There was a large gathering on the junction of Fuxing Lu and Jiashan Lu and strong police presence. Some men were shouting and a woman was screaming as the police were loading large wooden structures on the back of a truck.
I went closer and saw passers-by with their phones out videoing the scene. As I approached the truck I could see what the wooden furniture was – several street food carts which are often seen on this junction in the evening.
These carts sell fried noodles and fried rice to thousands of people every evening and are a welcome sight when you’re hungry and only have a few coins in your pocket. It seems such a shame that the police are clearing them away. A woman was protecting her stock of food now lying in a pile on the pavement.
Along Fuxing Lu, more traders were standing next to their food and gas canisters with nothing to store or carry them in. It was a sad sight.
However, on heading back from my night on YongKang Lu I turned onto Fuxing Lu and outside the Sino-British College I was pleased to find two food stalls had returned to defy the authorities. Well, they were either brave or had not learnt about the goings-on of earlier in the evening.
It’s the National Holiday and maybe the police are trying to smarten up the French Concession but stalls such as these are part of this place, part of the charm of Fuxing Lu and clearly popular with the locals and foreigners alike.
It’s a shame that such heavy handed tactics have to be employed to remove these folk. Surely there is much more important work for these police to do. Try cracking down on pick-pockets and thieves and this irritating low level crime that we all suffer in Shanghai.
Leave these hard working people alone to earn a crust.
