三十年代上海的摩登生活

Modern Life in Shanghai in 1930S

上海是个独特的地方,它特立独行的站在中国的一隅,不与其他地方容纳,但中国又无法缺少这个开放性的经济城市。余秋雨先生在《文化苦旅》中早有论断,上海是座特殊的城市,它在中国的版图上保留着那份独有的“小资”与“摩登”。

Shanghai is a special city.Facing the boundless Pacific and backing against the long-winding Yangtze River,everything about the city is concerned with the water. And due to the fact that if is surrounded by the water,it appears like a door of China,opening to the outside world.New culture and new development blend nicely here. The fact that it is a convenient transportation hub makes Shanghai become the object for the covetous Western powers.It became an important port for commerce after the Opium War.Because of the aggression by these foreign powers,Shanghai gradually turned to be a deformed semi-colonial and semi- feudal city from a famous city in the Southeast.Shanghai,under that circumstance, was in an abnormal development period,which in turn also prompted Shanghai's growth and its integration into the world.It gave birth to the“modern”life in 1930s, too.As unique as it is,Shanghai outstands in the corner of China,not accommodating other cities and it is an economically-open city that is indispensable to China.Yu Qiuyu has given the description to two cities of Shanghai and Beijing in his book Shanghainese that“Beijing is a typical Chinese style capital: backing against the Great Wall,it is seated towards the south,solemn and respectful in good manner.On the contrary,Shanghai is towards the east,facing the vast Pacific Ocean with the long-running Yangtze River at its back.It is not striking that that Shanghai is in one corner of the country.