8/30 Shanghai

Day three in Shanghai. We traveled to the best preserved water village in the area. There was time to take in the scenery and sketch. The heat hindered me from painting too long but I feel the impressions I gained will stay with me. The village was interesting with it's varied architecture and ornate hand made decor. It felt lived in but also worn out. The fact that it was a tourist destination, strewn among traditional people's homes, was unsettling to me. It felt like I was contributing to the suffocation of an elegant culture. there were shops with people heckling the tourists, restaurants to serve them and crowded pathways. I began to think about the lives of those villagers and how they probably had no control over the development of their land. I was informed, they receive a very small portion of our entrance fees and judging by the way they live, I can only assume it to be true.
To me it seemed clear. The people in the village were being exploited so that others could come and fantasize about the way China used to be. The locals couldn't wash their clothes, walk down the street or even take a nap without being gawked at or even photographed. I would have rather heard a folk tale or looked at a picture book to understand what a traditional water village was like.