The Founders
TESS JOHNSTON
Tess Johnston photo: Frank Langfitt, NPR
Tess Johnston first came to Shanghai in 1981 to work at the American Consulate General and in 1996, after over thirty years in the diplomatic service, she retired and stayed on to research, write, and lecture. Tess co-founded Historic Shanghai in 1998 – the first meeting was held in her lane house off Huaihai Road, where so many people showed up that people had to stand on the stairs!
Tess is best known as the first, and many would say best and most complete, researcher and documenter of the western presence in old Shanghai, and more broadly, old China. She and co-author Deke Erh have published 25 books, including 15 volumes on Western architecture and the expatriate experience in old China. A native of Virginia, her life spanned three continents for over 45 years, seven in Germany (both east and west), and some 35 in Asia, including 28 in Shanghai and seven in Vietnam (1967-74). In addition to Shanghai and old China, Tess has written on her peripatetic life in Permanently Temporary: From Berlin to Shanghai in Half a Century and her years in Vietnam in A War Away: An American Woman in Vietnam, 1967-1974. Tess repatriated to the U.S. in 2016, but remains engaged in research on old Shanghai.
WM PATRICK CRANLEY
Patrick Cranley. Photo: Jimmy Kim
Patrick Cranley is president of Historic Shanghai, which he co-founded in 1998 with Tina Kanagaratnam and Tess Johnston. A native of Baltimore, USA, he has been a student of Chinese affairs for more than thirty years, and has lived in China for two decades.
Patrick’s bespoke historic and architectural tours of Shanghai, are much beloved by the Shanghai community as well as international guests, and come highly recommended by Condé Nast Traveler; Luxe Guide to Shanghai; Nota Bene; Departures magazine; and by a number of top-tier travel companies. A frequent speaker on Shanghai history, architecture, society and business, Patrick has also written for dozens of newspapers and magazines worldwide, and has authored chapters in Insight Guide Shanghai, Still More Shanghai Walks, Final Five Walks, and Step by Step Shanghai. In 2011, Patrick successfully bid to bring the World Congress on Art Deco to Shanghai in 2015, a successful Congress that marked the first time this global international conference had been held in Asia.
Patrick holds degrees from Brown University, the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan, and the Ross School of Business and certificates from the University of Dijon and the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies. He is the managing director of PR agency AsiaMedia.
Twitter: @cranmoore / Instagram: cranmoore
TINA KANAGARATNAM
Tina Kanagaratnam. Photo: Jimmy Kim
Tina Kanagaratnam co-founded heritage organization Historic Shanghai in 1998, with the goal of preserving Shanghai’s unique history by raising awareness of its built heritage and social and cultural history. Tina is an award-winning writer and the author of numerous books on Shanghai, including two popular historic walking guides to the city, the guidebook Insight Guides Shanghai, and the Zagat Guide to Shanghai. She also authored a column on historic Shanghai architecture for the Shanghai Daily and is the blog editor for Historic Shanghai and sister organization Shanghai Art Deco.
Tina leads acclaimed walks throughout the city for Historic Shanghai, Shanghai Art Deco and for high-end private tour operators. Her walks combine an in-depth knowledge of history with fun facts, and quirky bits of information that never fail to engage and entertain clients.
A native of Singapore, Tina also co-founded the Shanghai International Literary Festival and the local literary association Literary Shanghai. Tina holds a B.A. in International Relations from American University’s School of International Service and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She is the CEO of PR agency AsiaMedia.
Twitter: @TMK_TinaManiK / Instagram: tinamani