Longtang Culture
3 min readLongtang，unique to Shanghai and Shanghainese，is a special form of residence that solved the conflict between a large population and limited houses in the past.The timeworn Longtangs record the stories of Shanghai，and reflect the traditions the life style and attitude of Shanghainese.They concentrate many different people from all over China who have brought with them diverse cultures.Examine Longtang and you will understand the society and the history of Shanghai.
Thousands upon thousands of Shanghai people are sentimentally attached to the Longtangs till now.The main reason is that a strong human relationship prevails in the Longtang.A goodand close neighborhood relationship has taken shape there，which can hardlyappear in other modern residences.Longtang is such a place that provided the residents more chances to communicate with each other.In the Longtangs，people always meet together，all the residents are closelyassociated and conglomerated，thus bringing forth a strongsense of localism，safety and family-likeness.The main social activities in Longtangs are those of the old people and children.
In a Longtang they are never neglected as they are nowadays in other places.The special space arrangement in the Longtang can providepeople places for the old people and children to carry on public activities.Some of the old people are keen on doing public welfareactivities，for example，doing the cleaning work，taking care of each other and looking after the children.Such activities are carried on spontaneously，and have strong sense of humanity and life’s pleasure.
The Longtang is also a diversified and complicated living space.
The residents，with different professions，different backgrounds and different cultural levels have brought a diversified life here.People of different social status，have learned from each other and influenced each other，thus shaping a special civil culture.This kind of civil culture，due to the diversity and complexity of the living conditions here，can neither be degenerated，nor turn into an elegant culture.
Thus the culture of Longtangs becomes secular as well as harmonious，constituting the main content of the civil culture in Shanghai.
With the rapid growth of the urban population in Shanghai and due to some historical reasons，the housing problem in the city is becoming very serious.Each unit of the Longtang house，formerly occupied by one family，now has been shared by several families.
The residents even built sheds in the places where buildings are notallowed to be built by law.There are too many houses built in a lane area that is overpopulated，thus causing the deteriorating of the quality of the residences.
There has been the peculiar phenomenon of dozens of families living in a single house under such special condition.Some parts of the house，such as the kitchen and washroom，formerly were used only by one family and now are used by several families.
The life in the Longtangs is rich and full of vitality.People like to describe Longtangs as a kaleidoscope of the city life and as a museum of life and customs.It is in the Longtangs where you can notice the peculiar feelings of people there，you can know the origin of the personality of Shanghai people，and you can feel the pulse and life of the whole Shanghai.
