I was fortunate enough to get interviewed by Shanghai magazine “That’s Shanghai” about Shanghailander.net turning soon 15 years old.
The most enjoyable is that in my first years in Shanghai, That’s Shanghai was the prime source of information about what to do in the city. In a time before social media, getting your hand on the magazine (available for free in most foreign bars and restaurant), was one of the highlight of the month. Great opportunity to grab a cup of coffee and spend one hour reading about new places opening and looking for you friends pictures in the socialite section 🙂
As information is now dominated by the internet and social media, That’s Shanghai is mostly read online, but they still print an actual magazine. Hopefully I’ll get a copy, sit down with a coffee and read it again.
My previous post about Yangtszepoo docks attracted attention from some readers, here is some more information about the mother company of the docks, ” The new engineering & shipbuilding workd Ltd”.
The company did seem to enjoy fine ladies on its marketing material. Previous post was about an art deco painting of ladies printed on blotter, below one is the painting of a lady with as a metal frame. Definitely a promotional article for the company. Next artefact was also produced for the company, being hairpin and scissors, engraved “Ms H. E. Arnold, Opening ceremony, Yangtszepoo docks No2, February 21 1930.
As the site of the company seems to still exist partly, this will be a aim for an exploration later.
All Shanghai artefacts come in many forms and shapes. One of the interesting type is advertising objects, as they offer a real window in what people used and consumed at the time. I recently came across an interesting item, a advertising for Yangtzepoo Docks.
The paper is actually a blotter, the kind of thick paper designed to absorb the overflow of ink while writing with a fountain pen. Blotters have disappeared along with fountain pens, but they were very useful and popular in the time of Old Shanghai, including as advertising objects. I was first attracted by the picture, as it is a really nice painting. The image of finely dressed ladies in the wind helps to date the item. From the fashion, including men’s hats I would date it from early to mid 1930s.
Yangtszepoo dock advertising
The topic of the image used for the ad, has nothing to do with the services promoted, i.e. Shipbuilding and repair. It also has no specific link to Shanghai, not even in the background, though it must have been representative of western fashion at that time in Shanghai, as well as in England. Since the document was written in English only, one can assumed that it was sent to shipping lines and related businesses, both in Shanghai, the UK and other countries sending ships to Shanghai.
The Yangtszepoo dock was located on Yangtszepoo Road (today Yangshupu lu) and shown on below picture. One of its known engineer was Archie M Kerr. The Yangtszepoo dock was famous for its 584 feet (178 m dry docks). According to the 1928 “Port Directory of the Principal Foreign Ports” from the US Navy, it was the second longest dry docks in Shanghai.
The Yangtszepoo area was the main industrial point of Old Shanghai, with factories, docks and shipyards located along the river. Although this part of the city has been transformed a lot in the recent years, it remained a heavy industry and shipyard area for decades. 90 years later, the 584 feet long dock is still there, along with #2 docks that was officially opened on 21st February 1930.
1932 map
2021 satellite picture
Interestingly, Yang Chow Road nearby is still called YangZhou Lu, along with PingLian Road that is now Ping Lian Lu. Thorburg Road has been replaced by Tongbei Lu, which is near enough to probably have been the original Chinese name.
Having a sweet tooth myself, I got interested in Old Shanghai sweets brands, like Hazelwood ice cream. A more high level and confidential brand was Bianchi, a pastry and chocolate shop on Nanjing Road.
I got to know about Bianchi’s when finding a chocolate wrapping paper at an antique dealer store, probably around 2008. There was no indication of time then, but it turns out that Bianchi was a famous store located on 23 Nanking Road. This is actually inside the former Palace Hotel (today Swatch Peace Hotel), at the corner of the Bund and the Nanjing Road. I guess Bianchi chocolate was the shop on the right-hand side of the main entrance, nowadays selling watches.
Bianchi Chocolate wrapping paper
Bianchi’s must have been a high level shop, catering for both a foreign and Chinese clientele as the address is written both in English and in Chinese characters on the chocolate wrapping paper.
