Be interested in old Shanghai books and pictures is nice, but making it happen again just for a few hours was an even greater enjoyment. This year’s big celebration (my 40th birthday and 20 years of living abroad) was the perfect opportunity. I have been passing in front of the house we celebrated at for many years, and although I am still far from ever own something like this (estimate price of the estate would probably be over USD 10m today), it was possible to rent it for a day. Thanks to an unexpected meeting with manager Leonardo, who took this party so much to his heart, to Patisserie de France for supplying a wonderful cake and to Matthieu the boss of YangJiu.com to fish out the last bottles of Champagne he supplied us from his own personal fridge.
It took a great set and tens of friends dressed up to the theme to make it a great party. Chinese girls all in Qipaos, men wearing suits and hats, the only think missing would be a 1930’s limousine to make it the perfect illusion of returning to Old Shanghai. Even the weather was perfect, warm and dry after weeks of rain. The Latino band played light jazz music, transforming the afternoon drink in an old Shanghai dancing tea, ending with a great “happy birthday song” and all of us drinking Champagne.
Inspiration for the party
This really felt like an instant trip to a Garden Party in Old Shanghai, just like watching the cover of Beverly Jackson, “Shanghai Girl gets all dressed up”. Thanks for all friend for coming and making it great celebration, a great Old Shanghai party.
I have previously written about Shanghai Art Deco architecture, this post is focused on a different style also popular in Old Shanghai, the Spanish Colonial Revival style. A bit like Art Deco was inspired by the 1925 Paris exhibition, Spanish Revival was inspired by the Panama-California exhibition in San Diego in 1915. It was very popular in California from 1915 until 1931, and spread in the Pilippines and Australia, New Zealand (Hawkes Bay is a fine example). It was also very popular in Old Shanghai.
Spanish revival in Shanghai
Inspired by colonial Spanish architecture in Mexico and Latin America, Spanish Revival Architecture was using it as a base, adapting it with more modern materials and techniques. Many of these houses were built in the Los Angeles and Southern California, becoming the homes of Hollywood movie stars like the 1928 El Cabrillo built by Cecil B DeMille ( made famous by the movie “The ten commandments”) and the 1929 El Greco Apartments once home to star actor Michael Curtis.
El Cabrillo in Holywood, Los Angeles
At this period, going to the movie was a major form of entertainment in Shanghai with movies being shown in many theaters or the many dedicated movie theater freshly built. The life of Chinese and American movie stars was reported in numerous dedicated magazines just like today. It is only natural that Shanghainese of the time wanted to have houses built in a similar style to the ones of the stars of the time. Many turned to Spanish Revival style for the design (the author actually lived in one of those).
Round windows and white columns
Just like Art Deco took a few years to come from USA and Europe to Shanghai, Spanish Revival was really popular in Shanghai when it was already less fashionable in California. Major buildings in the USA were built in the late 1920’s, but the one in Shanghai were often built in the mid to late 1930’s. Most of them are actually located in the south west of the former French concession on streets like Yong Jia lu near Heng Shan Lu, as well Fuxing lu and the surrounding streets West from Huai Hai lu, as houses in this part of town were mostly built in the mid to late 30’s. Spanish revival architecture is displayed in 1931 Shanghai movie “Love and duty”, of which a numer of scenes are filmed in this area.
Some can also be found around Yu Yuan Lu, in the former International Settlement. Like in California, they were mostly villas, one of the best example being the former residence of the head of customs, at the corner of Fuxing Lu and Fen Yang Lu. One of the few examples of an apartments building is in this style is Haig Court on Avenue Haig (to day Hua Shan hotel on Hua Shan Lu). See post “Haig Court” for more details.
Haig Court in 1948
The main characteristics are the round tiles used for the roof and the roof side decoration. Another usual feature is, as well as large windows often with a round top, separated by white fake columns. Doors often are massive wooden doors, with sculpted surrounding. Spanish revival buildings have a very distinctive style and bring a bit of latin experience to Shanghai. From what I gathered, there was no famous foreign architect firm specializing in Spanish revival. The style was mostly developed by local architect with the help of architecture magazines such as “The Chinese architect” and “The builder”. It also seems that Abelardo Lafuente designed of few Spanish revival buildings, although it is not totally confirmed and this is not the style he is famous for. Laszlo Hudec also designed some Spanish revival residence, but he was by far not contained to this style.
