Bringing back old memories
Shanghai’s Huanghe Road hums with activity as a new TV series lures visitors enamored by food and nostalgia
Formerly known as a gastronomical paradise, Shanghai’s Huanghe Road used to be home to over 100 restaurants, many of which served high-end fare that only the rich and famous could afford.
But everything started to change in the late 1990s, when a spate of changes sapped the luster out of this bustling street.
For safety considerations, the iconic neon signs that gave the street much of its character were torn from the buildings. Fried snakes, a delicacy that many intrepid gourmands sought after, were also banned. The Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, the SARS pandemic in 2003, and the rise of other gourmet streets in the city subsequently resulted in many restaurants here closing down.
But the area is now experiencing a revival of sorts, with throngs of people armed with cameras flocking to it in search of nostalgia and historical elements, as well as delicious food.
Wang Yongfen, who has been living in a shikumen (traditional lane) house on Huanghe Road for the last 35 years, said she has not seen such crowds for years.
The reason behind this phenomenon is Blossoms Shanghai, a new television series by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai.
Adapted from local writer Jin Yucheng’s award-winning novel, Fan Hua (Blossoms), the TV series takes audiences back to the 1990s Shanghai, when the city was experiencing unprecedented economic growth and prosperity.
The plot revolves around the life of A Bao, an ambitious young man who seizes the opportunities of the early stock market to become a millionaire. A Bao is played by renowned Chinese actor Hu Ge. Other big-name actors include Ma Yili, Tang Yan and Xin Zhilei.
Wong purchased the adaptation copyright for the novel around a decade ago and spent three years producing the TV series. The highly anticipated show marks the first time Wong is directing for television.
Since its launch on Dec 27, Blossoms Shanghai has sparked lively discussions on social media. Many of these discussions are related to the authentic portrayal of the yesteryears in Shanghai, as well as the use and preservation of the Shanghai dialect. The show is also available in dubbed Mandarin.
Some viewers have taken to sharing short videos from the series to help others learn the Shanghai dialect, which is today less used among those of the younger generation.
Though she does not fully understand the dialect, a Henan native surnamed Gao said she much prefers watching the Shanghai dialect version.
“The use of the Shanghai dialect in the TV series really impressed me, and it allowed me to be more immersed in the show. I prefer watching shows in the original language and with subtitles because I get to experience more of the emotions and psychological states of the characters,” Gao said.
The 30-year-old said that the show has even triggered a longing for Shanghai dishes among her relatives and friends in Henan province.
“The TV series did a great job of portraying Shanghai in the 1990s. Although the names of the restaurants and shops in the drama were made up, the scenes got me reminiscing about the many old-school restaurants
and bars here,” said Wang, the long-time resident at a house on Huanghe Road.
Many others have also lauded the accuracy of the details depicted in the show, such as how many restaurants used to be open from lunchtime until dawn, and how people needed to make reservations up to two weeks in advance.
“Restaurants here were the pioneers in introducing Hong Kong cuisine to the city. Many top chefs from Hong Kong used to work in eateries in this area,” recalled Wang.
“Hong Kong dishes quickly became popular as pop songs and movies from Hong Kong were highly sought after here in the 1990s. It was common to see photos of restaurant owners posing with famous movie stars and singers from Hong Kong.”
A security guard surnamed Zhang, who works in an office building along the road, said the area has been overflowing with visitors since the airing of the new TV series.
“Just look at the nearby Park Hotel. People have been lining up from as early as 6 am to buy its popular palmier, even though the pastry shop opens at 8 am. There are also many more young people visiting these days,” said Zhang.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the latest craze is the restaurant Tai Sheng Yuan, which was the inspiration for the fictitious Zhi Zhen Yuan restaurant depicted in the drama. According to its staff, online sales rocketed 170 percent. Group-purchase orders had also soared by 240 percent.
Visitor numbers to the Fairmont Peace Hotel on the Bund, another landmark depicted in the TV series, have also been rising, as evidenced by the deluge of photos posted by Chinese social media users.
To take advantage of the fanfare surrounding the road, the hotel recently unveiled a new set menu comprising several dishes featured in the TV series. Despite costing 1,460 yuan ($204), dinner reservations for the two-person set meals were quickly snapped up.
An eatery selling Yunnan-style rice noodles has also jumped on the bandwagon by rolling out new set meals and incorporating elements from the show into their menus.
Online food delivery services have also reported that takeaway orders for meals featured in the TV drama have been soaring. For example, online orders of rice soup, a typical Shanghai dish made by soaking leftover rice in seafood broth, spiked 1.5 times on Meituan, a major e-commerce platform for food delivery.
Other Shanghai classics such as pork chops and rice cakes, have also been massively popular, with delivery orders for them soaring by 300 percent on Meituan.
Huang Jiani, a former resident, said the show reminded her of the days when people could still set off firecrackers downtown during the Spring Festival holiday.
“Businesspeople believed that larger and louder firecrackers would bring greater fortunes in the Lunar New Year. On the eve of Spring Festival, restaurant managers would set off boxes of firecrackers larger than TV sets in the middle of the street. The deafening sounds could be heard until sunrise,” Huang recalled.
“The sounds got even louder at midnight of the fourth night of the Lunar New Year as this is when people welcome the God of Wealth.
“I still remember the smell of smoke entering the room when we opened our windows the next morning. And when we left home, we had to make our way through thick, red debris of exploded fireworks that completely enveloped the street.”