Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Scene China
(daily except Mon 10.30am-6.30pm;
64370631,
T
W
www
.artscenechina.com), an art gallery inside a restored villa, in an alley just off the
southern side of the street, is always worth popping in on. Their stable of artists
produces painterly, tasteful work that's neither trendy nor gaudy.
A pleasant ten-minute stroll away on Huashan Lu, the
Propaganda Poster
Centre
(9.30am-4.30pm; ¥20;
62111845) is an abrupt change of tone,
providing a fascinating glimpse into communist China - you will not come
across a more vivid evocation of the bad old days of Marx and Mao. To find
the place, present yourself to the security guard at the entrance to 868 Huashan
Lu. He will give you a name card with a map on the back showing you which
building in the complex beyond to head for - the centre is a basement flat in
building 4. The walls are covered with Chinese socialist realist posters, over
3000 examples arranged chronologically from the 1950s to the 1970s, which
the curator will talk you round, whether or not you understand his Chinese.
There are, fortunately, English captions. With slogans like “The Soviet Union
is the stronghold of world peace” and “Hail the over-fulfilment of steel
production by ten million tons” and images of sturdy, lantern-jawed peasants
and soldiers defeating big-nosed, green-skinned imperialists or riding tractors
into a glorious future, the black-and-white world view of communism is
dramatically realized. Note how the Soviet Union flips from friend to enemy
and back again - it's all very
1984
. A few posters celebrate real achievements,
such as the new freedom of girls to choose their husbands, but they are
outnumbered by the grotesque lies, such as a picture of Tibetans welcoming
the Chinese army. Never mind; it might be only a few decades ago but China
has moved on so far it feels like centuries.
Ta ke a look at the knick-knacks in the gift shop, such as an image of an ack-
ack gunner on a teapot. Don't be tempted by these or by the posters on sale,
priced at thousands of yuan; they're bound to be fakes. Only buy the postcards,
at ¥10 each. The particular artistic style, influenced by Soviet socialist realism,
advertising images and folk art, is not without merit, and many contemporary
artists like to pastiche it, but with an ironic twist - peasants waving iPods
instead of Mao's Little Red Book, say. It's even got a name -
McStruggle
. If
that's your thing, you'll find examples in the galleries at Moganshan (see p.84)
and T-shirts and bags decorated with McStruggle images at the Shirt Flag
boutiques (see p.140).
T
Song Qingling's residence
About twenty minutes walk southwest from Hengshan Lu metro station, at
1843 Huaihai Xi Lu, is
Song Qingling's Former Residence
(daily 9-11am
& 1-4.30pm; ¥8). As the wife of Sun Yatsen, Song Qingling was part of a
bizarre family coterie - her sister Song Meiling was married to Chiang
Kaishek and her brother, known as T. V. Soong, was finance minister to Chiang.
Once again, the house is a charming step back into a residential Shanghai of
the past, and although this time the trappings on display - including her official
limousines parked in the garage - are largely post-1949, there is some lovely
wood panelling and lacquerwork inside the house. Song Qingling lived here
on and off from 1948 until her death in 1981.
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