Could you believe that Tangtou Flyover stands as a silent witness to Shenzhen’s dramatic transformation? It is more than just a concrete structure. It represents a story of villages swallowed by a booming metropolis.
The Tangtou Flyover is in Shenzhen. Shenzhen was once Bao’an County. This area was full of natural villages and state farms. They grew lychees, bananas, rice, and oysters. Deng Xiaoping chose Bao’an for economic growth because of its proximity to Hong Kong. It became Shenzhen Municipality. It was a Special Economic Zone. Cheap land and labor lured foreign investment. Industrial production boomed.
Shenzhen’s land ownership was split. There was urban state-owned land. There was rural collectively owned land. The Chinese constitution said rural land belonged to village collectives. Urban land belonged to the state. The state could take collective land. Villagers would get cash. This was to replace their income and home.
Many migrants came to Shenzhen to work. They worked in factories or construction. Housing was scarce in Shenzhen. Villagers saw an opportunity. They built rental properties and opened shops. This created six- to ten-story buildings. They were densely packed urban blocks. They are known as “handshake buildings”. You could shake hands with your neighbor across the road.
Handshakes were built between 1992 and 2004. Villagers often partnered with family in Hong Kong or Taiwan. These buildings broke building codes. Authorities tried to limit building height. But the lure of real estate profits was too strong. Fines did not stop the taller buildings.
These handshakes created dense urban masses. Thin crevices of light separated them. These gaps held drain pipes and electric wires. They held air-conditioning units. They also held drying racks for clothes. Some gaps were dumping sites for waste. Wider alleys created pedestrian networks.
Walking through Tangtou, you might emerge into an urban clearing. Here, you might see one-story dormitories. The open sky contrasts with the claustrophobia of the handshakes. Some buildings are run down. Others have new extensions and fresh paint. Nearby, there is often a public space. It might be a basketball court, a night market, or an extension of restaurants. A well provides water for washing and cooking. Without the handshake buildings, this cluster looks like a rural village. It is easy to imagine farmland here.
Different building styles mark the village’s evolution. There are farm dormitories. There are three-story houses. There are handshakes. Tangtou is a palimpsest. The handshakes show villagers becoming real estate developers. Older fragments hint at legal questions for Tangtou’s original villagers. The government saw them as urban citizens because they worked on the state farm. But the villagers saw themselves as rural. They farmed and kept their rural status. They built on the land during industrialization.
In 2006, the government demolished handshake buildings in Yunongcun. This showed they were serious about illegal building. But other policies led to stagnation in urban villages. The “villages-to-residents” policy changed villagers’ status from rural to urban. Village collectives became shareholder cooperatives. Villagers owned their buildings, but not the land.
Most buildings were illegal. If a resident rebuilt, the government could control it. Villagers chose to wait for compensation. Developers negotiated with the resident committee. They in turn negotiated with villagers. Redevelopment is complex. Each building has multiple stakeholders.
This policy led to stagnation. Incremental development is impossible. Buildings can only be repaired. It closes down options for financial opportunism. Negotiation for compensation becomes the last step.
The Tangtou Flyover lets you witness this unique history. It is a reminder of the villages swallowed by the city. It is a testament to Shenzhen’s ever-changing landscape.