Although I knew very little about Art Deco before coming to Shanghai, I have developed a strong taste for it while living in the city. The style varies from one country to another, but Art Deco is very recognizable (together with its follower streamline design). Old Shanghai was a modern city in touch with the leading world fashion of the time, so Shanghai Art Deco buildings echo others built in the same period.
Washington apartments, Shanghai
During my last trip to Europe, I had spent some time in Lyon, ending by chance in one of the districts with Art Deco buildings, including the one on the picture left. The triangular shape reminds me a lot of the Sassoon House (home of the Cathay Hotel, today Fermont Peace Hotel), but even more of the Washington Apartments (see picture below).
With little decoration, both buildings are edging towards streamline design. They must be from about the same period of late 1920’s early 1930’s. Washington apartment was completed in 1928, I guess the Lyon one around the same time. After more research, I found out that this Lyon building was built in 1930 and was called Palais de Flore. One of the Art Deco highlights of the city (update 2022).
I then noticed another building with nice wrought iron decoration, very similar to the one found on the Cathay Apartment (today Old Jing Jiang hotel). Stylized flowers is a classical art deco motives for this kind of ornament, and there is definitely a parallel between both although their location are so far apart.
Wrought iron art deco in LyonArt Deco Wrought Iron in Shanghai
Lyon was fast developing in the early 20th century and was a pioneer or “avant-garde” city. One of the major Art Deco feature is known as the “Halle Tony Garnier”, the former slaughterhouse of Lyon that is now a major concert hall. This story also echoes Shanghai story of the former slaughterhouse being redeveloped into a creative center including a major event venue, i.e. 1933 in Hong Kou district. Tony Garnier also made other projects in the city, particularly the “Etats-Unis” (i.e. USA in French) district.
Halle Tony Garnier in Lyon (Photo Wikipedia)
Another major feature of Art Deco style is Lyon close suburb of Villeurbanne. Built in the same period by architecte Morice Leroux, the city is famous for its double tower “gratte-ciel” i.e. skyscraper in French from 1934. It was one of the first of its kind in France, and also reminds me of the of Art Deco / Stream line design towers from Leonard & Vesseyre firm in Shanghai like The Dauphine on Jian Guo lu (see post “The return of the Dauphine“).
Gratte-Ciel, public housing in Villeurbanne
In a city with more than 2000 years of history, Art Deco buildings are not standing out as much as they would do in Shanghai or the USA and I needed research and luck to find them. I found an Art Deco building by random in medieval area of Saint-Jean (see picture on post Shanghai Flashback), but there are just so many more. Hopefully some effort will be made to attract the interest of Art Deco fans. Just like Shanghai in 2015, Lyon could be a great venue for the World Congress on Art Deco. (2022 update), Paris will host the World Congress on Art Deco in 2025, so Lyon will have to wait a bit. I took another trip to Lyon in 2022 with more pictures of Lyon 3rd district Art Deco.
The World congress on Art Deco is the main international gathering celebrating Art Deco in all its forms. It was initiated in Miami, where the Art Deco district on Miami Beach is the largest collection of Art Deco buildings in the world. The first congress was initiatd by the Miami Design Preservation League in 1991. Each congress is organised by a local Art Deco enthusiasts association. Held every two years, the congress took place in the following cities:
The last Congress took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2011. During this event a Shanghai delegation lead by Patrick Cranley and Tess Johnston founders of Historic Shanghai, earn the distinction or organising the 2015 World Art Deco Congress in Shanghai. After the coming Congress in Habana in 2013, the Shanghai World Congress on Art Deco will be a major event, helping preserving and valuing Shanghai historical buildings.
