There are only over 1900 alleyways that originally accommodated 60% of Shanghai's population, with 50000 Shikumen residential units, of which more than half have been included in the scope of old renovation... With the advancement of urbanization, numerous Shikumen buildings that have condensed countless memories of old Shanghai are being pushed down and demolished.

The 2010 Shanghai World Expo was held in Shanghai, China in September 2010. I had the privilege of going to Shanghai to shoot the Expo. After filming the Expo, I wandered around Shanghai for a few days and went to Shikumen to shoot for half a day. At that time, I saw that the houses in Shikumen were indeed old and dilapidated. It seems that not saving them would directly affect the reputation of an international metropolis.

Take you into the 2010 Shikumen and see what it looks like without any renovation.

The houses in Shikumen Lane were once the most common houses among Shanghai residents, and have also become the most memorable and memorable houses for the older generation of Shanghai residents. It can be said that Shikumen Village was an incubator that nurtured Shanghai people and was a special symbol of identity for Shanghai citizens at that time.

Shikumen is a unique architectural form in Shanghai, which emerged in the 1870s and gradually withdrew from the market in the 1930s, becoming popular for over half a century. Its evolution and development have influenced the traditional layout and structure of Shanghai's urban architecture, and are a unique symbol of Shanghai's transformation from old towns to modern big cities. Every remaining Shikumen building in the city displays a unique style and origin.

According to experts' estimates, before the liberation, more than half of the residents in Shanghai lived in houses in Shikumen alleys, which became a unique characteristic of Shanghai and a rare feature in the country. The national residential stamps issued by China Post in the 1980s, which identified Shanghai's Shikumen Lane houses as a typical representative of Shanghai's residential buildings, serve as evidence.

I stayed in Fengle for the longest time, and walked in to learn about the history of Fengle with my grandmother and uncle who lived here.

Fengleli (Lane 1999, Sichuan North Road) is a residential area in Shikumen Lane, divided into two parts: north and south. It was built in 1916. There are 108 two-story houses with brick and wood structures, with a construction area of 9000 square meters. According to unverified evidence, Kang Youwei once lived in Fengle during his stay in Shanghai. The Sun Society was also established here in 1928. Now this is still a residential area.

The Origin of Shikumen: Shikumen Architecture with Traditional and Modern Elements Integrated

In 1853, the Little Knife Society Uprising led to a large influx of refugees into the concessions, breaking the situation of "separation between China and foreign countries" and causing a serious shortage of housing in the concessions. As a result, British merchants built a large number of wooden houses for rent and profit.

By around 1860, the number of wooden houses in the concession had reached over 8000, adopting a row layout and naming various row combinations with different names of "li", becoming the origin of Shanghai's modern lane style neighborhoods. But this rudimentary adjacent wooden house can easily cause fires

After 1870, it was banned by the concession authorities and replaced by a new type of architecture that not only met the cultural psychology and economic affordability of consumers, but also met the requirements of modern urban planning and management. This is the Shikumen architecture, which integrates Chinese and Western elements, traditional elements, and modern elements.

Each building unit is arranged and combined in a contiguous manner according to Western architecture, forming the Shikumen Lane.

As an architectural symbol, the Shikumen was relatively simple in its early days, with only two black painted copper ring gates inside the stone door frame. The high walls on both sides were connected to the mountain walls of the left and right wing rooms. Later, mountain flowers similar to Western style door lintels or window lintels were built above the stone door frame, forming various forms such as triangles, semicircles, rectangles, etc. The mountain flowers were decorated with relief sculptures inside.

Yong'an Lane, including two parts, 1953 Sichuan North Road and 152-192 Duolun Road, is invested and constructed by the real estate department of Yong'an Company and belongs to the new style of residential alleys.

The new-style Shikumen is the most representative residential building in Shanghai and is often considered one of the symbols of modern urban civilization in Shanghai. The new style Shikumen Lane residential building has made some improvements in the structure of the house, changing from the standing style of the old Shikumen to a brick wall load-bearing structure. Generally, a herringbone roof truss is used, and some parts use reinforced concrete structures.

