Adrian Curtin's Reviews > Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road

I've always been enamored by the idea that the streets of every town contain innumerable stories, most of which are overlooked, lost to history and never retold. Already a juxtaposition of ultra-modern urban-planning skyscrapers and luxury high-rises interspersed with tangled neighborhoods of cramped and rapidly aging buildings, Shanghai seems to be constantly undergoing the growing pains of a rapidly developing city. Street of Eternal Happiness offers a non-fiction cross-section of the lives of residents who live and work near 长乐路 (Changle Road) in the heart of the French Concession district in downtown Shanghai. Retold through the words of PRI's Rob Shcmitz, the book explores the rich tapestry of the individuals who reside in modern-day Shanghai, their complex backgrounds, struggles and hopes. The stories reflect many parts of a diverse city that sits on an economic and generational intersection, with the psychological callouses or emotional fallout of the cultural revolution in one hand and on the other, the optimistic upwardly mobile new generation that nonetheless struggles with authenticity and purpose. Each profile grants the reader insight into the very human struggles of the individual and the social fabric of the city.

This sort of Shanghainese - Humans of New York is worth reading for anyone interested in the human element of the social, political, economic ongoings in Shanghai.