The organisation of the Congress will surely take a lot of time, energy and manpower. The event will require guided tours of major Art Deco buildings for large crowd of people, as well as working sessions along with speakers and venues. It will attract a large crowd of tourists in need of accommodation, help, translation and many other services. At the same time, it will put the focus on Shanghai history along with the Art Deco heritage. This is great opportunity for Old Shanghai preservation, and somehow I already know I will play a part in it.
Although it was only named in the 1960’s, Art Deco was the dominant style for modern design in the late 1920’s and 1930’s. Named after the 1925 Paris “Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs“, the style was dominated by simplified geometric patterns, inspired by nature and exotic countries. It also introduced streamline design that it is closely associated with. Art Deco came to Shanghai in the 1920’s, being developed in architecture and graphic design. It was also largely used in furniture design, in a way that is quite specific to Shanghai.
Shanghai Art Deco seater
Art Deco furniture followed two different tracks: The origins of Art Deco was found in Europe, particularly in France. Art Deco furniture there were created by highly trained craft masters and manufacturedmostly for wealthy customers or in very smal quantities. They used highly refined materials including precious woods and were created for an elite that could afford it. The second track was then developed mostly in the USA using more affordable material like steal and industrial manufacturing techniques, it created items on a large schale and became the origin of modern design.
Art Deco wood carving
Shanghai Art Deco furniture followed a pattern combining both tracks while using resources specific to the city. The ancestral art of Chinese wood carving was used to create modern pieces following art deco design. Since the manpower was cheap and plentiful, Shanghai Art Deco furniture were crafted like the French ones, but using less precious material and manufactured on a large schale.Wood carving replaced precious wood inserts in furniture decoration, creating highly modern and decorative pieces at an affordable price. The result was a unique combination of craft and industry.
Art Deco pair of seat with Chinese characteristics
Symbol of modernity, Art Deco furniture where widely adopted by the middle and upper class of Shanghai that was fast developing in the 1920’s and early 1930’s. They followed the Art Deco movement in style but were often adapted to local traditions. Best examples are pairs of seaters separated by a tea table, or mahjong tables that are specific to China. Just like traditional Chinese furniture, they were often more decorative than usable. Hard seated Shanghai Art Deco chairs remind more of Ming Dynasty traditional seats, that comfortable European seats. Art Deco furniture and other related items such as radio sets and electric fans became ubiquitous in Shanghai. In a city obsessed with modernity, Art Deco furniture became the mainstream style like nearly nowhere else. The style fade away in the 1950’s but Shanghai residents kept them for long time because of lack of replacement. With plenty of new choices available from 1990’s, these old pieces were often discarded, replaced by new and shiny ones. They are now often used by designers in Shanghai to give the feeling of Old Shanghai in an interior. In the last year, they have become fashionable as antics and prices have climbed significantly, but it is still possible to find the right piece at a reasonable price.
Recommended books on Art Deco in Shanghai: – Shanghai Art Deco, Deke Erh and Tess Johnston, Old China Hand Press (Hong Kong), 2006 – Shanghai Style, art and design between the wars, Lynn Pan, Joint Publishing, 2008
Recommended shops: – Shanghai Old furniture: corner of Julu lu et Maoming Lu. The shop mixes old European antic et Old Shanghai Antic – Lao Jo – Jing Xian Lu 152-154
George Orwell was mostly known to me thanks to his novels 1984 and Animal farms. As I recently discovered, he also wrote a famous book about his time in Burma in the 1920’s, “Burmese days”. The book has recently been back in the news, thanks to Emma Larkin‘s “Finding George Orwell in Burma” published in 2005. As the most welknown book taking place in Old Burma, “Burmese days” is high on the list of people going to visit today’s Myanmar. Home made copies of the book are on sale in many tourist spots, just like copies of Graham Green’s “The quiet American” are often found in the streets of Saigon.
