Photo “Look” by Zhang Cheng

by Enkhjin Nerguibaatar

Read the Faculty Introduction.

Abstract

The identity of a specific region is defined by its semiotics, particularly its linguistic landscape, which represents the residents and culture. Using the evidence that Korean culture has been prominent around cosmopolitan cities like Shanghai, this study explores the Korean language representation in Korean Street (韩国街) located in the Minhang District in Shanghai, China, as Korean immigrants densely inhabit it. I hypothesize that the repetition of Korean language usage in signs can elucidate language predominance and the presence of Korean culture representation in Shanghai. By utilizing Scollon and Scollon’s theory of semiotics as the main method of analysis (Scollon and Scollon 91), the linguistic landscape of Korean Street depicts predominance in the Korean language. The multilingual usage of commercial and noncommercial signs on buildings reflects the presence of Korean immigrants and the representation of their culture by adopting both Korean and Chinese languages in the signage. Therefore, this study explores the diversity of signs on commercial buildings on Korean Street as an attempt to extend the understanding of multilingualism in a regional context by analyzing the linguistic landscape.

Introduction

In recent years, the focus of sociolinguistics research has shifted toward the linguistic landscape of urban areas. The written language on the sign transmits information to an “unspecified group of in public space” (Backhaus 8) and it can convey and represent meaning since it is permanent. The linguistic landscape study refers to the social environment where multiple languages are used, and the signs of large cosmopolitan cities are linguistically diverse and representative of local culture (Huebner 32). The linguistic landscape of cosmopolitan cities in China, Shanghai, and Guangzhou (An and Zhang 2), are currently being studied. Shanghai is considered the cosmopolitan capital of China with around 19 million people in an area of around 6,300 square kilometers. It is a “cosmopolitan, entrepreneurial metropolis” (Wang 87), also a global hub in East Asia (Ye and Jeon 2). 

According to statistics released in 2018 by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai, there are a total of 32,000 Korean nationals residing in Shanghai, accounting for 15% of foreign residents. This study explores the multilingual landscape of Korean Street (韩国街) which is located in Minhang District, Hongquan Road, and it is one of the most concentrated international communities in Shanghai with 10,000 Korean people. The study of the linguistic landscape holds significant importance, particularly as it represents a public space where various aspects of social life are investigated (Ben-Rafael 41). Therefore, the linguistic landscape research of Korean Street provides insight into the understanding of the linguistic diversity of this region. First, by categorizing the language representation in signs based on their combinations, this study provides a general understanding of the linguistic landscape of Korean Street and its linguistic diversity. Second, by understanding the linguistic diversity of this region, this study explores the arrangement of visual semiotics of signs which can elucidate the relationship between multilingual signs and local cultural representations. 

The significance of this study lies in its examination of the understudied linguistic landscape of Korean Street, a cultural landmark for the Korean community and a renowned tourist attraction. Through the categorization of sign language representation by combinations, this study aims to offer insights into the linguistic diversity of Korean Street and provide a comprehensive overview of its linguistic landscape. As such, this study highlights the linguistic character of  the Korean Street, particularly in metropolis cities like Shanghai, China. 

The linguistic landscape is perceived as the representation of a certain region (Ben-Rafael 42) and visitors remember the characteristics and special elements of the specific area through its semiotics. The research questions that this study aims to address are:

1. How do the Korean-Chinese and Korean-English signs in Korean Street (韩国街) reflect the linguistic representation of the Korean community in Shanghai and contribute to the broader linguistic landscape?
2. What are the patterns of language use on signs in Korean Street?

Linguistic Landscape Studies

The study on Tokyo conducted by Backhaus (Backhaus 53) indicates the historical significance of the language around the signs in Tokyo, analyzing the geographical correlation between semiotics and multilingualism by emphasizing the accessibility of the languages. Also, the comparative approach to exploring the diversity of Tokyo’s linguistic landscape in different neighborhoods and defining the identity of the environment. Backhaus’s analysis can reflect geographical correlation and how the region intends to be represented, specifically on Korean Street, where Korean and Chinese languages are commonly used. Since the signs of Korean Street have linguistic variations, the accessible language can be established by the language and representation of the Korean community in Shanghai.

