STREET OF ETERNAL HAPPINESS: BIG CITY DREAMS ALONG A SHANGHAI ROAD by Rob Schmitz

Judging from Trip Advisor, Changle Lu in Shanghai is a very interesting street to spend a bit of time on. It is in the historic French Concession, a very modern mix of old buildings now converted into boutiques, eateries, bars etc, and new high rises. It would appear to have enough charm left in it for a stroll. It is on this street that the author of this book lives, in an apartment building with his wife and young child. He is the Shanghai correspondent for National Public Radio, and has lived off and on in China since 1996 when he was a Peace Corp Volunteer. The changes he has seen in that twenty years form the basis to this book, a mini bio of some of the people who live and work on this historic street, and a heart warming tribute to their spirt, their doggedness, quiet determination, and all round human - ness.

Being a journalist of course, he knows the questions to ask and how to nurture these relationships along, the result being these great snapshots of lives that have gone through an absolute roller coaster of economic, political and cultural change in the last 70 years. There is CK, probably in his 30s, having varying degrees of success in operating a dining establishment and bizarrely the import licencee for a high quality line of Italian piano accordions; there is Zhao Shiling, a wife and mother who ran away from her rural village, becoming a flower seller and now responsible for her two adult sons; the long suffering and now elderly residents of Maggie Lane who have seen their homes destroyed around them; Uncle Feng and Aunty Fu in constant disagreement over how to make money; and finally a mysterious box of letters. In his sensitive and careful questioning, Schmitz extracts stories that are probably a snapshot of many communities in modern day China. Over shadowing everything in the lives and histories of these people are the appalling and devastating policies of Mao Zhe-Tsung and his Communist rule. Awful things happened to these families in past decades, the effects still being felt now. Yet despite these shadows, there is huge optimism and a definite sense of getting there one day. The people Schmitz writes about are very ordinary, but they want a secure financial future, they want their children married and in good jobs, they want good jobs themselves. And they are willing to try anything to achieve these goals, which makes for some great stories and encounters. No matter where we come from, or what we have come from, we will always have dreams and schemes to get there. A real gem of a book.