Set in 1932, the book describes the life of a couple a British colonists in the city of Kyauktada, at the edge of the British Empire. The fictionnal city is copied after the real town of Katha in North Burma, where George Orwell spent 5 years in the imperial police. Lost in the Burmese jungle, they have very little contact with the rest of the world, apart from the “yearly trip to Rangoon”. They also have very little contact with the “natives”, i.e. local Burmese, with the exception of their personal servants (boys and butlers) and private interaction with the local women. The book is pretty much a “huis clos”, it counts only a small number of people and all scenes take place in the same location and in a short period of time. The conditions described in the book are more related to Shanghai in the 19th Century when Shanghai was still considered as an outpost. The city grew fast, but the closed feeling still stayed as foreigners where never that many compared to Chinese and surely always went in the same circles. Smaller outpost in China, just like the one described in “Barney”, were surely even closer to the book description.
The master's house on the river, just like in the book
The book is really reflecting the period view on humanity and colonialism. Although the world is opening to new and different values, like admitting “a native” in the Club, there were hard defenders of conservatism. Just like some expatriates in today’s Asia, they lived a life of pseudo luxury with servants and living conditions they would never dream of at home while constantly complaining against “the natives”. At the same time, they had no interest in understanding people around them, prefering to recreate a mini copy of their idealised homeworld stucked in past. George Orwell spent 5 years in British Burma and his opinion on the topic was very clearly similar to the one of his central character, Flory. He surely also had to hide is views and could not share them with many people there. Similar opinions were common all over Asia. Although the Shanghai. community was way larger than this small city, similar divisions existed between the ones defending their western colonists position and priviledges (including extraterritoriality in China) and the ones with progressist and equilitarian ideas summarised in the universal human right declaration. In Shanghai, a few examples of the progressive camp included Carl Crow who spoke fluent Chinese and became an expert on the topic, as well as JB Powell, publisher of the China Weekly Review. The book is not only an interesting read during a trip to Myanmar, many parts also echoes Old Shanghai life.
Arrival in Yangon (Rangoon) at night woke back many memories of other cities frozen in time. The first contact reminded me of arriving in Saigon in 1998. Same trees, same roads and mostly 1980’s Japanese 10th hand cars around. The cars falling apart with wheel on the wrong side reminded me of Cambodia in the late 90’s. I was expecting the former British colony to have right hand side driving like its neighbors. Just like Old Shanghai did in the mid 1940’s, driving direction was changed in Burma (Myanmar) in the 1970’s. In any case, if the airport drive at night had led me to the Caravelle hotel in Saigon instead of the Trader’s hotel in Rangoon, I would not have been surprised at all.
Colonial building, Yangon
The morning of the second day visiting Rangoon reminded me more of the Hanoi of the late 1990’s. Walking around the Kandawgyi lake with the Sedona hotel overlooking it, felt just like Hanoi’s West Lake hotel in my memories. On the river front, Strand Road reminds of the Shanghai Bund with the customs house on the waterfront and the main bank as well as the main hotel (The Strand Hotel) next to it. Today’s Strand Road looks a lot like picture of Shanghai Bund in the 1920’s, before Art Deco towers like the Sassoon House (peace hotel) and the Bank of China were built. The back streets with trees growing between the buildings look a lot like Hankou (today’s Wuhan) former French concession. Many people eat in the streets in Rangon. They have early diner from 5 to 7 or 8 PM sitting on colorful plastic chairs, eating noodles, curries and meat skewers. The same plastic chairs I used to sit on about 14 years ago in Saigon.
Most of Central Rangoon (Yangon) has been left more or less untouched since the 60th. Although a lot of construction went on in the 50’s and early 60th, style was kept in line with the colonial architecture. Most buildings have been left untouched for decades, with some of them being now renovated. Walking in the streets by daylight gives a nice view of the buildings with various forms and styles. Night time in Yangon is also very nice as there is little activity. The low lights and old buildings create an atmosphere that is charming and very unique. At the same time, it is very clear that redevelopment of the city has already started. A number of colonial buildings have been replaced by new towers and the process will probably accelerate with the recent political changes in the country. Just like other cities in South East Asia, Yangon (Rangoon) will surely transform in the next years but hopefully it will retain its charms and history. In any case, now is probably the best time to visit. This stay in Yangon (Rangoon) was part of a trip around Myanmar (Burma) that has been quite incredible. Although poverty in the country is striking, there is a warmth with Burmese people like nowhere else in Asia and the country is stunningly beautiful. More picture about this trip can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24266052@N00/sets/72157629302498231/
Old Shanghai is often associated with opium, prostitution and young western men seeking adventure. The police forces, army and other administration clearly took many of them to the Shanghai shore, with a new life in a vibrant city. I have written about several books illustrating the high life of Old Shanghai including Ralph Shaw’s Sin City, John Pal’s Shanghai Saga and the ultimate nightlife guide to Old Shanghai, Night Lights, tael Lights. One of the most famous is probably “Shanghai, the paradise of adventurers” by “GE Miller (Pseudonym)”. The book is really difficult to find as it was only printed for a short time. Reference to it can be found on Google books but the actual content is not available. It was translated in Chinese as 上海, 冒險家的樂園 and apparently still printed. It took me quite a bit of research to get my hand on this original 1937 copy.
