Xin Hua Lu

Recorded July 7, 2009 at 6:02 p.m.

Xin Hua Lu is a picturesque road typical to the French Concession area of Shanghai. Lined on both sides with Parasol trees and vintage mansions of old Shanghai, one can easily mistake this for a European town. Samantha has lived along this road her entire life. In fact, many of her relatives still live in this area, which shows how important family is to her. Her memories are filled with: her family, time spent with her Grandfather, jumping across flower terraces, bakery discount bread–runs, and her precarious playground adventures resulting in a daring rescue. Xin Hua Lu is truly a part of her life and her family.

This walk was one of my favorites just because of the amazing coincidences and the life that can be heard in the background. The rise and fall of gently passing cars and random conversations can be heard. When we entered her residential complex, the sounds of the basketball courts, construction, and baby crying all created an amazing picture. The finale was the icing on the cake as we happened to end up in front of a place where a piano could be heard from the street–like exit music to a great movie. It is these serendipitous moments that create the essence of these recordings. The realization that they can never be recreated is why each of these recordings are more than just sound.

I felt that this recording truly captured the life of this area. The recording itself is so dynamic and alive – yet not too overbearing as is usually assumed in an urban setting.

I hope that you enjoy this recording as much as we do.

Photos by Weina Li.

Here is an excerpt from the transcript:

[16:53] [Enter the An Tai campus entrance, walk around the roundabout on your left, then go back out, turn right.] This is Fa Hua Zhen Lu [法华镇路]. We are at the intersection of Xiang Hua Qiao Lu and Fa Hua Zhen Lu. I am very familiar with #535 Fa Hua Zhen Lu. My University – Jiao Tong University [交通大学] – is here. I am a bit sentimental about Jiao Tong University because my father works here. I have been living around this area since I was a couple of months old. The area I live in is called the ‘Jiao Tong University Fa Hua Zhen Lu Campus’. The ‘An Tai Economic Management School’ [Photo 5052] is located on this campus. But I remember they used to have a ‘Shipbuilding Major’ and other majors here, but that was over 20 years ago. The ‘An Tai’ Building was not here before and it is located where the track and field facilities used to be. The track was about 250 meters in length. I have lived on campus since I was very young so I remember many things that happened here. A lot of funny things happened on that field. I talked about how I was brought up by my grandfather when I was young. My grandfather loved sports. He used to wrestle and he was a professional wrestling coach. A lot of the National Olympic wrestling athletes were his students or his students’ students. He would take me along for his morning exercise and we would run on the track. I was still very young at the time and I would always tell him, “Grandpa, I can no longer run. I am out of strength.”. He would be very nice to me and tell me to walk for 2 laps and said that the more I walked, the more I would gain strength to run. I always had good health since I was young. Most of the old people like my grandfather would wake up around 5 or 6 a.m. and I would wake up and come out running with them. I did the same routine everyday so I have a healthy body and have gained a lot of muscle since then.

Behind the track and field there is a little river. I would come here to play with some friends when I was young. We called it a ‘river’ but in fact it was just a small creek with some goldfish in it. An adult could easily cross it with one step at the narrowest part of the creek but for small kids it was very difficult because of our short legs. We would dare each other to see who could cross the creek. It was a very scary dare because we were so small and if we did not make it, it would be quite dangerous. Although the creek was not deep, it was still very scary. We would always debate whether to jump or not. One time, I jumped and made it to the other side and I was so confident. As you know sometimes once you have succeeded in something you would want to do it again and again. So I would leap back and forth to keep challenging myself. But this one time, my foot slipped and I fell into the creek. I didn’t know how to swim so I screamed for help. It just so happened that my grandfather, chatting with someone nearby, heard me and came running to my rescue. He did not even take off his clothes and just jumped in to save me. I will never forget that moment!

[21:28] My grandfather would say that there are two pine trees located on the sides of the An Tai Lu. This used to be where the ‘Fǎ Huā Sì’ [法华寺] (1) was located and that is why the road in the front here is called Fa Hua Zhen Lu. There were two pine trees in front of the entrance of the temple. Oh. Sorry. There were two ginkgo trees but they are gone now. I remember the trees before this building [An Tai Building] was built, because the two trees were very old then. My grandfather said that they were over 100 years old. He still remembers where the entrance of the temple is located. The gate was gone already when I was born but I remember seeing the two tall ginkgo trees. [Walk towards Ding Xi Lu.]

Footnotes:
1- Fa Hua Temple.

5052- ‘An Tai Economic Management School’.