"Growing Up With Shanghai" is our latest completed project and our newest release. "Growing Up With Shanghai" is a series of soundwalks of young Shanghainese that were born and raised during the rapid modernization of their city in the 80s and 90s. These recordings not only capture their most intimate memories of the locations where they grew up but also give a snap shot of Shanghai as it sounds like now. All dialog is in Shanghainese or their local dialect.

A printed book supplement containing the translations (Chinese and English), maps, and photos of the location and of the sites that were mentioned during the walks will be available to purchase in December. Although not necessary to experience these recordings, the book gives a more complete picture of the locations and immerses you even further into there lives and into the city of Shanghai. The book will contain a DVD with full fidelity audio tracks (about 7 hours) and ebook versions (compatible with popular ereaders and iphone). The book is designed to help you navigate the route without being too specific, still leaving the area for your own discovery. Even if you are not able to walk along in person, the book also serves as a great photo album of some locations in Shanghai.

We believe that this audio belongs to the people and the city of Shanghai so all of the audio will be available for MP3 download under a Creative Commons license soon. We will be releasing portions of the translations as well as some unreleased walks (audio, photos, and translations) that were not included in the book via the Unlike.net Soundcloud. Keep your eye on our website or our Kontain site for the latest news and releases.

The purpose of these recordings was to give a true picture of Shanghai as it sounds today. The audio was recorded with professional equipment on location and in one take for continuity. No editing except for the beginning, end, and other small anomalies were done to the recordings. No extra sound effects were added to these recordings. These recordings were made between July and September 2009.

We hope that these recordings and book bring you closer to the people and the city of Shanghai and that one day, your imagination leads you here.

So without further ado, here is the first walk- Xu Jia Hui.