According to the sociological study of the linguistic landscape by Eliezer Ben-Rafael, the linguistic landscape qualifies as a “social fact” and the elements in the linguistic landscape provide information about the particular place, thus it is a gestalt (Ben-Rafael 43). The individual multilingual signs with different variations of languages are studied by observing the languages on the signs, which are Korean-Chinese, Korean-English, and monolingual signs. As such, the variety of languages and elucidation of the predominant language in those signs illustrate the “whole” identity of the region where the signs have been studied. Therefore, the whole identity of Korean Street can be elucidated by the linguistic environment and the relationship between signs and languages. 

The “symbolic value condition,” which reflects the preference for the language written on signs and other public displays, illustrates the intention of how a specific sign wants to be identified. Thus, the language choice of multilingual signs in the study area can be identified using this “symbolic value condition” (Spolsky 33). In some cases, monolingual usage of signs demonstrates that it is following local regulations of signs, thus it represents the governmental signs. For example, a sign with only the Korean language is either a copy of the original brand advertisement or targeted toward the Korean audience. Therefore, the language preference among the multilingual variations provides information about the context and what the sign is indexing. The patterns of commercial signs on Korean Street can indicate the identification of the environment and the intention of how Korean signs want to be conveyed. As such, Korean cultural representations and language prominence in Korean Street can be recognized by the condition of the sign.

In their research on Bangkok’s linguistic landscape, Huebner examines the linguistic landscapes with a specific emphasis on the presence of environmental print and the use of contact languages (Huebner 48), including Thai, English, and Chinese, in public areas. The author contends that these linguistic features signify the evolution of language and the emergence of a more all-encompassing Thai identity that acknowledges linguistic diversity (Huebner 50). The linguistic diversity of Korean Street reflects the interaction between Korean and Chinese languages and how this language contact contributes to the status of languages in the study area.

Methodology

For the analysis of Korean Street, photographs of signs were collected and analyzed. Over 80 pictures of the signs were taken, including shop signs, road signs, and other signs within the visible scope of the study area. The variation of languages and linguistic contact of the signs were considered. The linguistic variations on the signs included Korean-only, Korean-Chinese, Korean-English, and Korean-Chinese-English trilingual signs. 

The overall study area considered Jingting Building as the main point since it has been established as the central section of Korean Street (YICAI 2020). The perimeter of the study took commercial buildings for analysis because the commercial area (Figure 1) is bordered by the Jinxiu Jiangnan residential area which is 300 meters east of the Jingting Plaza. Therefore, commercial buildings in proximity to the Jingting Building have been taken into consideration such that mostly commercial signs are taken into account in this study.

Photographs were taken of the signs located on the Jingting Building, situated on Hongquan Road to the east, and Tianle Place, situated on Yinting Road to the north. Moreover, a total of 6 buildings were covered and analyzed in the study area. Jingting Plaza and Tianle Plaza were taken into consideration because these buildings are the market hub and the main tourist attraction of this area, the remaining buildings are hotels and other commercial buildings that are less crucial than the market hubs. 

The study analyzed the signs on the exterior side of Jingting Plaza, also known as Jingting Seoul Plaza, located at Hongquan Road. The interior signs also represent the environmental print of Jingting Plaza; however, the signs on the exterior side of buildings were chosen as a “social fact,” to convey the direct visual perception of the visitors and demonstrate the language used on public display. The east side of the Jingting Plaza is where Shanghai Fortune Hotel is located, and it is a Chinese hotel with multiple multilingual signs which suggests the significance of the Korean language as the identity or essential element of this region.  

Tianle Place is located at Yinting Road, and it is a square-shaped building with a myriad of restaurants and stores, which indicates the end of Korean Street because the buildings beyond this area are apartment complexes and other government buildings. The photographs of the signs were collected, and the collected data match the variety of languages on Korean Street.

The Variation of Languages on the Signs of Korean Street

The determination of language prominence in multilingual signs is distinguished by the placement and composition of the sign (Huebner 35), and the composition of the sign plays an essential role in signifying the variation of languages. Moreover, the language mixing was observed in the name of the sign and lexical borrowing of the Korean language was also discerned. The variation of languages reveals the identity of the region, as such the Korean language is abundant in this area compared to the other areas in Shanghai, which use Chinese as the main language. Though the predominant use of the Chinese language can be seen in surrounding areas, the Korean also co-exists with other parts of Shanghai and does not elicit such bilingual scenarios. The Korean “한글” (hangeul) and Chinese “汉字” (hanzi) characters are predominantly used in signs and brochures on Korean Street.  The variations are (a) Korean-Chinese signs, (b) Korean-English signs, (c) Korean-Chinese-English signs, and (d) Korean-only signs.