This resident lives in three households, each with an area of approximately ten to thirty square meters. Three households share a kitchen without a bathroom and use a toilet to use the toilet. This household has heard that they are about to renovate this old house, and it is said that each household will need to compensate more than one million yuan. Grandma said, "How many square meters can you buy a house in Shanghai for more than one million yuan?"? The housing prices in Shanghai are terrifyingly high!

The old-fashioned Shikumen residential building features a horizontally long courtyard at the entrance, with left and right wing rooms on both sides, and a long window landing lobby directly opposite. The lobby is about 4 meters wide and 6 meters deep, serving as a gathering and banquet venue. On both sides of the guest hall are secondary rooms, with a wooden escalator leading to the second floor at the back, and then a back courtyard, which is only half the depth of the front courtyard, with a water well. Behind the courtyard is a single story sloping annex, usually used as a kitchen, miscellaneous room, and storage room.

There are entrances and exits in front and behind the entire residential building. The front facade consists of a courtyard wall and a side room mountain wall, with the "Shikumen" located in the center. The door frame is made of stone and is matched with thick black painted wooden door leaves; The rear wall is roughly the same height as the front wall, forming a nearly enclosed outer facade.

Although Shikumen was located in a bustling city, it still had some advantages of high walls and deep courtyards, allowing for tranquility in the midst of chaos. It was well received by the Chinese gentry and wealthy merchants who lived in the concession at that time. After the 2010s, the old style stone gate was gradually replaced by the new style stone gate.

Most modern stone storage doors adopt single or double compartments, with double compartments retaining only one side of the front and rear compartments, while single compartments completely eliminate the compartments. The biggest change in the internal structure of the new Shikumen is that the attached house at the back has been changed to a flat roof, and a small bedroom, namely a pavilion, has been built above it. The roof of the pavilion is made of reinforced concrete slabs, surrounded by railing walls for use as a sun drying platform. In order to reduce land area and save building materials, the new style stone storage door has also reduced the depth of the living room, lowered the height of the floors and walls.

Former Site of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai

It is a Shikumen house located on Madang Road, built in 1925. After the March 1st Movement in North Korea, the interim government of South Korea moved several times and entered here in 1926, when Kim Jong il served as the head of state (equivalent to the president). In 1932, due to the arrest of members of the provisional government of South Korea by Japanese military and police, they were forced to evacuate Shanghai. But it is the longest and most well preserved "old site" for the temporary government of South Korea to work in Shanghai.

Site of the First National Congress of the CPC (main site)

It is a brick and wood structure old style Shikumen residential building, facing north and south; The old site of a large dormitory adopts an old-fashioned Shikumen Lane residential style as a whole; The site of the First Congress is the birthplace of the CPC and the spiritual home of CPC people.

For some buildings with good structures, although they have been used for a long time, the structural damage is relatively small, and the entire alleyway is relatively complete. The internal layout and equipment of the house are also suitable for residential requirements, so they are listed as landscape protection alleyways and protected.

The text of Shikumen is in a classical style, with a clear red brick wall on the outer wall, brick arches on the window openings, and white window sills below, forming a color contrast with the red wall. The wall is partially protruding with pilasters and does not fall to the ground.

The facade of the building is decorated with blue bricks embedded with red bricks, with inter story line foot decorations and a herringbone roof truss. Under the mountain wall is a pair of curved wooden glass windows. The shape of the Shikumen in Fengle Village is simple, with an arched lintel and a horizontal brick plaque, showcasing the beautiful and elegant style of the old Shikumen neighborhood.

The Shikumen in Shanghai are mainly concentrated in Huangpu District, Luwan District, and Jing'an District, including Zhengyuanli, Huaihai Lane, and Meirenli on Chengdu South Road in Luwan District; Changle Road Qingfuli, Zhonghe Tun, and Gaofuli in Luwan District; Xingqing Village, Maomin North Road, Luwan District; Xinhua Village, Shimen 1st Road, Jing'an District; Chunyang Village and Xiangyun Village in Zhangyuan, Weihai Road, Jing'an District. There are still around 2 million Shanghai residents living in the buildings of Shikumen.

Shikumen is one of the symbols of modern Shanghai alleys. It is the most outstanding architectural group with the characteristics of Shanghai style, which not only has the traditional architectural characteristics of Jiangnan, but also integrates the style of Western connected layout. It is an excellent work that combines Chinese and Western elements in modern times.