Shanghailander

I mentioned Saint-John University in earlier posts. Another famous alumni of the main University of Old Shanghai is Zhou Youguang, the man who invented Pinyin. Born in 1906, he went to the US to work as a Wall Street Banker after graduation. Returning to China after 1949, he lead the committee that created Pinyin, introduced to school in China 1958. The most incredible is that is still alive and writing is own blog on Weibo (in Chinese only).

Read his fascinating story  in the article from Louisa Lim on NPR website.

Imported foreign food in today’s Shanghai is still an essential support for foreigners living in the city. In the nearly 8 years since I have been in the city, local alternatives have been developped but they are rarely matching the original. Moreover, as the foreign communities grows and grows and more and more Chinese people like foreign dishes, import of foreign food is constantly growing. Modern transportation allows to fly in fresh products kept at constant temperature, making possible eating French oysters, Australian yogurts and New Zealand Kiwis in Shanghai.

Old Shanghai consumers of foreign foods did not enjoy such luxury. With the mother land weeks away on a cargo ship, food had to be preserved through various means for transportation. One of the most fragile type of products was dairy that does not keep long, even within a fridge. Above image is a picture of a modern tin of butter that I bought in New Zealand in 2010. Although butter is now mostly imported fresh in controlled temperature, preservation in tins was the only way to bring butter all the way to Old Shanghai. I have to admit that I was quite surprised to find this one, but it seems to be still selling. Butter is used a lot for western cooking, so large quantities of butter were imported in Shanghai. The 1934 “Trade of China” shows that 701,6 tonnes of butters were imported in China in 1933 and 746 in 1934. They were mostly imported through the ports Shanghai and Tianjin, mainly from Australia… and New Zealand.

Local farms also produced milk and milk products, as advertised on several pages of “All about Shanghai and its environs” including picture left. There was quite a number of dairy farms in today North Jing An district, in particular today’s Yan Ping Lu. The daily milk delivery system (like in the UK) is still in place in the old parts of the city center, though it is not much used anymore. In 1937, there was 10 dairy farms in the classified section of the Shanghai Dollar Directory, the local yellow pages. Just like today, local production was far from satisfying demand.

For transportation, milked was condensed and sweetened before being canned. Condensed milk can still be found in China, though it is more a delicacy than a main food ingredient. However, like in Hong Kong, Vietnam or Malaysia today, condensed milk was clearly a common product in old Shanghai. One of the major company importing condensed milk then was Nestle, already having established presence in old shanghai. 2,229.8 tonnes of condensed milk was imported in China in 1933 and 2,515.5 in 1934 mostly from the USA, The Netherlands and Switzerland.

For more on milk supply in Shanghai, go to post « Shanghai milkman ».

In the recent post “Shanghai exiles“, I mentioned our meeting with Isabelle and Raymond Chao. Isabelle talked about a friend who owned a Harley Davidson in late 1940’s Shanghai. As I regularly drive up the Bund with my 1930’s sidecar replica, I could relate to this very well although I did not see any picture then. It’s a few weeks later that I received the enclosed picture. This is Isabelle on the Harley-Davidson in Shanghai, around 1948, a very different look from her picture on the above mentioned post. With sun glasses and leather jacket, there is something really cool about this picture. This is one of he quintessentially American looks later seen the 1955 James Dean’s “Rebel without a cause”, or 1980’s Indiana Jones series.

After some research, I guess this motorbike was a Harley Davidson FL. Picture left is 1947 model, 1948 was very similar. The V-shaped twin cylinder 1200cc 51 HP engine is very different from the 750 flat boxer engin on the 1938 BMW R71 that was the original master for my Chang Jiang sidecar. However, the period look of the Harley has similarities with the BMW one and I am sure the feeling driving it down the Bund must not be very different.

Isabel’s picture also reminded me of one of my favorite motorbike picture, Robert Doisneau “Les motocyclistes”, shot in Paris in 1953. Although both pictures have a similar feel and were taken only 5 years apart, at that time Old Shanghai had already ceased to exist.

