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Preservation

5 Reasons to Visit the Old City Right Now

This autumn, we’ve seen the atmospheric Old Chinese City disappearing with unprecedented speed. Sure, it’s been slowly vanishing for years, but a recent visit saw one of our favorite sections demolished, and recently living neighborhoods emptied out and boarded up. The recent rapid clip adds an urgency to taking a last ...

Cai Zhen: Painter of Old Shanghai

Inspired by her own heritage, Cai Zhen paints the heritage buildings of old Shanghai, bathing them in sunlight and vibrant color. [caption id="attachment_2288" align="alignleft" width="224"] Cai Zhen, self portrait[/caption] We first encountered Madame Cai at an art exhibition featuring the watercolor paintings of architect ...

Inside Old Shanghai’s American Club

Even with decades of unwashed grime and a chipped façade, the Georgian edifice on Fuzhou Road always maintained its grace, unbowed even by the unsavory photographs of crime busts displayed on its stately brick walls in the days when it served as a court. So it’s especially nice to see the onetime American Club getting a ...

Shanghai’s Preserved Heritage Roads

In 2007, the Shanghai government implemented a plan for the preservation of heritage roads within the city. A total of 144 roads, including lilongs, in 12 historic areas were identified for protection. These included 64 ‘first class roads’ which were ‘never to be widened’ in order to protect both historic buildings ...