Korean-Chinese Signs

The prominent language in the multilingual signs is analyzed by Scollon and Scollon’s theory on the composition and modality of visual semiotics. In Figure 2, “제주식당” (je ju sik dang) in Korean and “济州食堂” (ji zhou shi tang) in Chinese are written on this sign, and then the Korean name is repeated at the bottom right corner. The Korean letters are color differentiated, and written in a bigger font, and their prominence is determined as the text is placed above the Chinese characters. According to the composition diagram by Kress and van Leeuwen (Scollon and Scollon 91), the bottom right corner indicates “real and new” information while the placement of the main idea or logo tends to be placed at the bottom right corner. Therefore, the main language of the sign in Figure 2 is Korean.

Moreover, in Figure 3, the characters of both languages are placed adjacent to each other in such a manner that prominence is determined by the sign’s modality. “날마다쏘맥” (nal ma da so maek) is positioned at the central part of the sign and is reiterated in the logo. “실내포차” (sil nae po cha) and “室内大排档” (shinei da pai dang) hold the same meaning in both languages and are positioned on either side of the Korean text. Additionally, “sil nae” and “shinei” convey the same meaning in Korean and Chinese, suggesting potential lexical borrowing from either language. “哈啤哈烧” (ha pi ha shao) is placed on the right side of the logo, and the Korean text exhibits color modality and different character placement to establish its prominence. Therefore, the Korean language is the main language of this sign.

However, the prominent language in Figure 4 is Chinese because of the position and modality of the text. “厨房用品” (chufang yongpin) in Chinese is at the top of  “남영주방” (nam yeong ju bang) in Korean, and the Chinese text is written in bold which suggests that it is the prominent language of this sign. Also, other Chinese texts are placed on the right side of the sign which are “厨房用品” (chufang yongpin) and “生活用品” (shenghuo yongpin) is “new information” (Scollon and Scollon 92) which supports and adds a new idea to the central Chinese text. As such, the Chinese text gives more information than the Korean text so one could argue that Chinese is the prominent language in this sign.

Korean-English Signs

The use of English in Korean-prominent signs is scarce in this region. In Figure 5, “세탁소” (sae tak so) in Korean is written on top of “Urban Laundry” in English which clearly shows that the main language of this sign is Korean. Also, “Urban Laundry” is the direct translation of “세탁소” (sae tak so), and the texts are accompanied by an icon of clothing, which further conveys the main point of this sign. In Figure 6, a hotdog place sign is displayed, and its main purpose and meaning are expressed through its icon, color modality, composition, and language use. In this case, the Korean language is the main language here because the text “썽스핫도그” (sseong seu hat do geu) has been written twice, and the Korean text is highlighted. “Hotdog,” “Hotdog & Coffee,” and “Since 2013” serve as additional information about this sign because of their placements, and color differentiation which the English text is uniformly colored. Also, “hat do geu” and “hotdog” show Korean lexical borrowing from the English language.

In Figure 7, the prominent language of this sign is English because both “Ksports” and “Those who play badminton well take decisions quickly” are emphasized, with the central text being in English. The Korean text, “배드민턴 용품점” (bae deu min teon yong pum jeom), is placed under the English text, and its pronunciation also suggests the lexical borrowing from the English language. However, signs on Figure 5 and Figure 6 are the only Korean-English signs in the study area which implies the scarcity of English language use in the linguistic landscape of Korean Street.

Korean-Chinese-English Signs

The Korean language has been influenced by the globalization of English, which has led to the formation of ‘Konglish’. Konglish is a form of language that has evolved from borrowing lexical elements from English. Korean signs are typically mass-produced and written in English, often incorporating a combination of Chinese and Korean characters, and it transparently showcases the linguistic landscape of Korean streets (Malinowski 201).

