The first workers' village in New China - Caoyang New Village. Photo courtesy of Putuo District
People's Online Hai, November 1 (Tang Xiaoli) Recently, Caoyang New Village, the first new village for workers in New China, Caoyang New Village in Putuo District, Shanghai, celebrated its 70th birthday.
In the 1950s, in order to solve the problem of housing difficulties for the working class, Shanghai began to plan the construction of a new village for workers. On June 30, 1952, Lu Agou, Yang Fuzhen, Yi Shijuan and other model workers and a large number of advanced workers and workers, holding flowers in their hands and carrying residence permits issued by the municipal government, banged gongs and drums, set off firecrackers, and moved into a new house.
The picture shows caoyang new village in the 1950s. Photo courtesy of Putuo District
This year, the 91-year-old American Shi Juan still has a strong body. "In the factories of the old society, the machines kept turning around, which was very hard, but there was not enough to eat, and it was difficult to even drink water." After surviving the hard days, Yi Shijuan felt very satisfied with her current life. Before the liberation, the family of eight, the father died at the age of forty, the mother wrapped her small feet unable to work, the burden of the whole family was on the body of Yi Shijuan alone.
In 1949, Shanghai was liberated. After liberation, the post-liberation ethnic Juan finally had hope, and the working class was no longer the bottom of the people who were looked down upon and oppressed, but became the masters of the country. In the factory, Yi Shijuan rediscovered her worth, she joined the Communist Youth League in 1951, joined the Communist Party at the end of the year, and was the first of the textile group to join the party. The party gave her new strength, and she also worked hard to repay the party's kindness, "I am not a cadre, just a worker, and it is actually my turn to live in a bungalow." Therefore, I think I must do a good job in production and care about the masses. As a party member, everyone chose me as a model worker, and I felt that I could do better. Decades later, Yi Shijuan recalls the production work of that year, which is still vividly remembered.
Although the exact date is no longer clear, one day at the end of June 1952, the atmosphere of gongs and drums beating at the gate of Caoyang Village, red flags were unfurled, and lanterns and banners were hung high. On that day, 22-year-old Yi Shijuan took a worn-out suitcase containing two old clothes to the newly completed building in a truck, and a banner fluttering in the wind read, "Welcome advanced producers to caoyang new village."
Pictured here on July 1, 1952, workers get together to play chess on the grass. Photo courtesy of Putuo District
A worker walks out of a public bath in Caoyang New Village on July 3, 1952. Photo courtesy of Putuo District
Including Yi Shijuan, the first residents of the first socialist workers' new village in New China are glorious and proud. They are front-line workers, model workers and advanced workers who have been selected layer by layer. These 1,002 households, from 217 textile factories and hardware factories, are distributed in the three districts of Putuo, Zhabei and Changning, and each factory can only be divided into four or five households.
In the early 1950s, when housing conditions were generally poor and "rolling dragons" were everywhere, Caoyang New Village was undoubtedly very attractive. Although the three families share the kitchen and toilet, Yi Shijuan still feels that she has lived the life of her dreams. The rooms here are covered with wooden floors, gas is available, the entrance is tree-lined, the water is babbling, and the university is not far away.
Pictured here on June 24, 1952, two young people chatting happily in the new village. Photo courtesy of Putuo District
Caoyang New Village is a model, and behind this distribution method is the power of demonstration. The first batch of residents are the most authentic examples, showing the bright prospects of life to the workers around them: let's produce and build well together, and everyone can live in such a house in the future.
Over the past 70 years, Caoyang New Village has become a name that carries countless memories and glory. Here is the vivid practice of people's city construction, the "neighborhood unit" planning theory landed here for the first time, the city's first workers' new village commercial outlets, indoor vegetable farms, schools, health clinics, the national community commercial demonstration street Lanxi Road, the city's first high-line park Baixi Park and so on have been completed. It is the gathering place for the achievements of the creation of mass spiritual civilization, and has won many honors such as the national civilized unit, the Chinese street star, and the most beautiful volunteer service community in the country, and has walked out of a large number of national and municipal advanced models. It is also an innovative exploration place for grass-roots management services, which has been named by the municipal party committee and the municipal government as one of the "ten red flags" in Shanghai, and the city's first community party member service center has been established, taking the lead in exploring the pilot regionalization of party building, garbage classification and other reform and ice-breaking work.
However, in the past 70 years, with the passage of time, the representative buildings of that year have aged and become less comfortable to live in: kitchens and bathrooms are used together, which seems to be less convenient; brick and wood houses, walking upstairs, "bang bang" downstairs...
Caoyang New Village before the renovation. Photo courtesy of Putuo District
In December 2019, Caoyang New Village launched a contract for the renovation of old houses, and by the beginning of April this year, all residents had signed up to move out. At present, the renovation construction has been basically completed, and the residents are moving back one after another.
"As a large project of people's livelihood in the street, the transformation of Caoyang Village is of great significance, and there are also many difficulties such as urgency, difficulty, danger and heavy." Shi Yunxia, secretary of a residential area in Caoyang Village, said that the complete set of transformation is for the benefit of the masses, and if the mass work is not done well, then good things will also be done badly. "It can be said that we have more than 1,500 houses remodeled, and there are more than 1,500 drawings. Through visits, symposiums, emotional cards and other methods, we understand the concerns and difficulties of each household, find problems and solve problems, speed up the signing of contracts, and promote the process of the project. ”
Caoyang New Village after the transformation. Photo courtesy of Putuo District
After the transformation, Caoyang Village still retains the architectural style of "white walls and red roof", realizes the exclusive use of kitchens and bathrooms for each household, and also installs smart applications such as multi-functional street lamps, becoming a "small bungalow" in the downtown area.
"I am very satisfied with this transformation!" Caoyang a village resident Zeng Qiang was very excited to see the house after the transformation, "the house is comfortable to live in, the community environment is better, more convenient, what is important is that the glory and characteristics of our Caoyang village have also been retained, and we old Caoyang people feel solid in our hearts." ”
(Editor-in-charge: Tang Xiaoli, Han Qing)
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