There are lots of apartment buildings close together, and there is usually a small park and playground and a building where members of the community can get to together and meet. My xiaoqu is surrounded by a tall wall, with a gate with a security guard that oversees who comes in and out, so I feel very safe living here.
The design of the xiaoqu creates a stronger feeling of community here than what I have experienced living in apartments in the United States. On sunny warm days, all of my neighbors and community members come out of their apartments and sit in the park, which is located in the middle of the xiaoqu, surrounded by the apartment buildings. Grandparents bring their grandchildren to the playground, and they spend the day chatting with each other outside as their grandchildren play together. Every day when I leave my apartment to do my research, I see the same members of my xiaoqu in the elevator or outside my apartment building and we exchange greetings. These are simple greetings, like “Oh, are you headed to work now?” or “Is that a new jacket? Where did you purchase it?”, but it is nice that my neighbors are so friendly and greet me every day. It makes me feel at home in my new community. Right outside of the xiaoqu there is a small convenience store, a market that sells fruits and vegetables, and a little stand that sells breakfast foods like steamed buns, soymilk and rice porridge. I frequent these stores every week, so I am friends with the shop owners who also live inside my xiaoqu, and they help me practice Chinese and always ask me how I am doing.
You may also be wondering what an apartment in Shanghai looks like.
