Mei-ling Chen

📍 Shanghai, China

🗣 Mandarin, Shanghainese, English, French

Shanghainese born and bred, third generation. My family has lived in the same longtang (lane house) in the French Concession since the 1950s. I work as an architect restoring historic Shikumen buildings, which means I have keys to parts of Shanghai that no tour will ever show you. I run small walks through the real French Concession — the residential alleyways, the wet markets the locals use at 7am, the xiaolongbao place that has no sign and seats 12 people. Shanghai is one of the most misunderstood cities in the world.