Renditions
No. 38 (Autumn 1992) Twentieth Century Memoirs
Shanghai in My Childhood Days
By Bao Tianxiao
Translated by Joyce Luk
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The first thing that we children noticed about Shanghai was the Japanese cabs. They had already caught our attention when our boat was still sailing up Suzhou Creek, approaching the Shanghai Pier. Compared with the later style of rickshaws, the Japanese cabs at that time had higher bodies and the wheels were all of metal. Rubber tyres were not yet in fashion. The pullers of these rickshaws had special caps and uniforms. The caps were trumpet-shaped, made of straw, resembling the lids of the barrels we Suzhou people used when making sauce. The uniform was of blue cotton cloth with a number on the back so that passengers could see it at a glance.
The second thing we noticed was those tall western-style buildings which we did not have in Suzhou, where even a three-storey building was a very rare sight indeed. As we were bowling along the streets in the rickshaws, it seemed as if we were going through a mountain gorge. We were completely dazzled with what we saw around us. After a while, the rickshaws turned into an alley and stopped in front of a stone building. I can recall it being a two-storeyed house with a garret at the back. The ground floor was a living room and the upper floor was occupied by father. Mr and Mrs Bei were sleeping in the garret.
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| American Consulate and Astor House Hotel in Shanghai. |
We felt bad having to stay in their house, giving them so much trouble. Even more so, because there was not much space there and it made it terribly cramped for them. We thought of checking into a hotel but Father Bei was strongly against the idea, saying that it wouldn't be convenient. Father, still an invalid, could not possibly move into a hotel, while the least grandmother and mother could do after coming all that way was to look after father — the Beis should really be relieved of this task now. Staying in a hotel would entail a lot of travelling and unnecessary expense. It would not be a convenient arrangement for looking after the invalid either.
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Research Centre for Translation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.