Lockdown 2: Shacked up in Shanghai

Barbarians at the Gate

No sooner had Jeremiah’s lockdown experience come to an end when Shanghai announced plans to shut down the entire city as cases of the Omicron variant skyrocketed. Now entering its third week, Shanghai’s historic citywide lockdown has imposed unprecedented restrictions and sacrifices on its 25 million people.

Among the hapless homebound residents was our longtime friend and colleague, Andrew Field, who – unfortunately for him -- had plenty of free time to talk with us about his experiences during these turbulent few weeks. Andrew reports from the nearby suburb of Kunshan on the mood of residents in and around Shanghai (spoiler: it’s foul), the administrative and policy fiascos of the city government, and his ways of coping during the shutdown (Andrew has left us a special musical treat at the end of the episode).

Andrew Field is Associate Professor of Chinese History at Duke Kunshan University and the author of three books, including Shanghai’s Dancing World: Cabaret Culture and Urban Politics 1919-1954. Andy is also a documentary filmmaker, having produced several films exploring China’s underground rock scene and the world of Shanghai jazz. We’ve wanted to get Andrew on the podcast for some time and will definitely invite him back on soon to discuss other topics – hopefully maskless and in the same room.

Andrew Field’s blog Shanghai Sojourns

http://shanghaisojourns.net/

Shanghai’s Dancing World: Cabaret Culture and Urban Politics 1919-1954

http://cup.columbia.edu/book/shanghais-dancing-world/9789629964481

Shanghai Nightscapes: A Nocturnal Biography of a Global City (with James Farrer)

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo20298865.html

Mu Shiying: China’s Lost Modernist

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/M/bo37857676.html