A sign displayed in Figure 8 conveys the same meaning in three different languages: “市井婆豆腐牛乳” (shijing po doufu niuru) in Chinese, “팥고물우유” (pat go mul woo yoo) in Korean, and “Grandma Bean Paste Milk” in English. The characters “市井婆” are emphasized to express that the bean paste milk is “grandma’s” or “grandma’s special.” In terms of color saturation, composition, and color modality, the prominent language of this sign is Chinese, and the central idea is “bean paste milk” and “grandma’s” highlighted on the left part of “豆腐牛乳.” However, in the Korean characters, the word “grandma” is not mentioned, which alludes to bean-paste milk being the significant component of this sign.

Korean-only Signs

Korean characters dominate the monolingual signs displayed on the upper level of every building on Korean Street, such as the one in Figure 9 located on the 4th floor of Tianle Place. The sign’s composition and color differentiation are notable features, with Scollon and Scollon’s visual semiotics theory explaining that the narrative of the sign is conveyed through the symbols “superstar” and “microphone.” These symbols index “수퍼스타” (shyu po seu ta), which is dialectically similar to the English word “superstar,” and “가족노래방” (ga jok no rae bang), which translates to family karaoke in English. The Korean character on the sign effectively highlights the importance of the Korean language, while the symbols provide context for the sign’s meaning. The phone number on the sign is located in the lower-right corner, which according to Scollon and Scollon (2003), signifies “real news” information. The main symbol of the sign, the superstar, is prominently displayed in the center with saturated color and a different font from the setting. The use of bold Korean text and the superstar logo highlight the sign’s color modality.

Figure 10 is an example of a monolingual sign on Korean Street where the meaning of the sign is targeted toward a specific audience. For instance, in Figure 10, “담배가게 아가씨” (tam bae ga ge a ga ssi) and “아카펠라 엑시트” (a ka pel la eg si teu) means “tobacco girl” and “acapella exit” in English, and it suggests that this sign is aimed for particular groups of people who understand the context of this sign.

In Figure 11, “옛날 노래방” means “a long ago karaoke,” and it is an example of a monolingual sign. The monolingual signs were not as abundant as multilingual signs in this region, and it could be speculated that the target audience of this sign would be Korean speakers.

Conclusion

The linguistic landscape of Korean Street in Minhang District, Shanghai, is representative of Korean immigrants living in Shanghai, reflecting the local Korean culture and identity. Through the analysis of commercial and noncommercial signage on buildings in the study area, this research has explored the region’s linguistic diversity, highlighting the significant use of Korean language signs in this area. The arrangement of visual semiotics of signs has also been examined, further expanding on the portrayal of multilingualism in signs by using Scollon and Scollon’s theory of visual semiotics. The findings of this study indicate that the Korean language is the main language and represents the identity and origin of residents in this region. Aside from the Korean language, Chinese and English languages were present among the signs. The multilingual use of Korean and Chinese languages was more prominent among other signs, and such signs were not as abundant as they are on Korean Street. However, Korean and English language use on the signs might be related to Korean linguistic derivation from some English words. Furthermore, the position of texts among the signs was analyzed using the visual semiotics theory by counting the visually significant language as the prevailing language of the sign. Further study could explore the sociolinguistic dynamics influencing the prevalence and distribution of multilingual signage in this area.

This study aimed to portray Korean cultural representation through the linguistic landscape of Korean Street. However, the location of commercial buildings was sparse, and the perimeter of the study needed to fully include every commercial building on Korean Street. Additionally, Korean Street itself has no defined perimeter as it is surrounded by residential and other secluded buildings that do not include any signs. Potential setbacks include a lack of local Chinese sources and in-depth research on Korean immigrants in Shanghai, specifically those surrounding Korean Street. Though additional questionnaires were conducted with locals, the result did not contribute to the main claim since local residents were unaware of the exact statistics and history of this region. Furthermore, historical data and numerical data in terms of the population and migration of Korean people in this region need to be studied. Moreover, old signs were abundant in this area, so there was a limitation in terms of counting every sign accurately, further elaborating on accurate numerical data. Future studies could employ ethnographic approaches or engage with the Korean community on Korean Street to gain an understanding of linguistic practices and cultural dynamics within this region.

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Works Cited

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Golden, Judy L. Analyzing the Linguistic Landscape of Japantown and Koreatown in Manhattan, New York. State University of New York College at Fredonia, 2017, pp. 1–116.