Bianchi chocolate was advertised as “the Home of Tasty Dainties”. The founder of the company, Attilio Ferrari, resided in Shanghai since 1907. He started Bianchi on Nanking Road in 1918 and operated it until his death at the age of sixty, in 1938 (he was among the oldest Italian residents in the city). (Thanks to Katya Knyazeva @ https://www.facebook.com/mapoldsh/ for the info).
The Bianchi chocolate shop does not exist anymore of course, but just finding this piece of the old times was wonderful. I can picture myself going to buy my chocolate near the riverside, walking those busy streets, full of a mixture of trendy office workers, vendors of all kinds shouting to advertise their products and dockworkers. I get to the Bianchi shop, push the glass door. I look at all the chocolates in the shop, talk to Mr Bianchi about his chocolate, good food, life and other topic. It takes me a few minutes to wake up from my dream, holding my 80 years old chocolate paper in my hands. This old relic is so powerful that I still feel the taste of this chocolate created and eaten many decades ago.
Movies about Old Shanghai have been very rare and difficult to see in the early years of this blog. In the last years, more and more old movies have been found on internet videos website. This has allowed some of the 1930s Shanghai original amateur movies to be viewed again, after all those years.
One of the easiest to find on Youtube is “Old Shanghai 1930s”, on the StephendelRoser account. This is a 8 minutes movies depicting street scenes in Shanghai, probably early 1930s as judged from the cars and vehicle pictured. Scenes are mostly filmed on Nanjing Road and on the Bund, including in front of Astor House hotel. They include a number of road traffic scenes, with cars and rickshaws including the Sikhs policemen of the International Settlement.
The movie also includes a long part that was filmed on a small boat on the Yangpu river, as well as the Suzhou Creek, which was really crowded then. Final scenes include a short part in an airfield and a long stretch filmed from a tramway.
Amazingly, the building existed before taking this shape in 1925. It was of Louis Philippe style building and surely less visible in Paris landscape. The tour de force of CT Loo and architect Fernand Bloch was to turn it into a classical Chinese style building. Inside was also changed to reflect the outside Chinese style. Interestingly, it seems to be the only noticeable building by Fernand Bloch.
Although there is no date for the picture, people’s dress style and the car visible in the picture make it possible to date it to end of the 1920s or early 1930s. This was probably shot in the months or years after completion. At a time when the only pictures of foreign country were black and white, and people did not really travel, it must have been a real shock for Parisians to see it and a great advertising for CT Loo.
Radio broadcasting was introduced in Shanghai in 1922. At that time, there was very few listeners. The audience and attraction grew in the 1930s. Shanghai being a modern city, radio stations were popular with more than 100 of them operating in the city (as mentioned in “ All about Shanghai“). Import of radio equipment from the USA and Europe was a large business.
I recently ran into the below letter from American Radio Equipment Co, from 1935. It was located on 265-267 Avenue Haig (today HuaShan Lu) in the former French Concession. Although I have no other information, it is clear that company was selling and creating radio equipment. From Radio Engineers, Importers, Contractors, it is clear that they were not only selling radio receivers, but surely also building and maintaining radio transmission systems. They were probably the guys to talk if you wanted to open a radio station.
Just like today, a large business of Old Shanghai was importing and exporting. Radio equipment was no exception, as the large majority of it was imported (See radio history of Shanghai using this link). Trading companies would send international letters by air or sea, as well as telegrams, though those were really expensive (see post: Lost in transmission for more details). The pace of trade and communication was definitely much slower than today, with a letter requiring at least a few days to reach Europe or the USA,
I love the sentence “Shipping to Shanghai is same as San Francisco and no extra needed be added.” as it seems really strange nowadays. I assume that is this in particular linked to electric power, as current in the International Settlement and in China was 110 Volts like in the USA. No modification of the items was required then to use it in Shanghai.
Finding this kind of documents shows that despite changes in time, the World was already globalized in the 1930s, and Shanghai already was one of the main nods in this global network.
