Shanghailander

Return to Hankou

I had not been back to Wuhan since 3 years ago when I wrote the post “Upriver, Hankou’s foreign concessions“. A recent business trip, gave me the opportunity to spend a few hours in that area again. Always a nice way to relax between meetings.

The first major change I noticed was WuhanTiandi. Just like in Shanghai XinTianDi (developped by the same company), a few old houses have been kept and totally renewed. Not much of the old remains, but the design has made it a nice area with many shops and restaurant. Just like in Shanghai a few years ago, Wuhan TianDi is an island of new and fashionable in an area of faded glory, but the builders are just waiting and soon the whole place will be a celebration of brand new apartment towers and shopping malls. Fortunately, Wuhan TianDi was built mostly outside the central historic areas, this makes it a great stop after strolling through the small streets of the former concessions.

Building in the former Hankou German Concession — Former housing building

Going up through the former Japanese and German concessions, I ran into this old apartment building from 1910. The style are archways are similar to buildings of the same style in Shanghai, like on Feng Yan lu. Wooden doors with glass are quite similar, as well as the later closure of the archways with windows to increase the usable space.This was probably residence for middle class, not quite a villa but a modern and comfortable housing building.

British Crown on an Hankou building — British Crown long gone

Looking at it in details, one can find a British Crown engraved on the wall. Although it has clearly been hammered down it is still visible and reminded me of the one I saw on a building in Salay in Burma (Click here to see the picture). This building was probably built for housing civil servants working for the British administration like the police.

I continued walking along the Bund, passing by the former German consulate that is now the town hall of Hankou and by the former Banque de L’Indochine and the former American consulate, which architecture is very similar to the long gone American consulate on the Shanghai Bund. Further up is located the only Secession style building I ever saw in China (see former post about Hangkou), that is currently under renovation. Hopefully this will turn out for the better, though I would not hold my breath on it.

Building on Poyang Jie, Wuhan — Red building on Poyang Jie

Finally, I dived in the small streets behing Marco Polo hotel, looking for what is probably my prefered building in Hankou. One of my Shanghai friend referred to it as the “building looking like the Normandy building in Shanghai”. They surely have a similar look, both being red brick triangular buildings, but the Hankou one is much older and much smaller as well. The building unique shape can be well seen on the map in the former Russian concession. I heard that the Wuhan government is about to move inhabitants away and renovate it. Hopefully the renovation will not destroy it’s unique cachet.

At the end of the day, although Hankou former concession are way smaller than the Shanghai ones, they are still very nice, worth a few hours strolling along the tree lined streets.

Inside the Cercle Sportif Francais

The Cercle Sportif Francais on Route Cardinal Mercier (today the Okura Garden hotel) was the center of life for the cream of the French Concession. Built by the French architect firm Vesseyre & Leonard it opened in 1926 was certainly the largest design of the firm in Shanghai. In a effort to compete with Britain it was partly paid by French state money in order to project French colonial power in the city. The Cercle Sportif moved in the new building from what later became the College Municipal Francais.

Construction took the best materials both for the inside and the outside. Outside architecture is of neoclassique style, somewhat similar to the one used on the Bund, however the inside was heavily influenced by Art Deco, the upcoming artistic movement of the time. Although the building has been modified to accommodate the hotel, a large part of the hotel was very well renovated. This post is focused on displaying old pictures of the interior of the Cercle Sportif Francais.

Entrance of Cercle Sportif Francais, Shanghai — Entrance of the Cercle

As opposed to the current hotel entrance at the front of the building, the CFS entrance was on the side of the building, on what is now Maoming Lu (the current hotel entrance was one of the restaurants). The original entrance has been delicately renovated by the Japanese owner and comparison of the old and the new is striking for their similarities.

Today entrance of the Okura Garden hotel — The entrance today

Although the statue is a recent addition, the rest of the room has been renovated with care so that it is very difficult to actually see what was to original and what is new. One of the patterns that can be found all over the interior of the building in a typical Art Deco fashion is the little fan shape, present here in the corners of squares on the sides of the doors.

Cercle Sportif Francais, cardroom — Cardroom

Above picture is of the former card room. This room is located on the upper floor of the building and now used as a meeting room. The wonderful Art Deco frescoes have disappeared a long time ago as well as the original wood floor and furniture, but the lighting and door frames are still in the same stye (though probably not the originals).

The general feel of the room has not changed, neither has the great view of the garden that is not seen here but can be guessed from the light flowing through the picture. Above picture was taken during a specific Old Shanghai event. Usual furniture is the blend hotel reception room kind.

Pool of the former Cercle Sportif Francais — Swimming pool

Above picture is the swimming pool. It was supposed to be the best in Shanghai, 54m long. The hotel today has a swimming pool, but the one on the picture was destroyed during renovation.

The master piece of the Cercle sportif Français was and still is the stained glass ceiling of the oval ballroom. The only comparable piece is the Glass ceiling of the Prada Rong Mansion.

A true old Shanghai party

Hugues 40th Birthday party invitation — Hugues 40th Birthday party

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.

Shanghai girls — 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.

Pictures from the party can be viewed at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24266052@N00/sets/72157629605774432/

Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Shanghai

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

Lyon Art Deco

Art Deco building near Lyon Part Dieu — Art Deco Building in Lyon 6th district

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.

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.

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.

World Congress on Art Deco Shanghai 2015

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:

– 1991 – Miami, USA

– 1993, Perth, Australia

– 1995, Brighton, England

– 1997, Los Angeles, USA

– 1999, Napier, New Zealand (see post: Napier Art Deco Festival)

– 2001, Tulsa, USA

– 2003, Cape Town, South Africa

– 2005, New York, USA

– 2007, Melbourne Australia

– 2009, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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.

Shanghai art deco furniture

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.

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.

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.

Shanghai Art Deco Seats — 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

Burmese days

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.

Old Bristih house on the river, Burma — 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.

A trip to old Rangoon

Sule Paya at night, Yangon — Yangon main street at night

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.

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, the paradise of adventurers

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.

Book Cover, Shanghai, the paradise of adventurers — Book Cover

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.

For a more recent book about Old Shanghai underworld, I recommend Paul French’s “City of devils, a Shanghai Noir”.

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