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Ye, Zhaoyuan, and Hyeong-Yeon Jeon. “Chinese City Brands and Semiotic Image Scales: A Tourism Perspective.” Social Semiotics, vol. 1, no. 1, June 2020, pp. 1–24, https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2020.1769405.

Read “The Linguistic Landscape Analysis of the Jingting Plaza and Tianle Place of Korean Street  (韩国街) in Shanghai, China”.

Great cities gather people from all over the world. In these dynamic centers, diverse cultures and languages mix and mingle. We hope that such contact avoids devolving into conflict and, instead, grows into an ethic of cosmopolitan openness. What are some concrete and material strategies that people use to navigate and negotiate linguistic differences in cosmopolitan cities like Shanghai, especially in public spaces? Studies of linguistic landscapes investigate some ways that written language found in street signs, shopfronts, and advertisements negotiate these differences. 

Enkhjin’s paper is an ambitious study of an area in Shanghai’s Minhang District that’s commonly known as Koreatown. Her research reveals how Korean immigrants and Chinese residents are negotiating linguistic differences in public spaces. She clearly defined her data set, thoroughly collected her evidence, and insightfully analyzed the signs. Enkhjin confirmed her hypothesis that the presence of Korean speakers in the area would affect the presentation of visible languages within the space. More importantly, she discovered specific strategies people use to negotiate linguistic and cultural differences in this Shanghai neighborhood. Enkhjin’s study is original research, and it contributes new knowledge to discussions of public spaces and sociolinguistics.

—Mark Brantner, Clinical Associate Professor in the Writing Program

Photo “Standing Guard” by Zhang Cheng

by Li Jiasheng

Read the Faculty Introduction.

An old lady cut in line when I was about to pay the medical fee to treat my stomach ache. I glared at her but curbed my fury for the sake of her age. She took some red bills from her wallet after the cashier told her how much she should pay. It took me a few seconds to finally recognize these red bills as cash. I was shocked. Living in Shanghai where digitalization is highly promoted, I am so accustomed to digital payment platforms like Alipay that payments in cash have become eccentric to me. However, senior citizens who are not familiar with online services seem to still need non-digital options in the time of digitalization. This experience with the old lady in March of 2023 reminded me of how my grandfather struggled with digital technology during the “zero-Covid” Shanghai lockdown of 2022. He could not use the WeChat group-buying services and other smartphone mini-programs or apps to buy food or medicine because of his near blindness.¹ It was not until a few weeks into the lockdown period that the community workers told him that he could call them to help him get the supplies he needed. He told me afterward that he thought that senior citizens like him were casualties of digitalization and the inability to use digital services gave him a sense of being left out.

What does the need for offline alternatives to smartphone digital services and support for senior citizens in Shanghai during the pandemic, a time when almost everything was online, tell us about non-digital options? In their 2022 study of COVID-19 and smartphone use among urban Chinese seniors in 2020, Anqi Chen et al. note that in 2020 an estimated population of elderly people over 60 reached 260 million while only 110 million of them had access to the Internet at that time creating a large “digital divide” (1). During the pandemic, China developed a health code system with apps and mini-programs that varied from city to city to restrict people’s movement based on their health condition, travel history, and contact with infected patients all around the country (Chen et al. 1). This pushed the country to go almost entirely digital, especially during Shanghai’s 2022 lockdown, which NYU Shanghai professor and global public health expert Brian J. Hall called “the largest known city-wide lockdown in the world”:

The entire population of Shanghai was issued stay-at-home orders, and most of the gates to residential compounds in the city were sealed, restricting mobility. [Because of] the rapid implementation of the lockdown and the length of the lockdown period, the city was not prepared to manage the logistic challenges … residents were unable to leave their homes to purchase food in person, and few food deliveries were available. (Hall et. al 284)

Specifically in Shanghai, there was guidance and instructions for the seniors in advance to help them follow the trend of digitalization, but they still ended up needing assistance from offline options and alternatives (Chen et al. 1)—a powerful reminder that in an age of successive waves of technology optimism, from cryptocurrency to the metaverse and ChatGPT, it is crucial not to rely on everything going digital and to provide offline alternatives and non-digital options, which we can learn from experience of senior citizens who struggled to use digital technology in Shanghai during the pandemic.

