Duolun Lu – Writing a Revolution

Duolun Lu – Writing a Revolution
Feb 11, 2009 By Article and pictures by Susie , eChinacities.com

Even though it’s no surprise to learn that Shanghai is a city filled with secrets (some better hidden than others) it sometimes comes as a surprise to stumble upon one. I was walking around Hongkou yesterday afternoon, since I had some time to spare before meeting a friend on Sichuan Lu. I had heard about a street somewhere in Hongkou called Duolun Lu, famous for a film café and various bronze statues commemorating literary figures. I’d never gotten around to seeking it out, but suddenly I found myself in the vicinity, so I asked a few passers by where it was. I was directed to street off Sichuan Lu, where a gaggle of locked motorcycles contrasted with the New Year lanterns that were strewn between lamp-posts like crimson pumpkins. Duolun Lu begins with an austere grey arch that signifies the start of the pedestrian zone, and the entrance to a long-lost world.

This is how you imagine Shanghai might have looked a few decades ago, before the shikumens were razed and the tower blocks raised in their place. Trees line the pavements, but they are skinny palms instead of French Concession plane trees; low buildings hide lanes and alleys. Traditional dwellings have been replaced by galleries and museums, and now the residents are shopkeepers and curators, but the atmosphere is still one of tranquil bohemia.

Depending on which end of the street you start on, you will come either first or last to what appears to be a traditional temple. A closer look reveals incongruous details: stained glass windows and a crucifix high above the door. This is the Hong De Tang Protestant church. Meaning ‘Great Virtue’, Hong De Tang was built in 1928 and still holds services.

One of the draws of Duolun Lu is the Old Film Café at number 123. Almost concealed by some uncharacteristically bushy winter trees, this place will tempt any film buff or expat longing for a slice of European café culture. It was too cold to sit outside when I visited, but the terrace cries out for summer evening chats with beer and friends. Indoors was perfect for yesterday’s chilly weather, and I hunkered down among the film posters and wood panels as day turned to night. Coffee is good (if a tad pricey) and there is a good selection of snacks.

At number 210 you’ll find the Zhou Yu-Feng Inner Painting Studio, where intricate designs are painted inside snuff boxes using a hooked brush. Bigger projects can take the artist many days to complete, but if you buy a glass bottle, he’ll paint your name inside it for free there and then. On a similarly artistic theme is the Duolun Museum of Modern Art at number 27. A firm favourite in Shanghai’s art gallery pantheon, this three-storey exhibition space plays host to visiting and local artists throughout the year.

Never one to resist the pull of trinkets and curios, I was delighted by Duolun’s row of souvenir shops under little pagoda rooves. Many of the bookshops sell small ‘cartoon’ propaganda literature for a couple of kuai each, along with film posters old and new. Then there are the stalls selling jade and bright plastic phone charms.

There is also an interesting political side to Duolun Lu. There’s the rather lengthily-named Historical Documents of the Fourth National People’s Congress of the Chinese Communist Party at number 215, and the Mao Pin Museum at number 183 which contains 20,000 Mao lapel pins. The street is something of a monument to the role of literature in Chinese political history. The pavements are flanked with bronze statues of literary figures such as female writer Ding Ling, and members of the League of Left Wing Writers including Guo Moruo and Mao Dun. Close to Duolun Lu is the park and tomb of China’s most famous modern author, Lu Xun. It was writers like these who took part in the May 4th Movement.

 

 

Political unrest began to simmer around 1915, after the Japanese possession of Shandong concessions after the Paris Peace Conference, and a group of young intellectuals pushing for Western ideals over Confucianism with the encouragement of Chen Duxiu’s ‘New Youth’ magazine. Things came to a head on May 4th 1919 when over three thousand Beijing students demonstrated against the Paris Peace Conference, calling for the boycott of Japanese goods. Finally the government agreed not to sign the treaty. The result of the uprising was a spate of new publications designed to propagate new ways of thinking. This birthed a more informal style of literature and the growth of the intellectual scene, as well as eventually leading to a reorganisation of the Kuomintang and eventual genesis of the Chinese Communist Party.

So for political, religious, and artistic history, along with coffee culture and a glimpse of Old Shanghai, Duolun Lu ticks all the boxes.

Related Links
Duolun Road Antique Market
Moganshan Lu and Beyond – Shanghai’s Art Scene Past and Present
The Fabric of History – A Century of Chinese Flags and the Stories Behind Them
 

Warning:The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

0 Comments

All comments are subject to moderation by eChinacities.com staff. Because we wish to encourage healthy and productive dialogue we ask that all comments remain polite, free of profanity or name calling, and relevant to the original post and subsequent discussion. Comments will not be deleted because of the viewpoints they express, only if the mode of expression itself is inappropriate.