were slowly built right underneath my eyes, so it really feels like home here. We moved to the new campus which is also big. We had a really big playground during junior high. It was so much fun during PE class and our PE teacher wasn’t tough at all.
We just passed the home of our classmate. His father was our teacher, and he would say “Hi!” to us. Such a great feeling.
[22:09] When I was young, there were not as many snack stores, only a couple for ‘Shao Mai’ and wonton. Talking about ‘Shao Mai’, in Shanghai, most of the ‘Shao Mai’ are made by sticky rice, but the ‘Shao Mai’ here are made with meat. They are smaller, like the ones you would make at home. Because a lot of people love to eat them, more and more ‘Shao Mai’ stores have opened. The taste is very local but very good. I was only able to eat them when I was sick. Whenever I was sick my parents would ask, “What do you feel like eating?”. I would say, “I only want steamed buns or wonton” then I could have a bowl. These were considered special foods for a kid back then and were not eaten often. I always wanted to get wet in the rain just so I could catch a cold and eat the good food. I was so easy to please. It’s fun to remember all these childhood memories.
[Cross Bei Feng Qiao turn right after the bridge.] I fell really hard here once before. Right here where the ‘3 Bridges’ [三桥广场] 1 are meeting. [Photo 5364] [Photo 5368] [Map #8] This is the crossing between He Ping Jie and Bei Da Jie [北大街]. I used to live here for a bit when I was young because taking the bus to school was not convenient. One rainy day, I was rushing and ended up falling down the stairs. Somehow I have many memories of falling down the stairs. The stairs are probably my worst enemy. When our house was first built, when I was 6 or 7 years old, I fell down the stairs from the second floor and I just lay there silently. There was a big bump on my forehead and all I was thinking was, “Why wasn’t I watching where I was walking?” From then on, I would always remind myself to be careful during rainy days.
Up ahead is my younger sister’s elementary school.
[25:58] This is the Bei Da Jie #300 block [Photo 5379]. When I was young, our teacher asked us to do volunteer work. I was the captain and our team’s name was called the ‘Little Pigeons’ which meant ‘Peace’. I forgot who gave us that name. This is the #300 block is where an old lady lived, we would come here to help her out whenever we were free. Her place is part of the old street alleyways and very dark. We would help her fix the walls. She was over 80 years old. When we first went there she really scared us. While we were using newspaper to fix the walls she would keep saying, “There’s a shadow, a shadow…”. All the girls were so scared and didn’t want to come anymore but we had just formed the ‘Little Pigeons’ volunteer team, so we had to continue no matter what. We were even being praised in front of the whole school! Who knew we would quit after only 2 months? It was just too scary. Poor old lady, she was all by herself. Her son was away and was seldom home. [Photo 5390] We helped her with fixing the walls, picking vegetables, cooking, washing rice, etc… It felt great to be able to help a senior citizen. On the days she felt better, she would tell us about her childhood and about her work when she was younger, but we were still scared of her. You know, kids are kids – dark places and ghost stories always get the better of us. Also, because we were all too scared to go, my position as the ‘captain’ was also forfeited. [Photo 5392]
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