The book starts with some background information about Shanghai and the concessions. One of the most interesting point is explaining the “shit” system where Shanghailanders once having established some credibility would not have to pay any service on the spot, instead signing a piece of paper, a “chit” with the amount collected on a later basis. Extraterritoriality protected the foreign residents, so some just never paid the bills and the whole city lived on credit. A whole section of the book also details how it was possible to get a fake passport to enjoy extraterritoriality right.
The main content is a series of portraits of shady characters, dubious, mysterious, mischievous and sometimes plain weird. The Spanish consul of the time is definitely a target as the book claims his great need of alcohol and Russian prostitutes, as well as total incompetency as a Société des Nations envoy in Manchouria, trying to assess whether Japanese invasion was justified… from the Japanese ministry of information office. It is very clear that the author used the book for some form of revenge on him. Similarly, the book has a strong anti religion theme, accusing Spanish priest of running gambling establishments as well as being very hard on missionaries. A full section is dedicated to Hungarian master of life falsification Lincoln Trebitsch. Although some parts of the book are difficult to believe if not totally wrong, the reading is very enjoyable. Characters in the book even remind me of real life characters of today’s Shanghai , still sometimes a paradise for questionable characters.
The book was written by GE Miller (pseudonym) who is self described as a diplomat. It did not take a long time for Shanghailanders to unmask the mysterious writer as Mauricio Fresco, the Mexican Honorary Consul. As pointed out by Robert Bickers in Empire Made Me, “The position had long been deeply implicated in the large-scale organized gambling in the city of the 1920″, Further more “accusing the SMP [Shanghai Municipal Police] in print, and without evidence, of granting ‘full protection’ to British opium smugglers was a representative indiscretion”. “Fresco left hurriedly when his identity was revealed” in 1937, soon after publication of the book, and never returned. However, his book is still one of those that helped creating the myth of Old Shanghai.
I would like to send my best wishes to all readers for 2012. Hopefully, this year will see even more interesting (re-)discoveries about Old Shanghai, better preservation of old buildings and many more people interested in this topic. Technical issues stopped all email notification to readers in early December, though I kept on writing posts about an ancient book about Yunnan and the opening of a new club in Bund 18. Thanks to the team at IT-Consultis for fixing various issues and upgrading the software running the blog. To start the year in a good way I have compiled the most read post during year 2011.
#1 – Reading “The Shanghailander” (May 2011): Writing about this long defunct magazine attracted a lot of attention this year. I believe this is one of the very few copies still available, if not the only one. Published in June 1937, just before the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, the central topic is about places to avoid hot and humid Shanghai summer, including places like seaside resort Qingdao. Articles on the same topic are published yearly in today’s equivalent like That’s or Time Out.
#2 – 20 years on (December 2009): The pictures of 1990 Shanghai are still catching a lot of attention. The difference between this version of Shanghai and today’s is really stunning. Shanghai’s architecture did not change much from the 1950’s until the 1980’s, but the city really caught up with modernity, destroying a lot of its past in the same move during the last 20 years.
#3 – Sam Sanzetti, Shanghai photographer (June 2011): The rediscovery of Sam Sanzetti portraits of Old Shanghai residents took the Chinese internet in a storm. Using the latest social media, the Israeli consulate managed to find back a number of original models of the pictures. An exhibition should follow in 2012. Hopefully, the media exposure will expend to other countries, allowing models to be found in places were Shanghailanders and Shanghainese left such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, the USA and Australia.