The “digital divide” among senior citizens and other age groups had already been noticed before the pandemic based on the promotion and even imposition of digital tools in China. Even before the pandemic, many elderly people seemed “to be separated from society by an invisible wall” due to the significant inequality of access to digital technology between the elderly and younger age groups (Chen et al. 2). When studying digital disconnection among older citizens, Rutong Jiao noticed that China had released several policies related to seniors and the Internet, such as the “Internet + Pension” in the 2010s (2). In other words, China had attached the importance of dealing with obstacles to senior citizens’ use and accessibility of digital services and had taken action to try to bridge the gap, though with mixed results.

Incentives for the elderly to get access to and use digital services directly can be classified in two basic ways: age-appropriate versions and instruction tutorials. Many companies have been developing to offer seniors quality Internet services with enlarged words and a simplified user interface (Han). In addition, the instruction tutorials include family support and community service (Chen et al. 6). Children of the seniors are often willing to teach the general functions of apps on mobile phones, and community volunteers set up classes for the elderly to learn how to use smartphones (Chen et al. 6). Ideally, such initiatives could pave the way for seniors to go digital from basic daily social media apps like WeChat.

However, elderly people still often struggle in the complex digital world for both physical and psychological reasons. Physiologically speaking, as people get older, their learning ability declines due to weakened neuron control and a decrease in brain activities (Jiao 1). This can lead to psychological escapism, diminishing the willingness of seniors to directly operate digital services (Chen et al. 6). Many are afraid of trying new things, of potential privacy leakages, and of being an outsider in the Internet community (Jiao 1). For these reasons and many others, the elderly continue to find it challenging to learn how to use apps even with age-appropriate versions tailored to their situations and assistance from younger generations.

For such reasons, we should not push seniors to go entirely digital, as the pandemic made painfully clear. For example, during the lockdown, while it was frustrating for me and many of my friends when platforms became overloaded and unresponsive, such experiences were even more frustrating for older people. Factors like an unresponsive platform could exacerbate seniors’ frustrations with reliance on app-based services, especially when they had other types of trouble with health codes and group-buying (Chen et al. 3). Even if they were fully aware of how to use smartphones, food security and delivery were often still a problem (Hall et al. 284).

Of course, the sources that I have access to do not necessarily reflect the full extent of the senior citizens’ difficulties when it comes to digital access during the pandemic. During the pandemic, it was hard enough to gather direct support evidence due to political sensitivity, censorship in China, and the difficulties of authenticity validation of English-language sources, and in its wake, some previously available information has been removed. I chose news articles about offline services and support for seniors from SHINE, an English-language newspaper website under the Shanghai committee of the Chinese Communist Party, instead. The scenes mentioned did not apply to the whole picture of the situation during the pandemic in Shanghai, but they still contributed to easing a certain number of seniors to access digital services to some extent. Despite often poor-intensity information and censorship, we still can form a clear picture based on available sources of how vulnerable seniors were because of the overreliance on the virtual and a lack of non-digital alternatives and offline assistance. The overreliance on digitalization is the focus. The pandemic simply shows how such overreliance can fail in many cases, and we can learn many valuable lessons from the experience of seniors during the Shanghai lockdown.

Given that the experience shows the challenges faced by senior citizens when using online services during the lockdown, the solution to bridging the digital divide should not be limited to digital assistance alone. Offline alternatives and non-digital assistance and options should be implemented as a choice. Fortunately, Shanghai community workers also recognized the inefficiency of online services and began to find offline solutions during the lockdown. First, seniors should get access to a similar experience of natively digital services with offline passes. The Shanghai version of the health code was called suishenma (随申码, Shanghai Health QR Code). To enter public spaces and do PCR tests, people had to show the code to get access (Chen et al. 1). When it was first launched, teenagers and senior citizens who didn’t have smartphones could also use ID cards and hand write personal information to register their entrances and record their traces (Chen et al. 4). As the restriction got tighter during the lockdown, community service centers in Shanghai offered printed “offline suishenma” for senior citizens to apply by their digital code or their ID card. They could also use the machines there to replace or report the loss of paper versions (Yang et al.). The service made the lives of senior citizens easier, avoiding embarrassing and exhausting operation problems such as Internet disconnection. In the end, senior citizens could go out without smartphones to visit public places as long as they took the offline code with them.

