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THE ART OF GETTING AROUND IN OLD SHANGHAI

Picture source:Pinterest; Shanghai before 1949

Today, Shanghai has an extensive public transport system, largely based on buses, trolley buses, taxis, and a rapidly expanding metro system. Shanghai has invested heavily in public transportation before and after the 2010 World Expo, including the construction of the Hongqiao Transportation Hub of high-speed rail, air, metro and bus routes.
However, the beginnings of the local traffic system were strikingly different…

1.From the mid 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century the basic vehicles on the streets of Shanghai were carriages.

Picture source:Historic Shanghai

2.The first carriages which were firstly introduced from Europe in 1850 were  western style and only the wealthy or respectable could afford them.

Picture source: sikhsinshanghai.wordpress.com

3.The one – wheel riskshaw drawn by a man came from the northern China. The  inner iron wheel was sturdy and durable, and capable of load-bearing. It cost only a few pennies and was suitable for both the old and the young.
This picture was taken at the beginning of 20th century.

Picture source:Cultures of The Old Shanghai
4.In the  summer of 1874 a French man Mira introduced from Japan 300 vehicles - which were then called ‘jinrick-shaw’ - as a kind of profitable transport. The name rickshaw came from Japanese , and only 20 licenses were issued at the very beginning.
At that time man-power was much cheaper than horse-power; horses were generally only used by the military. Some of the rickshaws were artistically decorated with paintings and rear elevations. In those times, the more exuberant styles of decorations were banned. If the families were well-off financially, they might have their own rickshaw runner. Generally, runners covered 32 to 48 kilometers (20 to 30 mi) in a day, at an average traveling speed of 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) per hour.
Picture source:The Cultures of the Old Shanghai

5. Rickshaw prevailed in the 1920s and 1930s.
They offered an affordable and convenient means of getting around.Popular among the rich and poor alike, rickshaws were ideal for short journeys through crowded inner-city streets and alleys. Besides from passengers, rickshaws also carried goods, manure and even cadavers. Commuters used it to get to work, take children to school or attend social gatherings. Rickshaws could last for at least five years with regular maintenance. However, the purchase cost was high, amounting to at least a year’s salary of a rickshaw puller in 1917. In an attempt to cut costs, rickshaws began to be produced locally in 1921, but the product proved inferior compared with the Japanese-made ones.

Picture source: Cultures of the Old Shanghai
6.Hengwah and Hockchew immigrants from southeastern China dominated the rickshaw trade from the end of the 19th century. For these men, majority of whom were illiterate peasants, rickshaw-pulling was an easy means of earning a livelihood since it did not call for special skills and only required coordination, physical strength and stamina. However, pullers not only had to bear with the physical strain, but also the risks of injury and even death from overexertion and mishaps. The Straits Times newspaper described rickshaw-pulling to be “the deadliest occupation in the East (and) the most degrading for human beings to pursue”.
Pullers drew the two-wheeled cart using the long shafts protruding by the wheels. The hood of the rickshaw was always down unless a passenger requested it to be up for protection against the harsh weather, or to maintain anonymity while travelling.
Pullers earned about $1 a day, and around 20 to 30 cents of that daily income went to the rickshaw rental. Some of them had a second job as construction coolies (unskilled laborers) to supplement their income.
Picture source:Pinterest; Shanghai in 1945; by Walter Arrufat

7.In the early years of the Republic of China, the improved jinrick-shaws were painted yellow and picked up passengers on the streets – they got the name Huangbaoche.

Till 1940s, the number of registered Huangbaoche in Shanghai developed as well as the trishaws which were equipped with chains and spinning steel balls, and compared with Huangabaoche, they were apparently much more advanced.

Picture source: Cultures of the Old Shanghai; trishaw in the Broadway Road ( today Daming Road)

8.The best vehicle for carrying heavy things such as firewood, coal and iron was tiger couch wagon. It had two pneumatic tyres.It needed pushing and pulling to make it move, mostly seen in the place for docking barges in a pier.

Picture source:Cultures of the Old Shanghai

9.On 5 March, 1908, the first tramcar introduced by British businessmen began to run in public concession, which symbolized that the transport with modern civilization features began its times in Shanghai.

Following the tramcars, other advanced vehicles such as buses and trolleybuses also appeared and greatly facilitated Shanghai citizens’ lives.

Picture source:Cultures of the Old Shanghai

10.Private cars, motors, trishaws, jinrick-shaws and pedestrians were moving at the same time on a street of concession, on which tramcars and buses could drive. There were no traffic rules. Even a flock of sheep could boldly cross the street.

Picture source:Cultures of the Old Shanghai
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