Lin Min

    SHENZHEN, which aspires to join the ranks of “world cities” like Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and London, is trying to present the best possible image to the world ahead of the 26th Summer Universiade. This is as understandable as a girl sprucing up for a prom.

    But just like many other Chinese cities who strive for “internationalization,” Shenzhen envisages a world city beaming with glamour and allure, trying to impress visitors with glittering skyscrapers and upmarket housing communities. A 50-year-old building like Hong Kong’s Chungking Mansions would be regarded by many as an eyesore, an embarrassment to a world city.

    Yet, the humble Chungking Mansions, which served as one of the locations for the filming of Wong Kar-wai’s 1994 movie “Chungking Express,” is home to nearly 3,000 people from 120 countries. In 2007, Chungking Mansions was named the “Best Example of Globalization in Action” by Time magazine in its annual feature “The Best of Asia.”

    The complex on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, features low-budget guest houses, curry restaurants, African bistros, clothing shops and foreign exchange shops. It often acts as a large gathering place for South Asians, Middle Eastern people, Nigerians, Europeans, Americans, and expats from other parts of the world. The 17-floor complex was billed by Peter Shadbolt of CNN as the “unofficial African quarter of Hong Kong.”

    Although Chungking Mansions is not as dirty and dilapidated as portrayed in “Chungking Express,” the building is crowded and old and looks no more impressive than any banal old dorm building in any industrial zone in Bao’an or Longgang. Shenzhen may well have bulldozed such a building in the name of development.

    Yet the unsightly building attracts foreign traders, expatriate workers and backpackers for its cultural diversity and competitively priced accommodation. Rooms at guest houses in the building can be as low as HK$200 (US$26).

    An international city should not only cater to high-flying businesspeople, professionals and wealthy tourists. Less well-off foreigners doing small business like those scouring electronic gadgets in Huaqiangbei and budget foreign tourists savoring street barbecues should also be a significant part of what makes a city diverse and “international.”

    Dengfeng Village in Guangzhou, known as the city’s “international village” for being a settlement for more than 3,000 foreigners, mostly from Africa and the Middle East, may soon come under the bulldozer for “urban renewal.” Many foreign residents there, who are plying small trade between Guangzhou and their home countries, are deeply worried about whether they have a future in Guangzhou as cheap accommodation is becoming hard to find and it would take years for them to converge on a new place that is fit for business.

    Like many other places, Chungking Mansions has witnessed fires, murders, and even racial tension in its 50-year history. Dengfeng Village is also troubled by visa violations, illegal work and even crime. Law enforcement should take its course when necessary. But this is life. Hong Kong, New York and other prominent world cities are not free of violent crime and deadly accidents. No sensible person would expect a world city or a host city of international events to be flawless.

    What attracts most foreigners to Shenzhen is the business opportunities here. Some tenants at Chungking Mansions are complaining of reduced business due to Hong Kong’s visa restrictions to some African countries, and some of them are moving to Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei. If someday Shenzhen has its own Chungking Mansions, it should be regarded as a symbol of the city’s transformation into a respected world city rather than an eyesore destined for “urban renewal.”

    (The author is editor of the Shenzhen Daily News Desk.)