The adaptation of Shanghai health workers to the non-digital needs of the elderly indicates that offline options remain necessary to help the elderly, especially offline alternatives for natively digital applications like health codes. “Natively digital applications” refers to digital services that have no offline prototype. The health code is special because it originated from the online context. The logic of other commonly used digital services like car-hailing is actually translating people’s daily lives without Internet access to an online platform. But there was no non-digital version of the health code before it was launched. Therefore, offline alternatives should be created for natively digital applications to bridge the gap. Then, seniors don’t have to use smartphones to directly use the native digital applications but use offline alternatives instead to have a similar experience.

In addition, we should preserve offline assistance for seniors to use digital services. One of the examples during the pandemic is the “informal agents” including younger relatives or community workers. Often such agents were simply neighbors, family members, local business people, and sometimes simply a stranger in a position to help. Besides the offline alternatives mentioned above, children could attach seniors’ information and apply for a “family health code” on their phones if their parents don’t have smartphones (Chen et al. 4). During the lockdown in 2022, community workers used their own smartphones to register the information of the seniors to generate the health code if their children didn’t live with them (Yang). Therefore, rather than letting younger generations tutor them on how to use the smartphone, elderly people could appoint others as “informal agents” to access and use a digital service.

To meet the seniors halfway in bridging the digital gap, they could have some third party to assist them with the operations. For the health code, such “informal agents” served as the third party to let the seniors get their PCR tests. As a result, the elderly were still engaged in the utilization of digital services with the support of others. At the same time, they did not go digital themselves.

Furthermore, we should conserve the non-digital options for the older generation to have a stable sense of life. During the lockdown, it would be much harder for the seniors to get the necessities like fresh food via apps and mini-programs and to join community group-buying so they severely needed volunteers to assist them (Hall et al. 284). In some communities, neighborhood community staff reached out to the nearby shops to bring food to the complex gate where the volunteers in COVID-19 protective suits assisted the shopping to relieve the pressure (Yang). Senior citizens who relied on community restaurants and delivery services could collect the food themselves at the gate (Yang). The group-buying at the gate and food delivery put some elderly people at ease for a few days. They did not need to trouble to figure out how to use group-buying apps to receive food. The restoration of patterns before digitalization went closer to the normal life of seniors, which liberated them from the transformation to online shopping.

The world was completely offline for centuries, and we should save some non-digital options when we transform everything digitally. Seniors had the chance to recreate the daily service partially. The group-buying system came to the real world as a market and the food delivery service stayed on track. Traditionally, we would advocate the digital transformation of the real economy. In these cases, however, we should do the reversed order, bringing back the real in-person interactions to bridge the digital divide.

Therefore, digital services should be just one of several means of doing business. Offline alternatives reduce seniors’ reliance on digital services with physical substitutes while non-digital options and assistance such as “informal agents” still let the seniors have an indirect attachment to digital services. What matters is not the form of the entrance to the service, but the products supplied. Seniors are here for what they can get from the digital service, not for the digital world itself.

Seniors should not be confined to going digital as the only method to narrow the digital divide between them and other age groups, and offline and non-digital alternatives should be offered. Admittedly, the deployment to encourage senior citizens to use smartphones is the easiest way to welcome them into the digital era. However, the world cannot be completely online for the accessibility and the capacity of digital services. From the senior citizen’s perspective, they should always have the opportunity to quit the Internet. From the supplements introduced above, we should question the feasibility of the entire digital transformation. In the trends of moving to a digital world, we should translate the natively digital service to some offline alternatives. The priority of experience would be then promoted, turning the blind craving for online platforms upside down. What’s more, we should keep in mind the importance of leaving some non-digital options behind when we boost products and services to embrace e-commerce. After all, complete reliance on digitalization will only cause side effects, neglecting the essential care for seniors. Seniors should also keep an open mind and ask for help if possible when they encounter difficulties employing digital services. The goal is to get the service and make life easier for everyone.

Total reliance on digital technology is not as feasible as imagined, and additional non-digital support should be provided for seniors during digitalization. The pandemic, policies, and restrictions in Shanghai composed a hypothesis of extreme digitalization. We should learn from our elders.

