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Somewhere In-Between
	To be Shanghainese is to be something neither East nor West
	By Chen Danyan

Posted Monday, September 20, 2004; 20:00 HKT
While researching one of my books on Shanghai, I found the history of a public park built on marshland opposite the British consulate in the mid-1800s. The British envisioned a place where foreigners could walk and play with their children. For local Shanghainese, the idea of a lush garden designed by some of Europe's best landscapers must have been equally appealing.

Soon after the park was opened, a crowd of well-to-do Chinese walked up to the gate. Among them were Chinese missionaries fresh from training in the U.S. and compradors who served as liaisons between Western traders and Eastern suppliers. They were told they were not welcome. Yes, the park had been built with money from Chinese taxpayers. Yes, it was open to the public—just not the Chinese public.

The Shanghainese learned from tales like that. It took years of protest for Chinese to be allowed into the park—and even then, they had to obey a long list of rules. But eventually, the British accepted that Shanghai was not a colony.

In the official records of the engineering department, you can find a self-congratulatory note in which the British note their "history of continuous compromise."

But what about the compromises made by the Chinese? This bastard city was only able to survive through constant negotiation between West and East. From all this, bit by bit, a city that is neither Chinese nor Western has emerged.

Shanghai is still a mixed-blood place. In some ways, that makes the city lonely. In the eyes of other Chinese, particularly those from traditional Beijing, Shanghai is considered ugly and lacking in grace. As a Shanghainese, by contrast, I think our city's mongrel character is empowering. Chinese college graduates come here for their first jobs, and farmers leave their land to work in construction. Westerners come here, too, and live far more comfortable lives than they would at home. Many of my female friends walk down the street, in fashionable clothes, on the arms of foreign boyfriends who care a lot more about the city than the British did 150 years ago.

As a writer, I look at all these different people and try to make the magical link between the city's history and today's reality. Before I started writing about my hometown, I thought of myself as Westernized. But now, as I delve into the city's past, I realize that is not true. Instead, I am Shanghainese.

I can no longer decide what is East and what is West. As a daughter of this great city, both are wrapped together inside me.

Chen Danyan is a Shanghai-based writer who has authored best-selling books about her hometown

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