Yao Jianliang, 63, is a local resident in the Pudong area of Shanghai. He has witnessed and participated in the construction of this area over the past 30 years. He has captured the ongoing history through over 80 thousand pictures.
Yao grew up, studied, worked, and even built his family in Pudong, and he was very familiar and attached to this place. When the news of developing Pudong was announced in 1990, he was very excited.
"The place where I used to live and grow up might be demolished overnight with the pace of development. So I wanted to record the history with my camera," said Yao.
He documented changes on this land by taking pictures from the exact same locations every year. "There were over 10,000 days and nights in 30 years, and there could be many factors that went out of my control. Some places might have been knocked down after a few years," said Yao.
Yao has started taking pictures from the Peace Hotel to reflect changes of the other side of the Huangpu River since the early 1990s. /Photo courtesy of Yao Jianliang
Two locations are particularly important to Yao's filming project. One is from the Peace Hotel on the other side of the Huangpu River, where he could view the panorama of the Lujiazui area. And the other location is the Oriental Pearl Tower, where he started taking aerial views of the changing landscape.
Dramatic changes have taken place in Lujiazui. It was an old area, a concentration of residents with warehouses, wharves, and dockyards along the river. After 30 years of development, it has become a financial city.
The three highest buildings in the city, Shanghai Tower, Shanghai World Financial Centre, and Jinmao Tower, all stand on Huayuanshiqiao Road, a small road less than 1 kilometer. /Photo courtesy of Yao Jianliang
Yao said that the construction of Lujiazui Greenland had impressed him the most. This area was over 100 thousand square meters, with more than 3,000 families living there in 1996. According to the developing plan, it needed to be turned into a green park by July 1, 1997.
"Think about it, to move over 3,000 families and build up a green park on top of it, it only took 11 months. Only 11 months. It is unimaginable in today's terms. The speed is unique in the history of urban development in China. And we made it," said Yao.
The Pudong Riverside Promenade is the former site of a shipyard with a hundred years' history. /Photo courtesy of Yao Jianliang
Yao said that a good picture is worth over a thousand words. The pictures will transcend the barriers of languages, ideologies, and values. The film freezes history, and people can see the past through photos.
Looking back at the past three decades, Yao is very emotional. "Pudong started developing when I passed 30. And when it turns 30, I am already retired. We can participate and witness such a glorious history in a limited lifetime. It is a happiness and fortune for me," he said.