Heritage hero fights long to save Shanghai

By Nancy Zhang  |   2009-7-19  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

RUAN Yisan's name is often in the papers these days. Everytime another old building is saved from the sword in Shanghai, it's reasonably likely Ruan is behind it.

Since June he has petitioned, successfully, to save Nie's Garden, an 8,000-square-meter, 1920s private estate in Yangpu District, and the 100-year-old Shanghai Rowing Club on the Bund. In March, he also petitioned to save several buildings in Shanghai's former Jewish quarter in Hongkou District.

As the city's foremost preservation expert, Ruan's is one of few voices that are listened to.

Officially, he is director of the International Historic Cities Research Center, a Tongji university professor, and founder of the Ruan Yisan Foundation for architectural preservation.

But he is better known for his part in saving high profile historic areas nationwide - many of which are now UNESCO world heritage sites. These include Pingyao in Shanxi Province, Lijiang in Yunnan Province and six water towns in the Yangtze Delta.

"If I don't do it who will?" said the frail looking man, now 75.

Delicately built and softly spoken, Ruan's words nevertheless pull no punches.

Speaking of his research on the Grand Canal's current application for world heritage status, he said he took on the project because, "Nobody else was doing it right. They take a flight there, drive around, have a banquet and call that research."

His bad temper has become his trademark in the Chinese media and when it comes to heritage architecture Ruan has a lot to be upset about.

Since the economic reforms of the late 1970s, sweeping modernization has bulldozed much of China's historic architectures. In the 1990s Shanghai earned the dubious honor of having the highest concentration of construction cranes in the world, and the World Bank predicts that from now until 2015 half the world's new building construction will take place in China.

In Shanghai, 12 conservation districts have been designated but according to Ruan these areas have favored high quality villas ahead of the more historically important longtangs typical of everyday life.

"I have long argued that longtangs reflect Shanghai vernacular culture, but for so many years we had no longtang protection zone," he said. Petitions made headlines recently as a result of a three-month research project led by Ruan at the end of 2008. With a 173 strong research team, he fine-combed the non-listed areas in Shanghai for more architectural treasures.

The report recommended expanding four of the 12 listed protection zones and adding another five areas. According to Ruan this would add another 2.62 square kilometers to the 27 square kilometers currently under protection. The report has been submitted and is awaiting official reply. Such efforts are symptomatic of Ruan's lifetime of campaigning.

In 2006, the now extremely valuable art district M50 on the banks of Suzhou Creek was slated for demolition. Ruan moved his offices into one of the warehouses and invited city authorities to listen to his petition in the houses they were planning to destroy.

Over two years from 2006 Ruan also travelled 1,794 kilometers of the Grand Canal by foot and slow boat to carry out thorough research.

In the Shandong stretch of the journey, Ruan was bitten by a dog in a local village and had to endure months of rabies injections. Recently while visiting Yanshan, he collapsed from exhaustion and was hospitalized for two months.

Ruan describes himself as a particularly persevering, almost stubborn man. If he sets out to save a building he has to follow it through to the end.

"I love my culture. As a Chinese person who has been abroad, I know that Chinese culture is so unique and irreplaceable. I hate to see it being violated or treated roughly," he said.