Sinan Mansions: original houses on the west side; one renovated mansion seen in the distance


Sinan Mansions: original houses on the west side; one renovated mansion seen in the distance

A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting with developers of Sinan Mansions. It was surreal. Every sentence used the words "restoration" and "preservation". The Hong Kong construction company revealed their signature preservation method: "First we tear them down -- top to bottom -- and then we build them from new materials, from the ground up".

The regulations are negligible: restored architecture should retain the look and the height of the original structure. That's all. To hell with historic interiors, antique brass, colonial hardwood, to hell with old growth trees -- and to hell with the people! 1040 families were evicted.

Empowered by the district government, the developers destroyed 49 funky, unique, overgrown and densely populated colonial villas and spat out a bleak and generic city block that could be at the fringes of Gubei. Walking between those identical pebble-washed walls feels... boring, and the hotel zone you can't even wander in: if the electric fence doesn't frighten you, the guards will. One night in Hotel Massenet costs 38,000 yuan. Serving the people.

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