Debra Li

    debra_lidan@163.com

    NOWADAYS the usual scenes of bustling crowds are nowhere to be seen in urban villages in Shenzhen, as the homes to thousands of migrants along with the hidden treasures of the many affordable food stalls have found themselves in the eye of the storm during the recent flare-up of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    One of the urban villages, Guimiao Xincun in Nanshan District is nearing the end of a series of relocation efforts since the city government published a new plan in March last year to upgrade the area.

    Lin Zhiqian, a young illustrator who had spent 2010 to 2013 pursuing her postgraduate studies in visual communication in Shenzhen University, recently created a series of paintings about Guimiao Xincun to pay tribute to the disappearing urban village and to her student years.

    “Sitting with a bunch of friends at a round table feeding upon a hotpot of chicken and pork stomach after a long day of study or work, this could be the shared memory of Shenzhen University students and new graduates,” Lin recalled.

    “The food stall alley, only a few hundred meters long, was lined up with small restaurants on both sides, some having been there for more than 10 years. Every evening, the alley was lit up by lamps, with dinner tables spreading onto the street and young people laughing and talking and passing around beer bottles. Pedestrians in flip-flops sauntered by and those on electric bikes passed like a whirlwind.”

    Lin remembered that the alley was bustling with crowds from morning to night. The business at a Lao You Ji (the name meaning “Friends”) restaurant in the Westside Department Store was especially active at noon, when diners lined up to have a taste of the luoshi rice noodles and delivery guys hovered around to fetch their takeouts. The Qing Feng Lang (“Light Breeze Corridor”) at the entrance of the urban village was a good location choice to spend a cozy afternoon, where people could wind down and enjoy some alone time. Nearby was an old banyan tree said to have lived more than 500 years.

    “I decided to bid my farewell to Guimiao Xincun with paintings in the form of long-run folded leaflets, and share the familiar images with those who had spent their youthful days here,” she said.

    Painted in gouache, paint powders and color pencils, the colorful images record the life in the urban village on one side of the leaflets which then disappears into a more monotonous grayish green on the other side. With robust colors and rich details, Lin’s paintings bring back the architecture and people who once lived in the urban village.

    The illustrator is crowd-funding on www.modian.com to have her paintings of Guimiao Xincun turned into derivatives such as postcards and stickers.

    Learning to paint in her spare time in 2017, Lin quit her job in 2020 to start her painting studio. In the past few years, she has published several illustrated children’s books, including “Show and Tell” and “Great Girl.” She has previously worked with Shenzhen-based Artron Art Group.