Shanghai’s history has often been quite tormented and street names have been changed often. Old Shanghai enthusiasts (like me) can sometimes be heard talking about the old names of current Shanghai streets, including Avenue Joffre, Hart Road or Avenue Edouard VII. Shanghai streets grew with the city itself, following its transformation. Foreigners came in, created concession and settlements then went away, leaving their mark on the street names. The Communist “Liberation” and its ideology came and most of names where changed. This is when the Avenue Joffre (one of the main general of the French army in World War I, a very common street name in France), was turned to Huai Hai Lu, the major communist victory against the nationalist Guomintang army in 1948-1949. This is also when Avenue Edward VII (British King Son of Queen Victoria who died in 1910)/ Avenue Foch (another French general from World War I), was turned in Yan An lu (the place in Shaanxi province where the long march finished).

The name of the original streets of the international settlement perpendicular to the Bund like “Da Ma Lu” (today Nanjing Dong Lu) and Si Ma Lu (todays Fuzhou Lu) were changed into names of cities and provinces of China, and later other Asian cities (like Singapore and Penang Road). They also included a few local celebrities (like Hart Road and Gordon Road). Streets in the French concession were mostly named after local French officials and celebrities, like Route Vallon (today’s Nanchang Lu) named after the French aviator who flew the first airplane in China… and crashed People Square in 1916. Apart from the foreign names, Shanghai streets also had Chinese names sometimes similar to the foreign one like Sinnan lu (Rue Massenet in French),  Gaohan Lu (Route Cohen in French), Sha Fei Lu (Avenue Joffre in French). Sometimes the name was totally different and often much more practical, such as “Bubbling Well Road” (current Nanjing Xi Lu), named after the bubbling water spring that was located near today’s Jin An Temple. It’s Chinese name was simply “Jing An Si lu”, i.e. Jing An Temple street.

I have long dreamed that old street names would be displayed back on Shanghai street. Some attempts were made on private buildings like “Rue Francis Garnier” on the bakery on Dong Ping Lu, or the Henry’s restaurant on Route Paul Henry (today Xin Le Lu). The aim is obviously not to re-instate a long gone past, but to show the history of places, helping Shanghai to reconnect to its own. I am surely not the only one to have dreamed of this and somebody has actually done it. It is currently limited to one street, the current Wukang Lu, former Ferguson Road but this really looks like an official attempt. Hopefully, this will be extended all streets of Old Shanghai. Not sure how long it will take though.

Update 2025: Old Shanghai nostalgia has grown a lot among people, shown by events like the Shanghai Style fashion festival (See post “Night out at the French Club” for more details). However, official reference to old Shanghai street names never materialised.

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As the largest metropolis of China, Shanghai was the focus of development of modernity in China, including the development of Universities. Hidden behind Zhong Shang Park (the former Jessfield Park), in a curve of the Suzhou creek stands the old Saint John University, which used to be the most prestigious University in China. Today’s East China Institute of Politics and Law has kept most original buildings from the old times and is still a nice place for a short visit. The best way to access it is probably to walk through the park to reach its back entrance, although it is also possible to follow the Suzhou Creek.

Saint John University was created in September 1879, it was created and supported by the American Anglican Church. The picture left is from 1907, showing one of the reading room. Religion had a strong importance in the teaching, and the university was lead for decades by clergyman Dr F.L. Hawks Pott who also wrote “a short history of Shanghai“. Under his governance, Saint John College became the leading University. Teaching was in English, a lot of faculty was foreign and modern education methods as well as sport took a great place. The University was modeled after the American University system and graduate students could be join American Universities for their post graduate studies, of few of them actually going to Harvard or Yale.  Saint John University also formed the elite of China’s societies with many of them becoming high civil servants or joining Chinese and international companies after graduation.

Architecture style of the university buildings have mostly been a mix of Chinese and western. They were actually often western buildings with a Chinese roof and decoration, similar to what was latter called Republican Architecture. As the University expanded, more buildings were created following the style of the time. The main building is much more of western style, quite similar to some of the buildings that were originally on the Bund, and the clock tower has been added later. Si Meng Hall near the River is also of a similar style, with all the original verandas having closed like in most old building in Shanghai. One the of really interesting one is on the right side towards the entrance. The style is clearly much later, probably late 1920’s early 1930’s as it is very similar to Jiangwan Shanghai Civic Center building. The founding stone of the Univeristy (marked 1879, picture left) is still visible. It seems to have been broken in pieces and put toghether later, probably during cultural revolution time.

Detached from the city and protected from noise by the park and the river, the campus feels like an oasis of quiet just a few minutes from busy ZhongShang Park Cross road, probably the most charming university of Shanghai.