French journalist Bruno Birolli was stationed in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Beijing for more than 23 years. After two non-fictions book about Asia history, he published “Le musical-hall des espions” in France in 2017. I have read and written about quite a number of Old Shanghai novels like The master of rain” or “Night in Shanghai“, as well a Paul French book on Shanghai Gangsters, City of devils. Since I also love reading crime novels, one taking place in Old Shanghai could only attract my attention.
The author has spent years in Asia and it definitely shows in the book. I often found that Old Shanghai novels lack the climate, noise and smells of the city. They are all here. The dampness of the city after the rain, cold waves that freeze it a few days a year and other mentions of the city’s weather just feel like the real thing. Neither are missing the smell of Chinese food or of coal burning, the noise of people shouting in the streets and the honks of cars, giving a vivid portrait of the city.
Birolli’s interest in early 20th century’s Asian history and journalistic experience is also showing. This makes his version of Old Shanghai very accurate, taking into account the time of constructions of various roads and buildings. Actual historical events are developing in the background and are fully integrated in the story. One can also find numerous references to real history characters of the time, the most obvious one being the Commandant Fiorini, whose name is a direct reference to the real Captain Etienne Fiori who ran the French Concession police from 1920 to 1932. Characters have deep personality and there own history influences their actions and decisions in a very realistic way. Probably a little more explanations would be welcome by readers unfamiliar with the settings and Shanghai history, but the novel is making it a very enjoyable trip to Old Shanghai.
The real Capitaine Fiori receiving a medal
Although the background, historical events and characters are very credible, the books feels sometimes more like a photograph of an era, than a real crime novel. Having read many of those, I was expecting more speed in the story as well as a more sophisticated intrigue. Writing style is still very journalistic, as opposed the punch that one could expect from great noir novels, like “Perfidia” by James Ellroy or an historical spy novel like “Carnival of Spies” by Robert Moss.
In any case, I enjoyed reading the book and it highly recommended to anybody interested in Shanghai history. Unfortunately, it is only available in French so far.
1 – The rise and fall of the Majestic Hotel The story of the star of Shanghai nigthlife in the 1920s, that disappeared in the 30s seems is a regular on the top search posts of the blog. The reason why I wrote this post in 2017 was my own interest and the lack of information available on the topic. Apparently I was not the only one searching
2 – China General Omnibus Company It seems that I am also not the only one to be interested in Old Shanghai transportation, in particular the bus network of the International Settlement. This post from 2017 also includes a pretty unique map of the bus network itself from 1937.
3 – Old Shanghai tramways Another post on public transportation in Old Shanghai. This topic seems to attract attention. This post from 2017 includes a map of the International Settlement tram network and a tram ticket from the 1920s.
5 – Aquarius Water then and now Published in the middle of a hot summer, this post tells the story of the Shanghai brand of mineral water Aquarius, and its famous Orange Squash. Through modern advertising, the brand became one the Shanghai favorite, that is being relaunched in a modern version in 2020.
Best wished from the Shanghailander blog for 2021! If you want me to share or publish information about Old Shanghai, people places, documents and other related topic, please contact me at hmartin@shanghailander.net .
Christmas in the Old Shanghai was a big thing. Christmas mass celebrated in all the churches, but Christmas was also a big party night for many. If you were looking for ideas were to spend Christmas on 1936, here are a few ideas.
Christmas at the Jessfield Club
I am not sure why this ad was in French, although Jessfield was located on Yu Yuan lu, that was outside the International Settlement. Jessfield Park (current Zhong Shan Park) must have been a far away place from the center at that time. An ideal location for a big noisy party. There is really little for be found about Jessfield Club, apart from a short article on China Rhyming.
Chrismas and New Year parties at the Astor House Hotel
The Astor House Carnival Dinner Dance was surely of much higher level. Located at the Astor House hotel, on today North Bund it was surely one of the great party of the city for that night.
Union Brewery beer Christmas gift
Finally, if one decided to stay home for Christmas, the best gift could a 12 pints of beer, delivered by Union Brewery.
