An old school Chinese apartment, was our Airbnb choice this time.
In Shanghai, we stayed in an authentic 1930’s local apartment housing. We found it on Airbnb and it was in an amazing location for a great price considering how expensive Shanghai is as a city. We were warned ahead of time that the staircase was rickety and very old. We read a dozen of the reviews and the stairs were mentioned often but every guest still had many good things to stay about the unit. We arrived prepared and expected to see what was described. I am constantly pleased with the amount of information and the accuracy of the reviews on Airbnb.
The building lived up to its reputation. The apartment was small, modern and comfortable. Our host told us the building had been built in the 1930’s and was a typical housing unit for Shanghai at the time. The building was only 3 stories tall. The bottom street level floor had several small occupied business spaces. The 2nd and 3rd floor were family apartments. Everything that was authentic and had not been remodeled was made from wood. The stairs were all wood planks nailed together. The wooden hand rails were smooth with years and years of use. The hall had wood slat floors that I imagine were the original with their discolor and well-worn look. The main room in the hall was set aside for cooking. It was dark and dingy and only half resembled a kitchen. A portable electric burner seemed to be the popular choice for fixing meals. There was also a side room set aside for a bathroom. At first, we didn’t think much of it as we walked past the tenants cooking their evening meal in the hall area. We also didn’t think much of it when we passed the open bathroom door in the hall. It wasn’t until while lying in bed one night, when we heard the pitter patter of slippers going down the hall that we realized, that none of the units had their own kitchen or bathrooms and that was why they were in the hallway. Each apartment consisted of one room and if lucky a small patio. Our room was 10ft x 12ft and a small patio. Our hosts had added a sturdy iron frame to make a loft style bed and added a mini kitchen underneath. Our host had also walled in the small patio and ran plumbing to it to turn it into a small bathroom. On a tour, we had heard that many of these low-income apartment houses had been developed by the government and it was a common for a family (4-6 people) to all live in one unit. Each floor would share a kitchen and bathroom for all the residents.
For Bud and me as temporary visitors, it was great to stay and see people who still lived in the building. We were out of place with our neighbors but we felt comfortable. The residents we ran into were at least 60 and above. They spoke only Chinese and were polite. I wondered what they thought every time a stranger passed through their kitchen? We would come in some evenings to some wonderful smells of cooking vegetables. This housing choice in Shanghai really gave us a feeling to what the common non-wealthy residents lived like in the past and present. Following are photos of the unit and the hallway and stairs. Beth H.
Airbnb in Shanhai China = $41 per night