#4 – Sin City (March 2008): The adventures of Huddersfield boy Ralph Shaw in Old Shanghai continues to attract readers to this blog. This is not the only first account of life for British single in the city, but it is one of the most well known and the book is really hard to find. Brought from the UK by the army in 1937, Ralph Shaw then moved to become a reporter for the North-China daily news, the most influential paper of North East China.
5 – Up river, Hankou’s foreign concessions (June 2008): Foreign presence in China was not confined to Shanghai by far. Up the Yangtze, today Wuhan, was a very developed city being the main transit point for China’s interior. Hankou was the third largest concession area after Shanghai and Tianjin, leaving an extensive heritage that is still visible today.
Once again, a happy new year reading Shanghailander.net
“Territoires et populations des confins du Yunnan” is a book I bought in an antique market a couple of years ago. Published in 1931 by French Beijing-based Henri Vetch company, it was actually printed by the Commercial Press in Shanghai. The author Joseph Siguret was also the French Consul from 1926 to 1953 in Beijing and later in Taipei. For this book, he was mostly a translator, as the original was published in Chinese with the support of the Guo Ming Tang a few years before. The original book (云南边地问题研究）was created by Long Yun 龙云, the then governor of the province.
The book is made from travelers notes, going to remote areas of Yunnan. France had strong interest in Yunnan due to the proximity of Tonkin ( part of French Indochina, today North of Vietnam), so having a French translation is not that surprising. As described in posts “Barney, Journals of Henry Virden Bernard” and “Gare du Sud Kunming” taking the train from Hanoi to YunnanFu (today Kunming), was the fastest way to reach Yunan. Since I was traveling to LiJiang, one of the most famous parts of Yunnan, I took this book with me to read it at those scenic places.
Li Jiang Snow Mountain
Air travel and mass tourism have changed Lijiang a lot, but the city was already of high importance in the 1930’s. “Li-Kiang” was a sub-prefecture, the commercial center of the whole North-West Yunnan. It was the place were Tibetan products were brought down from then mountains, the place where mountains minority would meet Chinese civilization. The tiger snow mountain is also mentioned, its beauty being as attractive to the author as it is to tourists today.
Yi old lady... with a mobile phone
What really made the trip fantastic was our host and guide Lao Xu. He drove us around for three days, telling the story of his province and taking us to remote places. One of the first foreigner to live in the area was Dr Joseph Rock, an American who studied flora in Yunnan from 1922 til 1949. He is mentioned in the book and Lao Xu took us to place he used to lived. Lao Xu also took us to a Buddhist monastery, meeting the Lamas and admiring the rich colors of the decoration. Beyond the beautiful Lijiang valley, we also went to the Laxi lake in the next valley from LiJiang, that is becoming the next tourist point. What was really out of the ordinary was taking us with him on a trip in the deep mountain. Going up with his friends uncle who knows all the road, we went up to a village where he had never been and where I was the second foreigner ever to come (after somebody from UNESCO a few years ago). The small Yi village hanging near the top of the mountain is so remote that there is no paved road to go up. Being up there felt like a time travel, just like the description of minority people in the 1931 book. Somehow, meeting the old lady in the picture and been invited to her home was really magical.
Today’s Lijiang changed a lot compared with the one described in the book, with millions of tourists and the old town turned into a massive shopping center (with a surprisingly large number of African drums for sale). However, changes has not gone very far from the city yet and remote places like this village still exist. Probably for not so long.
It took a great set and tens of friends dressed up to the theme to make it a great party. Chinese girls all in Qipaos, men wearing suits and hats, the only think missing would be a 1930’s limousine to make it the perfect illusion of returning to Old Shanghai. Even the weather was perfect, warm and dry after weeks of rain. The Latino band played light jazz music, transforming the afternoon drink in an old Shanghai dancing tea, ending with a great “happy birthday song” and all of us drinking Champagne.
