"This book examines street culture in Chengdu, an under-studied inland city, during the transformative decades between 1870 and 1930, in order to explore various topics: the relationship between urban commoners and public space; the role that community and neighborhood played in public life; how the reform movement and the Republican revolution changed everyday life; and how popular culture and local politics interacted."

"Drawing on a rich array of Chinese and Western sources - including archives, local newspapers, gazetteers, personal records, folk literature, and field investigation - the author argues that life in public spaces was radically transformed in Chengdu in the early twentieth century. This transformation resulted in the reconstruction of urban public space, the re-creation of people's public roles, and the redefinition of the relations between ordinary people, local elites, and the state. Urban residents, especially the poor, used the street as shared space for everyday commercial, recreational, and ceremonial activities.

With the onset of social change, Western-influenced reformers in Chengdu sought to regulate the use of public space, and commoners had to struggle to maintain their claim to the street. The net impact of this study is to open a new way of understanding Chinese urban society and culture during these transformative years."--Jacket.