For a long time, Shanghainese were proud of Nanjing Road as China's No.1 shopping street. It is a city landmark and a great tourist attraction.

That pride arose not only from the labyrinth of quality Shanghaimade goods in the No.1 Department Store, but also from the many historical sites and time-honored specialty shops.That pride is now long gone. If you ask Shanghainese these days what are the special features of Nanjing Road, the answer may well be: The characteristics of Nanjing Road are simply no character at all.

It is sad to see the 150-year-old Nanjing Road quickly declining into a street that is not much different from any other of the 200 pedestrian shopping streets that have mushroomed in Chinese cities in the last 20 years. Some of them may actually look more impressive than Nanjing Road.

This tragedy, unfortunately, seems to be getting worse, as the local Jing'an and Huangpu districts, which respectively administer the west and east sections of the street, become obsessed in a war to beat the other in total retail sales. Both seem to feel that targeting the upper end of the market is their silver bullet.

Under plans by the two district governments,Nanjing Road will be built into China's Fifth Avenue, referring to the luxury shopping street in New York City. It will be lined up with top international brands to attract not only the wealthy Chinese, but also international shoppers visiting China.

In fact, newspaper reports show that many retailers along the street have already been notifi ed that their lease contracts due later this year will not be extended in order to carry out the government plan.

They include time-honored underwear store Three Guns as well as young and fast-growing cosmetics store Herborist, and clothing shop Metersbonwe.

International brands, which believe China is a huge market for luxuries, will readily fi ll their space.

If implemented, that strategy is sure to erase more of the remaining legacies of Nanjing Road because those few time-honored stores still doing business on the street will be forced to leave due to the high rent.That strategy may also include massive renovation, which means more buildings will lose their original fl avors. It may even result in the tearing down of some historical buildings. We have already witnessed the rise of quite a few ghastly-looking high-rise buildings on that historic street in the last few years.

I am not a business expert. But turning Nanjing Road into the Fifth Avenue seems to be deeply fl awed business-wise. I have seen fewer shoppers on Huaihai Road, Shanghai's second major shopping street, since the street turned upscale a year ago.

Even if the government strategy makes wise business sense, turning Nanjing Road into a street of top international brands is sending an unwelcome message to some 800,000 folks now visiting the street on an average day.

Many of these people are farmers from the Chinese countryside, or people from less developed cities, who come to see the reputed street - a street that no longer deserves its past fame.

Walking along a street lined with expensive shops would be a very weird and unpleasant experience for those folks.

It will certainly be a formidable experience as well for luxury shop operators, watching the infl ux of folks looking at the price tags and not believing their own eyes.

Turning Nanjing Road into China's Fifth Avenue is by no means a good idea.

The local district governments should instead try its best not only to keep those time-honored stores, but also to offer preferential policies to invite more time-honored stores back to the street.

After all, this is their street. They are the living museums on Nanjing Road. They are the ones that distinguish Nanjing Road from the 200 pedestrian shopping streets in other parts of the country,and who draw some 800,000 pilgrims to the street every day.