Why is Changning the number one in the hearts of Shanghai drifters?

Living in a first tier city, wearing a disguise mask on their face, the hurried migrant worker spends their whole life searching for a relaxing paradise. A fast-paced city like Shanghai, with high housing prices, fast efficiency, and a large population, is a place where consumerism is prevalent. Relaxation, innate scarcity. The street photos of Anfu Road, Yongkang Road, and Changle Road on social media are more like a pretended sense of relaxation. This may be a pursuit of a better life, or creating a social currency for showcasing oneself to the outside world. Smart businessmen package refined lifestyles as “necessities” and cultivate more and more people into consumers. Even some of people’s lifestyles are just consumer flows deliberately created and fueled by the commercial market. Only those who can enjoy themselves more in Changning District can truly grasp the essence of a relaxed life. Changning is probably the peach blossom paradise that all Shanghai drifters dream of. This is not my fabrication, it’s a report from Sanlian Life Laboratory.
01 # Changning is a city area more like Paris than the French Concession. You can say that Changning is not as prosperous as Xuhui, not as heavy as Huangpu, and not as luxurious as Jing’an… but no one can deny the inherent relaxation in Changning’s DNA. The looseness on Changning’s body is not just an act. Both old Shanghainese and new Shanghainese are captivated by its myriad charm. In the Old Shanghai dialect, urban residential areas are divided into upper and lower corners. The “Upper Corner” refers to the high-end residential areas in the western district of the city, while the “Lower Corner” is synonymous with poor or low-level residential areas. And Changning is the upper horn in the hearts of many Shanghainese, who are both Western and mysterious. The western suburbs of Changning have been the backyard of the four major families and capitalists since the 1930s, once overshadowed by the former Luwan. The Gubei New Area along Hongqiao Road is the “first wealthy district in Shanghai”, attracting foreign nationals from nearly 50 countries and regions including Europe, America, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, and is known as the “Little United Nations”. According to the data, Changning is the district with the largest number of foreigners. The registered overseas population of the district is more than 80000, accounting for more than 1/5 of the city’s overseas population. It has 26 consulates in Shanghai and more than 200 diplomatic residences, with a total of 70 regional headquarters of multinational companies. In the foreign alleyway of Changning, there are 29 European style villas of various styles and types. Not only does this place have century old buildings, but it is also filled with the local sense of life and fireworks of Shanghai. Especially when you stroll along Xinhua Road, you will clearly feel the unique atmosphere that sets it apart from other small streets in Shanghai. The combination of the common market and the heavy market is always intertwined, which is also an interesting result of the overlapping and collage of history. Simply put, this is probably the relaxation that people pursue, making everyone who comes and goes here feel relaxed and comfortable. A few days ago, I followed the lens of Serbian international students and strolled around Xinhua Road, feeling what it means to balance high-end life with daily life. In the public living room of the community in the alleyway, there are young people like me who come alone, office workers sitting in trendy coffee shops chatting about work, mothers bringing their children to take photos in various markets, and elderly couples coming together will walk into the emerging restaurants in Happiness to have lunch. In Changning, there is not only Xinhua Road, but also landmarks such as Yuyuan Road, Zhongshan Park, Xijiao Park, and Tianshan Cinema, carrying the memories of several generations of Shanghainese. And these landmark neighborhoods, after experiencing the accumulation of time, have integrated more artistic elements into every corner of Changning people’s lives. It also brought a more relaxed lifestyle, making the mental state of Changning people far ahead.
How good is the mental state of Changning people? So good that you can’t understand or comprehend. The mental state of Shanghai people is well-known as leading in the country. Whether it’s turning Halloween into a popular celebrity show or leading the trend of walking electronic dogs on Xiaohongshu, the mental state of Shanghai people can be seen. But the spirit of Changning people is decades ahead of other regions. When the chicken babies were born and died in other areas, the parents of Changning chose to grow freely. Of course, this is also closely related to the education planning and philosophy of Changning District. As the only district in the entire district that implements zoning and lottery, Changning has no books for studying and no homework on Wednesday afternoons. Happy education will take 20 years. So parents of chicken babies in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces never consider Changning when settling in Shanghai, and mostly choose Minhang. But in fact, Changning’s happy education is not as bad as imagined. Changning District has objective conditions for lying flat, and there are very few candidates in Changning District. This year’s high school entrance examination had only 3372 students, making it the district with the lowest number of students except for Chongming District. There are 3 key cities and 4 key districts within the district. In the case of a small number of people, the Pugao rate ranks among the top three in the city. Changning also has a title called the paradise of Puwa. However, some people also say that the Buddhist style is an illusion, and Changning has internal bugs that require competition. On social media, the comments from parents of Changning are also more Buddhist. I would rather chicken myself than roll up my child. Anyway, parents who want to raise their children will move out of Changning earlier, and those who stay will either be true Buddhists or have already arranged a way for their children to go abroad. The peaceful and leisurely spirit of Changning people has deeply attracted the Shanghai drifters. Especially for the Shanghai drifters who have been drifting in Shanghai for many years, once they enter Changning, it feels like returning to their hometown and they are reluctant to leave.
03 # Senior Shanghai drifters know better about Changning. According to reports from Sanlian Life Laboratory, many Shanghai drifters who briefly stayed in Changning still cannot forget Changning after leaving for many years, hoping to one day return to Changning to live. Even some people have changed jobs and would rather endure long-distance commuting than continue to live in Changning, simply because “only Changning can give me the Shanghai life I want.” Changning is so good, and those who have lived there know it. In the city center, Changning is like a panacea, where you won’t be far from anywhere, and cross district activities are usually within an hour. For working people, the rental prices here are also more friendly than those in Jing’an, Huangpu. A one-stop experience of eating, drinking, and playing, and it can simulate the scenery of a global vacation. Dang the road and look at the buildings designed by Wu Dake, the European and American style is coming towards you; Take a walk north and you’ll find authentic and authentic Japanese cuisine, giving you a feeling of being in Tokyo while traveling. Other Shanghai drifters can only have the lifestyle of a certain district in Shanghai, while those living in Changning can easily unlock most of Shanghai’s food, drink, and entertainment maps. Here, whether for travel or shopping, it is very convenient, so people who have lived here cannot do without it. And most of those who moved out of Changning District wandered around and eventually returned to the starting point. It’s like everyone’s original perception and definition of “happiness” is different, but what can move people is often those seemingly ordinary yet subtle moments. Living in Changning, Shanghai drifters can deeply experience countless daily healing moments. Shanghai, although known as the Paris of the East, lacks a sense of relaxation and is only superficially compatible with Paris, more like the ambitious New York. Only Changning District is an exception. Here, you can always find a unique sense of relaxation.