Shanghai's Decrepitude (Picture Post).

[LabelKing]

As some might know, I recently went on a trip to the People's Republic of China, namely Shanghai; but also some other cities including Macau. Macau had a lot of obviously underaged prostitutes roaming the old Casino Lisboa. However, I visited the Shanghai Nautral History Museum which is housed in an unbelievably decrepit Neoclassical edifice with cupolas and all, built I believe in 1923. Thick lead paint-laden teak paneling, warped parquet floors, dirty marble mosaics and grimy stained glass windows abounded along with crackling plaster cornices and incogruous picnic furniture. And this was when plaster ornaments were still done by hand on a sort of hay back--none of that prefabricated plastic stuff. There was also some mid '80s "digital" elevator full of cigarette butts stuck in the middle of the stairwell, replacing what I suspected was an old cage elevator. All the animals looked lonely and sad, a thin coating of dust on each diorama and exhibit. The main lobby--huge, dark, and replete with an extremely large but grey-cast coffered glass ceiling--was as dark as lung cancer; it held a set of dinosauer bones. In all, it was a pleasant visit, quite delightful in fact since I think the more decrepit a museum, the more enjoyable. I don't want to visit some LCD display.

The main stairwell up to the entrance lobby

The so-called "Rest Area" and gift shop comprising of tacky plastic paper-weights and puzzles on a much-abused and repainted glass counter, probably gleaned from a 1970s State department store.

The intricate marble mosaics, done by Italian craftspeople in 1923.

Entrance lobby.

One of the more preserved stair vestibules.

Crown mouldings in the bathroom which was a section sub-divided up from a larger lobby area.

The general exhibit halls

A rather rare--and lonely--coelacanth fish. It seemed to be rotting though, in its corner.

A strange animal.

Another exhibit hall

An unrelated but lovely French villa in the middle of Shanghai. There are numerous buildings of this sort there. This is clearly a well-preserved one. Others house something like 25 households in the various former (sub-divided) living rooms, etc.

And for a bit of StyleForum appropriate consumerism.

 

[maomao1980]

nice post. Did you visit the Lattanzi store? What is the mark up like? usually luxury goods are 25 to 30 % more expensive in China compared to else where.

 

[whnay.]

Originally Posted by maomao1980

nice post. Did you visit the Lattanzi store? What is the mark up like? usually luxury goods are 25 to 30 % more expensive in China compared to else where.
How on earth do people afford it?

 

[Luc-Emmanuel]

Originally Posted by whnay.

How on earth do people afford it?
They steal from the poors. !luc

 

[globetrotter]

cool

 

[Joffrey]

that's probably why most luxury goods firms in China are doing poorly.

 

[designprofessor]

The museum comes across as both intiguing and melancholy. Take any "fine art" photos?

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Or any, uh, "street fashion" photos?

Just kidding, I swear. Great post and sounds like a fascinating trip. Did you go to Jean George's restaurant or anything like that?

 

[LabelKing]

Yes, indeed, the markup was about 30%; however, there was recently a new decree made up to add more duties to imported "luxury" goods.

So, those Lattanzis are even more expensive than ever. Unfortunately, the salespeople did not allow me to take pictures of the shoes, of which there was an extensive collection of. All very nicely antiqued.

I don't know who is buying the Lattanzis but there are certainly people buying things like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Prada, and the more logo-obvious things. For example, a salesperson at I.T.(a high-end department store from Hong Kong) said that business was actually quite good for 30,000 RMB Commes des Garçons coats and that no, most of the buyers were Mainland types, with a smattering of Japanese tourists.

The level of corruption at every level of bureaucracy is remarkable. For example, my father's cousin is a friend of the Director of Cargo at Pudong Airport and he said if you have any overweight/illegal cargo, just give him a call.

 

[Kent Wang]

I remember seeing that very same coelacanth when I was a lad of six and it gave me a terrible fright. It's quite a remarkable coincidence that you chose to photograph it.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

I remember seeing that very same coelacanth when I was a lad of six and it gave me a terrible fright. It's quite a remarkable coincidence that you chose to photograph it.
I have the impression that most of the exhibits are from the '60s and '70s given the (typewritten) yellowed labeling and some of the rather dated looking designs.

 

[Nantucket Red]

Great. I've been waiting for some account of your trip. Is that coelacanth alive?

This reminds me of the Indian Museum in Calcutta, which is similarly grand and decrepit. I toured it in 1993 when I was last there.

 

[maomao1980]

Speaking of museums, one of my favorite place to hang out in Beijing is the natural history museum. Lots of childhood memories were planted there so imagine my shock when they recently revamped the pre-historic room with a bunch of electronic interactive junks, the horror. I liked it much better with just the skeletons, the anatomically incorrect drawings, and the outdated scientific facts pasted on the walls praising the rise of man-kind, or was it the rise of the People...

And on the subject of who is buying luxury goods in China, keeping in mind that luxury firms are setting up shop in China now to target the growing consumptions of the future, and taking a loss now is their investment strategy, the retail outlets are actually doing very well in their current state. All of the big names are in the process or already have revamped their old outlets into flagship stores. I believe there are as much as four Stefano Ricci stores in China.

LabelKing, what other brands have opened on Euro Street in Hangzhou now? Last time I was there, there were only Armani, DG, and Zegna.

 

[von Rothbart]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

And for a bit of StyleForum appropriate consumerism.

LK, is that picture of the Hangzhou store? Or is it in Shanghai? Last time I visited the Lattanzi website it only listed Hangzhou.

 

[LabelKing]

The Silvano Lattanzi store is one in Shanghai, apparently newly opened. It is across from that trendy Xintiandi bar area which coincidentally has a fairly well-stocked I.T. department store.

If I recall correctly, the Cairo Museum is similarly very decrepit, although I've no idea if it is now. Before, people used to complain that things at the museum were rotting and everything was covered in dust and generally looked like it had never left 1930.

Indeed, the Shanghai Natural History Museum also has numerous accounts of the various races, with the sort of knowledge perhaps suited towards a German anthropological Museum circa 1925. The white race is visually described as being two Italian Renaissance sculptures of Adam and Eve and the blacks are depicted as various African tribespeople.