Great specialist of Old Shanghai and author of several books on the topic, Lynn Pan was as discreet as talented. She has recently passed away and will be sadly missed.
Born in Old Shanghai, her family owned major construction company Pan Shang Lin 潘尚林 building firm that was in charge of building Park Hotel and other landmarks of Old Shanghai including the Yangtze Hotel, Picardie Apartments on Heng Shan Road and the head quarters of Bank of China on the Bund. Growing up in Malaysia, she lived in Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore before coming back to her beloved Shanghai. Her books have influenced many and were instrumental in reviving the memory of Old Shanghai and its glory. They included “In search of Old Shanghai” (1982) and “Old Shanghai: Gangsters in Paradise” (1984).
Another landmark was “Shanghai Style: Art and design between the wars” (2008), that rediscovered 海派 / Haipai or Old Shanghai style mixing the Chinese and Western style used in funiture, paintings, posters and other artefacts.
One of my fond memory of her was a speech she gave at the Shanghai International Literary Festival in 2008 or 2009 together with her friends Tess Johnston and Rena Krasno. Together they gave such a vivid picture of Old Shanghai, just like a time travel.