Urban Monsoon (The Cultural Spirit of Beijing and Shanghai)

Author: Yang Dongping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Describing the rapid changes in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chinese cities over the past decade will require a substantial volume. With the reissue of Urban Winds, I selected several excerpts to form two chapters, expressing my urgent concern for contemporary cities and conveying my urban sentiments to the best of my ability. To preserve the original form, only minor factual revisions and corrections of typographical errors were made to the first ten chapters of this book. I am grateful to Yan Bofei, Kong Lingqin, and New Star Publishing House for giving me the opportunity to organize and express my thoughts. Writing with zero distance from reality inevitably sacrifices the depth and meticulousness it should have. However, compared to the arduous efforts of on-the-ground preservation, words may no longer be as important. I am deeply grateful to Huaxin, Wang Jun, Fang Ke, and many old and new friends for their relentless struggles to protect Beijing’s ancient heritage. They have used not only pens and cameras but also vast amounts of time, emotions, and even their blood and lives to stand against bulldozers and the shortsightedness and greed of some. Like Liang Sicheng and Chen Zhanshang, they are the saviors of Beijing, and history will remember them.
Often people ask me whether I prefer Beijing or Shanghai. My heartfelt feeling is that it is because of these people’s existence that the city without walls—Beijing—has become somewhat lovable.