If you squint your eyes, you can still see a busy little street here. The shops on Wangxin Road (王新街店铺) near Gaoqiao (高桥) in Pudong, were built in the late Qing Dynasty but now face an uncertain future.
They’re not labeled for demolition (the character 拆 isn’t shown), but there are many tags of landlords looking for tenants (租房), and newer signs of everything being sealed up (封). In a handful of houses, people still live — outnumbered by cats — but they also think the place is going to be torn down. The empty houses show some sign of previous lives lived; posters on the walls, crayons, a pack of cards, and empty glasses.
