ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates through an ethnographic lens, the social conflicts which have arisen in the Tranquil Light neighbourhood in the face of a sharp increase in both the presence of creative entrepreneurs and of visitors in this traditional, dense neighbourhood of the city. Shanghai has arguably long been China's most well-known city in the eyes of foreign visitors thanks to its quasi-colonial history, primarily under British and French control from the end of the Opium Wars in the mid-nineteenth century until the end of the Second World War. According to the Urban and Rural Planning Law of the People's Republic of China, no commercial activities are allowed in a residential neighbourhood such as the Tranquil Light. For domestic tourists, their motivation to visit Shanghai is rooted in a sense of pride and patriotism citizens from all over China come to the city to have first-hand experience of the future of China.
