Historic Shanghai

Yes, the British led the imperialist charge into China in the mid-1800s, and yes, they were at the forefront in economics, politics and horse-racing in old Shanghai. But the Americans were never far behind, and in the field of journalism, the Yankees more than held their own.

Or at least that is how J.B. Powell […]

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Shanghai is associated with Jazz mostly because “Big Band” dance music was the international style of preference during the city’s romanticized “golden age” in the 1920s and 30s. But Jazz had a relatively short and limited impact in China’s City that Never Sleeps. The recent resurgence of interest in Jazz in Shanghai, while […]

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A band of intrepid Britishers has revived the Shanghai branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), 150 years after its establishment. The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded in London in 1823 “for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia.” The early focus of the […]

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The presentation entitled “Shanghai Ren, Shanghailanders and other Interlopers” organized by Historic Shanghai on 27 January was well-attended, with almost 200 Shanghai fans packing the Glamour Bar to hear Lynn Pan, Tess Johnston and Wm Patrick Cranley speak.Pan’s section on Chinese contributors to the city’s development described the close relationship between “legitimate” Shanghai of businessmen, […]

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Enthusiastic Historic Shanghai fans will recall with great fondness the very special visit to Shanghai of author and ex-Shanghailander Rena Krasno in October 2007 - what she referred to as her “farewell tour.” An active 80-something-year-old now residing in California, Rena bluffed that this would be her last visit to her childhood home. We doubt […]

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On Sunday, 27 January 2008, 4:00 pm at the Glamour Bar, Historic Shanghai presents “Shanghai Ren, Shanghailanders and Other Interlopers - The People Who Made Shanghai, 1800 - 2000.”A panel discussion in celebration of Historic Shanghai’s 10th anniversary, with Lynn Pan, Tess Johnston and Wm Patrick Cranley, three of the city’s most prominent experts on old Shanghai.The panel will offer […]

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