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July 5, 2025

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The Proustian magic of Shanghai

Source: Shanghai Daily | 00:01 UTC+8 July 5, 2025 | Print Edition

A simple smell can suddenly bring back memories from long ago, pulling beautiful moments from deep in our minds. This is called the “Proustian effect:” Scents have a special power to unlock forgotten but emotional memories. For me, the smell of coffee always takes me back to mornings on Wukang Road as a little child, holding my mother’s hand while hearing foreign languages murmur around us.

Those strolls revealed a city in dialogue with itself. Historic buildings stood next to traditional red-roofed houses, while bakeries filled the air with sweet smells alongside the savory scent of street food. At a corner café, I once watched an elderly Shanghainese man teach a French tourist to dip youtiao in espresso — a culinary handshake between cultures. This is Shanghai’s genius: its ability to let traditions and imports converse, rather than collide.

As I grow up, the ballet of coexistence has refined. What I witness is, in the former French Concession, elegant local women drink green tea lattes next to remote workers chatting in mixed languages. Behind a dumpling shop, jazz music mixes with traditional Chinese instruments, like vines climbing old walls. Even the Huangpu River reflects this balance, its waters holding neon lights and old wooden boats with equal grace.

Shanghai does not just accept differences — it turns them into harmony. Each sip of tea-flavored coffee tells us that here, the world’s cultures do not clash — they grow. To explore Shanghai is to walk through a living storybook, where past and present share the same heartbeat.

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