1. Group-buying during the lockdown went beyond traditional delivery services such as Meituan, one of China’s leading digital food delivery services. Community group-buying took off quickly through social media, mainly on WeChat, a platform that combines chat with many everyday functions, where “residents at the same address band[ed] together to bulk buy groceries or meals from suppliers or restaurants, placing single orders that could add up to thousands of dollars” and “once enough buyers sign[ed] up and [made] a payment, vendors [would] dispatch the order to the complex usually days later, and building security or volunteers [would] then drop off each order door-to-door” (Horwitz). ↩︎

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Works Cited

Chen, Anqi, et al. “Interview-Based Study about the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Smartphone Use among the Seniors in China’s First Tier Cities.” SHS Web of Conferences, vol. 148, 2022, pp. 1–6. ProQuest, https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202214803001. Accessed 7 May 2023.

Hall, Brian J, et al. “Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, and Suicidal Ideation during the Shanghai 2022 Lockdown: A Cross-Sectional Study.” Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 330, 2023, pp. 283–90. 

Han, Jing. “‘Silver-haired surfers’ add momentum to China’s biggest shopping spree.” SHINE, 10 Nov. 2021, www.shine.cn/biz/tech/2111107993/. Accessed 27 April 2023.

Horwitz, Josh. “Shanghai jumps into group buying to stay fed during COVID lockdown.” Reuters, 8 Apr. 2022. www.reuters.com/world/china/shanghai-jumps-into-group-buying-stay-fed-during-covid-lockdown-2022-04-08/. Accessed 27 February 2024. 

Jiao, Ruotong. “Is There a Barrier between Seniors and Smartphone Use in The Internet Age? A Study of Digital Disconnection among Older Adults.” SHS Web of Conferences, vol. 155, 2023, pp. 1–4. ProQuest, https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202315503010. Accessed 7 May 2023.

Wan, Lixin. “Shall we meet the seniors half way in bridging the digital divide?” SHINE, 17 Oct. 2022, www.shine.cn/opinion/2210171579/. Accessed 27 April 2023.

Yang, Jian, et al. “Relief for seniors: Shanghai’s health QR code now available on paper.” SHINE, 12 Aug. 2022, www.shine.cn/news/metro/2108123491/. Accessed 14 April 2023.

Yang, Meiping. “Community volunteers pitch in to help elderly residents cope with lockdown.” SHINE, 17 Mar. 2022. www.shine.cn/news/metro/2203173211/. Accessed 27 April 2023.

Read “To Go Digital or Not to Go Digital: Learning from Senior Citizens’ Shanghai Lockdown Experience”.

Li Jiasheng’s critique of the rapid migration of services necessary for everyday life to smartphone apps and miniprograms is not only thoughtful and measured in its analysis, but also passionate and compassionate in its motivation. The essay begins with a moment of “fury” at an elderly woman who cuts in line, fury that immediately resolves into empathy as Jiasheng, reflecting on an experience that all city dwellers know well, recognizes not only his grandfather’s plight in the face of the digitization of everyday life but that of countless elderly citizens. The woman can’t pay by smartphone app and must instead disrupt the efficient flow of data by counting out hard cash. And what if it were an emergency? What if she couldn’t cut in line in front of a college student but had to use multiple apps to get food, water, medicine? Jiasheng’s framing of his rigorous investigation with personal experience arises from his experience of the Spring 2022 zero-Covid Shanghai emergency lockdown when many seniors struggled with health codes, group buy apps for food, and confusing, overflowing chats.

In our “Walking as Inquiry” version of WAI, students explored the work of urban geographers, ethnographers, urbanists, great essayists like Eileen Chang, and above all the “slow journalism” of visiting writer Paul Salopek and his Out of Eden Walk. They were challenged to use Shanghai as a site of inquiry, and in walking and sharpening their attention by slowing down, observing, describing and reflecting on specific moments, they developed final research projects that arose from their direct engagement with the city.

Jiasheng’s essay is exemplary. It begins with a specific everyday problem that matters to the writer then moves into strong analysis that draws on quality scholarly sources to make the reader both care and think hard about our overreliance on emerging digital technologies, especially during times of crisis and with regard to those most vulnerable among us.

—David Perry, Clinical Professor in the Writing Program