Craftsman Wang lived forten yearsinShenZhen.Hecomesfrom asmalltowninthe interior but was afraid not to be able to provide his child with the future hewas hoping for. His parents and the parents of his wife died early， nothing will hold him back there. With his wife “LuLu” (璐璐， Pretty Gem of Jade) and the baby he moves toShenZhen. First， he has a full-time job as a factory worker， his wife takes care of the child. When he comes home， she goes to work in a large sewing company nearby. She works every night， he works during the day， so that the child is always supervised and observed.
A few years later they feel that they cannot go on like that. They live separate lifes， they are tired， they are overworked. So they decide to open a workshop. Craftsman Wang can fix anything， he is also doing this in the factory， he never waits for the internal workshop； so in a side street he opens up a bicycle and moped repair shop. Here it is always busy， for all sorts of small shops， craftsmen and restaurants – if one may call those small food stalls restaurants – are located on the ground floor of the houses and opened from early morning until midnight， or longer if needed.
In the evening， LuLu offers in the street hot meals， snacks， and meat skewers. Now they are together all day， working and living on the street， sleeping in a small room in the back of the shop， virtually in the office. There， they also make the accounts， if one wants to call it that. In the workshop there is a TV-set that runs all day. Xiao LuLu (Little LuLu)， their daughter， goes to school now.
At noon she comes home for dinner with a handful of friends. Mother LuLu is cooking， they eat on small plastic stools on the street. Next door and along the whole street it looks all the same. Children are washed， bathed， fed， they get their hair cut outside， the older children do homework in the afternoon in the “office” of the workshops or in the front， in the shop room. The clothes hang on the shop doors or on the street in the branches of the trees.
The children are playing together outside the store or at the computers， the adults are loudly chatting – if no customers happen to be there – out of one store and into the
Craftsman Wang repairs an electric scooter， a boy from the neighbourhood looks with interest， criticism and competence.
other， and if the car traffic was not so noisy they would try that across the street， too. This way， if someone wants to talk to his opposite neighbour， he or she has to cross the street in person.
The neighbours are running all kinds of shops， there is a barber shop where I am occasionally having my hair cut. All the hairdressers there are men， most of which appear to be or are openly gay (one of them asked me once for my phone number ...)， while women and girls are responsible only for hair washing and scalp massage， which belongs to hair care in China and is a blessing. A few hundred metres away， six hairdressers are standing at the street junction on the pavement， here the hair cut does cost only a fraction of the price in the shop that in my view is already very low， anyway. Whether painting shop， pharmacy， metallurgy (“five metals”)， bedding， lamps or laptop repair – in the street you will find everything you need！ LuLu’s competition offers delicious “baozi”， a kind of steamed， filled bun. The baozi are available with various meat or vegetable fillings or with soup which you better suck out before eating the entire bun lest it might splash onto trousers or shirt.
In the parallel road shoes (and other leather goods) are getting repaired in the street， there are at least a dozen shoemakers， some have a small shop， others mobile devices on the street， again others are working behind a fence， a woman in front is recruiting customers. Near my apartment I have my private cobbler for my persistently needed backpack repairs， also this a small roadside shop. Not far away is tailoring.
At evenings and on Sundays when fewer customers ask for service they sit together， play cards， drink tea or beer， on special days at times baijiu， but rarely the good MaoTai liquor， which is usually too expensive. Like that is the street at which Craftsman Wang set up his workshop： a small village in the megalopolis.
“Mayor” Song(宋长)
“Mayor” Song is a former farmer and has never been a mayor， even not a “village
LuLu sells hot snacks in the evening.
The laundry is dried on the street.
mayor”， but in his old village， he was the most respected farmer and the village people always called him “village mayor Song” or in short： “mayor Song”， whoever else was the real village mayor. Nowaydays he is an investor. Being 75 years， he has come a long way in ShenZhen. In his “village” of XiaShaCun (下沙村，Village under the Sand)， now a part of ShenZhen， he is one of many acknowledged and respected old men. In 1979， when the special economic zone was established in ShenZhen， he grew vegetables on a good piece of land he had inherited from his parents. They were one of the few farmer families in this fishing village， and his family was the most respected one， and especially he himself got highly respected by the villagers because of his friendly character and his willingness to help anybody and everybody.
Quickly the city overgrew the territory of the “village” of XiaShaCun， and “mayor” Song sold his land. With the money， he built one of the first large apartment buildings in XiaShaCun and lives of the rental income of other houses that he built later. Long since he does not care himself any more about the administration. Why should he listen in his age to the complaints of tenants that there are drips， that the light does not work， that the door is stuck？ The spring chickens he has hired know better.
The neighbour’s daughter is fed on the street.
“Mayor” Song ， lost in thought， walking through the small park.