名家评论
Hu’ book records the easily neglected history supporting thehigh-rise buildings. It looks at unique humanity, the makeup of human spirit, and the power of conceptuality. The spiritual heritage of the city runs through our blood and moves forward from generation to generation. A Biography of Shenzhen documents and comments on the changes and developments of an era.
——Han Wangxi, PhD of Philosophy at Renmin University of China and a visiting scholar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
目录
A Quest of Happiness: The foreword / 1
Chapter 1 The City and the Special Zone
A Tale of Two Cities / 9
The Story of the Second Line / 16
1979, A Spring to China / 21
1992, Another Spring in China / 29
Chapter 2 History of the City
Behind the Name / 39
The City of Peng / 44
Painted Pottery Shards in Xiantouling / 48
Continuous Immigration / 53
Doomsday of the Southern Song Dynasty / 60
Chapter 3 Locating the City Center
A Fish Called Shenzhen / 71
Center and Heart / 76
Inseparable Urban Villages / 80
Chapter 4 City Lights
Yuan Geng The Legendary / 87
Biographies of Shenzhen Merchants / 96
Van Gogh in Villages / 128
Our Material Life / 138
Chapter 5 Culture: From Desert to Sea
A Cultural Mule / 145
The Cultural Golden Triangle / 149
Create a Sea for Intellectuals / 154
Two Special Universities / 160
Two Cultural Champions / 168
Agamemnon of Shenzhen Theater / 172
A Shenzhen Calligrapher and Seal Carver / 176
Chapter 6 Mountains and Rivers
Guardian on Lotus Hill / 183
Mount Wutong and Hongfa Temple / 188
Southward Flowing Rivers / 195
Chapter 7 Peculiar Toponyms
Wei and Keng Everywhere / 203
The Story of Shekou / 210
Bagualing Unworthy of the Name / 217
Chapter 8 A record of Shenzhen’s Streets and Alleys
Sleepless Badeng Street / 225
Chung Ying Street: a special zone in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone / 230
My East Gate (Dongmen) and My Old Street / 237
Erotic scenes of “Kiss Buildings” / 244
Chapter 9 A Record of Shenzhen’s Customs
Wish you great fortune and give me a red envelope / 251
A dish that has been popular for 700 years / 257
Herbal tea is not real tea / 262
Jiwei shrimps and Jiwei people / 266
Literary giant also likes eating Shajing Oysters / 269
Chapter 10 An Account of Dialects
Learning Cantonese is as difficult as climbing the sky / 277
Will dialects become extinct? / 282
Chapter 11 Old Houses and New Buildings of Shenzhen
Hakka roundhouses filled with love / 289
Every watchtower is a volume of a
在线试读
It isn’t easy to describe Shenzhen precisely in a few words. But, although it is as young as 40 years old, it is more diversified and complicated than any other city in China, and it’s even one of a kind in the world.
Throughout human history, cities were constructed and reconstructed layer by layer on top of each other. The landscapes and culture shaped the cities’ lengthy formation, ultimately differentiating them from others.
However, it was different for Shenzhen.
To be precise, Shenzhen was instead “made” than being built. So it just came into being by surprise, which won it a reputation as “The Overnight City.”
“In 1979, / a Spring to China, / an elder drew a circle at the side of the South China Sea.” The lyrics of The Story of Spring, a popular song, depict the uniqueness of this city. Years ago, I wrote a book titled Touch: Designing a City. At that time, I was also making a documentary and interviewing designers involved in the construction of Shenzhen. When the film was completed, I concluded that Shenzhen is a city beyond intentional design. Let’s imagine: At a desolated seaside, a city built like playing with blocks swiftly rose onto an equal footing with the time-honored Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou and became a first-tier city. It is called Shenzhen Speed, a solitary miracle amongst all cities worldwide.
This high-speed engine has dramatically driven the pace of urbanization in China. Like overtaking someone when rounding a corner, many Chinese people shifted from villages to cities. “In the West, it took four centuries. In China, it took just four decades,” wrote the novelist Yu Hua in the afterword of his full-length work Brothers.
It takes much more time to understand the city than to build it.
Shenzhen is more erratic than other cities in China. Suppose we travel to Lhasa, Kashgar, Xi’an, or Hangzhou. In that case, we will find an established style or character defining each city with one keyword: mysterious Lhasa, the magnificent Kashgar, the time-honored Xi’an, and the fair Hangzhou.
What about Shenzhen?
Many people have been to Shenzhen and written about it, but none have found a universally recognized keyword to describe the city. People have thought of it as a land of opportunity or dumb money for many years. Over half of the “gold-rushers” to Guangdong headed toward Shenzhen. Some people regard Shenzhen just as a superficial upstart without a history. It can be the field for entrepreneurship but never a livable place. Some see it full of adventurers seeking fights and businesspersons seeking excitement in trying to cheat each other. Debauchery and battles are everywhere, which keep the faint-headed away. But of course, some people find it a paradise.
Only those who have lived there for more than a year can understand its unique form and content. But however people imagine it, the city consistently exceeds itself, in a good or bad manner.
To know a city is to understand it from its outward appearance to its inner essence, like knowing a person.
内容介绍
This is a magical city that nobody could accurately comprehend or dissect. This book will take a Culture Expert / Scholar’s perspective to conduct a holistic scan of the city and extend its touch to every corner of Shenzhen, corners that often are easily neglected by people. You can leisurely open any chapter of the book and get to appreciate a brand new Shenzhen. And it certainly will change your already formulated impression of this vibrant city.
作者介绍
Hu Yeqiu,a Culture Scholar, A writer.
Born and raised in Wuhu, An Hui province, Mr. Hu worked at <China Youth News>, <Shenzhen Special Zone Daily> and is an award winning journalist /author for several top national news prizes in China, prizes including “China News Award” and “First Place for National News Award”. Later on, Mr. Hu focused on Culture Industry and Urban Culture study and was appointed as the Head of Shenzhen Special Zone Culture Research Center Culture Industry Research Department.Mr. Hu was the Chief Strategist for < Vertical and horizontal of China > Show on Phoenix TV, the VIP for <The East & the West> Show on Hongkong TV, a Visiting Professor for Communication University of China, as well as the designated Researcher for Shenzhen University Urban Culture Research Lab.
Mr. Hu has published many books including, but not limited to, < Self-talk>, <The Offence to Culture>, <Idler, Life with books>, and <1-Minute Shenzhen>.非常抱歉，您前期未参加预订活动，
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